Crushed pearls and spun gold are no longer the stuff of fairytales and billionaire whims; they’re now among many precious and semi-precious ingredients used for signature treatments at your favorite luxury spas. Ranging from exotic to ethnically-inspired to amazingly extravagant, these multi-karat treatments are a brilliant way to spoil yourself or someone you love.
By Lena Katz
Pinnacle Facial | Four Seasons ScottsdaleThe Four Seasons is the acknowledged pinnacle of luxury, which is why we’re starting with this all-over-gold facial. The facial incorporates the anti-inflammatory properties of gold, while the accompanying body treatments start with Omorovicza Gold Sugar Scrub and progress to a Copper Peel and a body massage with Gold Shimmer Oil.
Photo Courtesy of the Four Seasons Scottsdale
Spun Gold Massage | Eldorado Hotel & Spa, Santa FeEqually golden is the signature massage offered in the Nidah Spa at Eldorado Hotel. Following a lymphatic dry brushing, hot stone treatment and Swedish massage, the massage therapist will apply chakra stones and wind up with a shoulder/arm massage using 24-karat-gold-infused oil. You’ll come away glowing, inside and out.
Photo Courtesy of Eldorado Hotel & Spa, Santa Fe
Healing Gem and Stone Massage | Carneros InnOne of wine country’s finest and most singular luxury hotels offers a full-body stone massage incorporating semi-precious gemstones and essential oils. The indoor-outdoor ambience adds a dose of California sunshine to the experience.
Photo Courtesy of Carneros Inn, Northern California
Amethyst Crystal Steam Room | Westin Playa Bonita Amethyst is purported to have so many qualities: it enhances mental strength and stability, increases vigor, and simultaneously is conducive to tranquility and repose. Hopefully someday scientists will make a vitamin out of it, but in the meantime, guests at this Pacific oceanside Westin hotel in Panama can intake its benefits via osmosis, via amethyst and essential oil-infused steam treatments in a special room of the Sensory Spa.
Photo Courtesy of Westin Playa Bonita
Obsidian Treatment | Armani Hotel, DubaiObsidian is a multi-functional stone, that’s been used for much more than ornamentation over the centuries. It’s an interesting element for a signature spa treatment at the world’s first Armani/SPA: hot and cold obsidian stones are used to apply mineral creams in the facial portion, after which guests get a 60-minute body treatment and massage. Special black silk pajamas play into shiny/smooth/black aesthetic.
Photo Courtesy of Armani Hotel, Dubai
Urban Radiance Facial | St Regis San FranciscoGet back your youthful glow with a facial that incorporates crushed pearls and oxygen, with a base of anti-aging Omorovicza Gold Rescue Cr?me. This is a restorative, rejuvenating treatment for the areas of the skin most prone to aging signs: face, hands,neck and décolleté.
Photo Courtesy of Fuse/Thinkstock
Kahaia Haven Ritual | Four Seasons Hotel Bora-BoraIn a roundup of world-class gemstone treatments, one must look to the South Pacific, a place renowned for lustrous and mysterious black pearls. For this body treatment, Tahitian black pearls are crushed and blended with apricot kernels, aloe an native vanilla to create a luscious-smelling, soothing and smoothing body exfoliant . Next comes a volcanic hot stone massage and an express facial. This treatment is recommended for couples.
Photo Courtesy of the Four Seasons Hotel Bora-Bora
Gemstone Ormus Ritual | Four Seasons DenverA soak in a bath of Peruvian pink salt, healing Dead Sea salts and Himalayan minerals is followed by a warm-oil anti-aging treatment for hands and feet. The massage portion of the treatment incorporates gemstones: not only do garnet, carnelian, amethyst and rose quartz infuse the warmed massage oils, but the stones are actually placed along the spine while the oils are soaking into the guest’s skin.
Photo Courtesy of Maria Teijeiro/Lifesize/Thinkstock
Turquoise Wrap | Boulders Resort, Carefree ArizonaA holistic wellness focus and Native American inspiration guide this signature body treatment offered at the Golden Door Spa within Boulders Resort. Following exfoliation, a wrap of turquoise clay imbues positive energy and self-confidence--characteristics associated with the stone. Then comes a wrap of pure honey and a rain-stick ritual, winding up with a honey butter application.
Photo Courtesy of the Boulders Resort
Hawaiian Diamonds Massage | Grand WaileaThis treatment utilizes Olivine stones--also known as Hawaiian Diamonds--which are green crystals formed of volcanic activity, appearing near lava formations and the ocean only rarely, and considered to be sacred. Olivine crystal elixer and Olivine-filled poultices are two key elements of this unique and traditionally inspired treatment.
Photo Courtesy of Grand Wailea
Bejeweled Collection | Ritz Palm BeachFor the ultimate spa splurge, the Bejeweled Collection at luxurious Eau Spa offers treatments for every inch of the body--each more lavish than the last. The Iridescent Pearl Manicure blends crushed pearls wtih natural teas and warmed paraffin to rejuvenate the delicate skin of your hands. The Diamonds and Pearls Treatment--billed as the richest full-body treatment and facial in the world--incorporates crushed diamonds, sapphires, rubies and amethysts. The Cornelia Lumina Facial, sub-titled quite aptly as "Jewelry for the Skin," is an anti-aging multi-process facial that utilizes emerald, ruby and gold, plus citrine as a lip-plumper--then finishies with a caviar masque.
