Lady LUX

Soft music plays as you lie on your back and drift away. A feeling of total peace overcomes you.

You are at the spa.

But what treatment are you receiving? From red carpet specials to innovative new skin care options, spas offer a wealth of options for you to consider when you want to look and feel your best.

Angela Cortright, founder and CEO of Spa Gregorie’s in Newport Beach, Del Mar and Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., knows all about the current cutting-edge treatments. Her spa’s most innovative option is the NuFace facial, Cortright said, which gives you a mini face-lift – without surgery or needles.

“People tend to look ten years younger after they have it,” she said.

During a NuFace facial, a procedure approved by the FDA, a micro-current device massages the face with two small metal balls. It targets the facial muscles most in need of tightening, completely lifting the face.

Another new alternative for youthful-looking skin is the Villani treatment, according to Sandy Burdette, director of Euro Day Spa in Laguna Niguel, Calif. Using a rare variant of a sponge and its bioactive compounds, discovered in a central Russian river, the treatment is applied to the face as a mask, resurfacing the skin to rejuvenate it.

“It’s really interesting because you can see a difference (when applied) from one side of the face to another,” Burdette said.

Lasers are another option to consider when aiming to zap those unwanted fine lines and improve your skin.

Dr. Bradley Mudge, a plastic surgeon from Novare Plastic Surgery in Newport Beach, Calif., reports that fractional CO2 laser ablation is “leading the forefront on single-time treatments that can make a dramatic difference in the skin quality of your face.”
In laser ablation, instead of removing the entire surface of your skin, laser columns are projected into the skin, removing plugs of skin and tightening the face.

But your skin isn’t the only thing you want to look good, of course.

For those interested in the latest ways to shed excess weight, have you tried freezing the fat? Yes, that’s right, freezing. Zeltiq, offered at Euro Day Spa, is a noninvasive sculpting procedure that freezes your belly fat through a process known as cryolipolysis, eliminating fat cells. Each procedure reduces the fat layer by 25 percent.

“It’s like you dissolve all the fat,” Burdette said. “It flattens and smoothes the fat bulges.”

You can also blast that unwanted fat through the LipoLaser, another new noninvasive body sculpting procedure, offered at offices such as Laser Body Works in Newport Beach, Calif. Using a low-level external laser that targets the fat, the treatment releases water glycerol and free fatty acids into the area between the cells, which is then absorbed by your body’s natural drainage system and your extra fat passes from your system.

“It’s totally nonsurgical, pain-free, no bruising, no scarring, no downtime,” Dr. Mike Digrado, owner of Laser Body Works, said of the procedure.

The innovative offerings do not stop at skin care and weight management.

A new type of nail care, the gel nail polish manicure, has just hit the market. Utilizing the same technology used to make veneers for teeth, this innovative manicure can last without chipping for upward of three weeks and is now available in many gel colors.

“You can go and garden, you can play piano,” Cortright, whose spa offers this “Tough as Nails” manicure, said, “… and the nail polish doesn’t chip, doesn’t streak, anything.”

Spas, however, are not just about looking fabulous, but also about the health benefits.

Cortright believes in the power of spa from her own personal experiences. A high-tech executive for 22 years, she said she needed to appreciate the value of relaxation, as she suffered from anxiety attacks, inability to fall asleep, heart palpitations and more. Then she was introduced to spas and body work.

“In one hour under the hands of a skilled therapist, I became a human being,” she said. “I went from Jekyll to Hyde real quick, and I was able to function.”

The health benefits, in fact, are so vast that apparently everyone is jumping onboard.

“The Surgeon General has recommend spa at least once a month,” Cortright joked.

In the end, customers should, of course, choose what is most of interest to them, after consulting a qualified professional.

“To me, the key to making a difference in people’s lives is focus on a problem that bothers them and then come up with an effective and safe solution,” Mudge said, “not just trying to sell them the latest fad.”

To contact Euro Day Spa, visit www.eurodayspainc.com. To contact Spa Gregorie’s, visit spagregories.com. Novare Plastic Surgery can be reached at (949)644-2450.

Tagged in: spa, skin care, weight loss, spa treatments, facial, laser, gel manicure, villani, nuface, treatment,