Spa of the month: Concepts Day Spa, Toronto

Image courtesy of Concepts Day Spa

From the West Coast to the Atlantic Ocean, Beauty Director Adriana Ermter scours the nation for must-try rejuvenating, relaxing and beautifying spas.

Concepts Day Spa, Toronto

60 Bloor Street West in the Holt Renfrew Centre, 416-922-2823, conceptstoronto.com

I’ve been here 100 times before. It’s not fancy, the spa is underground, there’s nothing special about the décor and you have to pour your own complimentary herbal tea. Sometimes, you can even hear the rumble of the subway. But it’s my comfort zone. And my ritual goes like this: First, I submit my seemingly-always aching muscles to Johanna’s masterful touch. Her hour-long deep tissue massage ($80) includes a mind-blowing head and scalp rub that, shockingly, never leaves my hair looking greasy. But that’s not all, she also kneads the knots right out of my feet and let’s me know, in a reflexology-kind-of-way, which of my inner organs have submitted to her touch. Then it’s over to Jennifer for a Dermalogica facial (from $100). This treatment takes about an hour and a half to complete and includes extractions, but Jennifer is so fast and so good that I can barely feel it. Plus I never walk away looking red or blotchy. She also gives the best and most soothing hand and arm massage you’ve ever had. The facial itself, is incredibly relaxing and incorporates different Dermalogica products each time—sometimes they are more hydrating, other times they target the fine lines around my eyes—depending on the condition of my skin. Either way, I always fall asleep half way through the service and the end result is that I wake up still looking like me, only better and about 10 years younger.

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