spas

Winter? What Winter?

Desert dwellers, visitors can bask in glow of January spa specials

Carolyn Patten Health & Wellness

spas

As the rest of the country is muffled in layers of wool and fleece, lucky desert denizens are looking for good ways to make sure their bare limbs are glowing, silky and soft.

With so many inventive and luxurious treatments in the valley’s top spas, here’s a look at a few in the spotlight this month.

photo courtesy of Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage

Unwind at the spa of the Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage.

One of the signature treatments at the Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage is the Spirit of the Mountains, aimed at inducing bliss and well-being with its combination of body exfoliation, a warm stone massage, detoxifying wrap and invigorating scalp treatment. Their secret blend of rare desert herbs, plants and flowers come into play in the heated herbal poultices and healing clay of the body wrap and the soothing scalp treatment.

Through Jan. 15, the spa is also highlighting a special that includes a chocolate truffle body wrap and chocolate truffle facial, served up with a chocolate truffle and glass of Champagne, guaranteed to leave you feeling like the best bon-bon in the box. Yum.

Through the end of January, Spa La Quinta at La Quinta Resort & Club is taking a trip to the islands with rum-infused body treatments, including their Rum Plum Plum Plum special — a scrub that combines brown sugar, premium aged rum, rice bran oil and butterscotch, followed by a massage with melted mango and cocoa butters, leaving your skin with a gorgeous glow. Their Pedicure on the Rocks starts with a butter brûlée soak, exfoliates with the buttered rum brown sugar scrub and finishes with a massage with hot stones and cinnamon body oil.

photo courtesy of La Quinta Resort & Club

The Spa La Quinta at La Quinta Resort & Club offers a Rum Plum Plum Plum special.

The Palm Springs Yacht Club at the Parker Palm Springs is touting specials that give an extra service with the purchase of any five spa services. Another favorite this month is their Guilty Pleasures package—a sugar scrub, custom-crafted massage and spa pedicure.

The Ayurvedic Ritual Package at the spa at Marriott Desert Springs in Palm Desert combines a European scrub to exfoliate and soften skin all over the body, a detoxifying herbal wrap and the Abhyanga treatment. The Abhyanga brings in two expert therapists, who move in a fluid, hypnotic motion to massage warm, herbal-infused oil on the scalp, hair and body. This is said to balance the body’s energy channels and work on a cellular level to purify, nourish and tone the body into a high level of relaxation. A pampering makeup application, shampoo and styling at the Patrick Marchessa Salon is the perfect finishing touch.

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