SPAPHILE MEMBERSHIP CARD LAUNCH

I just love Spaphile.com events! The head honchos over there, Renee and Michael, are always upbeat and pleasant to all they come in contact with. And I’ve watched this business, which benefits everyone concerned, progress from its inception.

So, after about two years of providing discounts to their members at a growing number of spas and salons, they finally launched membership cards, which makes it all even easier for us consumers. (For more info, check out their site, www.spaphile.com.)

The main room, with four of the five service stations. Note that crazy chandelier! Photo by Karen Salkin.

They, of course, threw a lovely launch event, this time at a restaurant atop Santa Monica Place. (Alas, there was no food at this one, so there’s nothing to tell you about now, but the place looked promising, so maybe I’ll review it for you in the future.) It was the perfect space to have it in. There was room for all the stations and the attendant crowds, lighting was good enough so that the nail techs didn’t have to go blind, and the patio set-up was perfect for the night-air massages.

For the first time ever at a Spaphile event, my friend and I arrived camera-ready, as they say, so we didn’t avail ourselves of the hair services. (And I never have make-up done anyplace because that’s the one thing I can do myself, better than almost anyone else actually, but that’s another story for another time.) But we had the other three services and were thrilled with them all! (And these businesses are all ones where you can use your new membership card for excellent discounts!)

We started off with chair massages from Lissa at Burke Williams. My pal, Celia, and I both needed that done, and Lissa was absolutely terrific! I hope to use my new spa card to take advantage of their offers.

Then we moved on to eyebrow threading performed by Patty of Ziba Beauty. I can never figure out how that procedure works, but these results were some of the best I’ve ever had! Celia had never experienced it before, and was excited to see her results, as well.

Photo by Karen Salkin. (So, obviously, none of those are her hands!)

Even though I can do my own nails really well, (and do, most of the time,) my manicure from Bellacures was the highlight of the evening for me. My tech, Gwen Trinh, was really nice, and seemed as happy with the results of the two colors I put together as I was! (I’ve been getting rave reviews on it all week!)

We all left with pretty pink flowered swag bags filled with wonderful beauty products, including lots of make-up, hair straightening serum, and good gift certificates.

And let’s not forget the purpose of this whole shebang—the membership cards! I believe there’s a discount on them for a little while longer, so you better get right over to Spaphile.com and get yourself one now! (I believe you put in promotional code VIP39 for the discount, which is for the first 250 guests who do that.) And then we’ll all see each other at the spa!