British Columbia Guide and Deals

La Raffinage Salon & Spa rains luxurious spa services upon locals like diamond dewdrops on grass blades with clogged pores. During a 90-minute Yon-Ka refinement facial ($95), La Raffinage’s expert aestheticians apply high-quality Yon-Ka products to relax and revitalize the skin, eliminating toxins, oxygenating the skin, and strengthening skin's resistance to the elements. The 60-minute Reiki energy treatment ($85) gives clients access to a Reiki specialist who'll use the ancient healing art to tap into the body’s energy waves. The compassionate practitioner will place hands over the body to unblock stymied energy. Stress will melt away like butter under a heated magic wand, with spiritual balance, physical tranquility, and the desire to burst into a Bollywood dance number following thereafter.

Within soothing blue walls dappled with vibrant lime-green accents, pHresh Spa and Wellness Club's experienced team rejuvenates and restores radiance to weary bodies with spa services. The balmy wood confines of pHresh's private sauna envelop guests in sweat-inducing infrared waves, which usher toxins from bodies to promote supple, even-toned skin. Physiques sore from boxing confrontational shadows can revel in ache-erasing kneads and soothing oils employed during holistic massage therapy, and loose epidermal exteriors tighten after proper coaxing from radio frequencies used in body-contouring treatments. Before or after appointments, clients can relax in a lounge distinguished by cushy couches, modern decor, and a crackling fireplace.

Revitalize Now!'s Stop Smoking Laser-Therapy Program uses a “laser acupuncture” technique to help cigarette smokers quit smoking and stay cigarette-free. The program uses a low-level laser and bio-electrical stimulation to release endorphins, triggering the same feelings of calmness and reduced stress brought about by nicotine but without nicotine's damaging effects. Points on the ears, hands, and legs are stimulated. After the initial 90-minute treatment, Revitalize Now! tackles the challenges of staying smoke-free by offering four free follow-up treatments throughout the year, helping to combat withdrawal symptoms. Each follow-up treatment is approximately 30 minutes long. The program also includes a text-message support program, with daily tips on staying smoke-free sent via text, as well as a CD with tools and tutorials on how to reduce mental cravings and stress. Take steps toward escaping the tyrannical grasp of smoking with Revitalize Now!'s laser-therapy program.

Healing others has been a part of Neata Auttapong’s life since she was a child growing up in Thailand, where, as Fresh Vancouver noted, she began learning the art of Thai massage at the age of 12. Years of learning holistic practices from the top healers in Thailand eventually led Neata to Vancouver, and since arriving, she’s opened three Sabai Thai Spa locations. Perhaps the spa’s expansion can be chalked up to the waterfall of accolades it’s gained, including praise from The Express show on Shaw TV and from _Coco Magazine_in Japan.

At each location, staff members reach for Éminence Organic Skin Care products during nine types of facials, and they send clients home with organic products from Dannyco and SpaRitual. Sabai’s menus are also packed with 14 types of massages, which clients can enhance with aromatic scents, exfoliating body wraps, and a refreshing mani-pedi that leaves digits cleaner than Mr. Clean’s morning kids show after the censors get through with it.

Today, Bloom Essentials owners Nicole and Kim might be better known as the team behind the nail designs that earned a top ranking from the Georgia Straight Readers Choice awards. But as kids, the sisters were known simply as Bug and Pickle. With those playful childhood monikers, it's no wonder than the duo grew up to run a spa that prefers fun over high-tech gadgetry, and where the aestheticians—nicknamed "Bloomers"—treat each client as if they were an old childhood friend.

Of course, the friendly demeanour isn’t the only thing attracting visitors. For more than a decade, Bloom’s knowledgeable nail artists have dolled up fingers and toes with intricate handcrafted nail art, giving customers creative reign to dictate designs that could include zebra stripes, handlebar moustaches, or holiday characters. The trendy nail salon also offers full-body waxing and custom facials and churns out its own custom-made pedicure cream, which clients can purchase to keep toes soft between visits. And as if the beauty treatments weren't enough, a boutique area allows patrons to peruse items from the sisters' "Bug & Pickle" line for moms and babies, accessories such as cutesy aprons and sparkling bracelets, and the occasional little black dress made from old nail-polish bottles.

As a certified doctor of natural medicine, an aesthetician with 25 years of experience, and a natural-health consultant, Irina is anything but a one-trick skin specialist. She puts her diverse background to use unearthing beauty with custom facials and permanent-makeup applications that keep eyebrows properly arched, lips colourful, and beauty marks firmly planted. While her staff meticulously performs mani-pedis and antibacterial, antimicrobial nonwax hair-removal treatments, Irina helms electrolysis and IPL sessions, as well as holistic Bowen-therapy treatments, which employ short bursts of rolling, massage-like moves designed to restore bodily balance and incite natural healing.