When you’ve had a particularly tough day at the office – perhaps you’ve had to fire someone, or been shouted at, or worked towards a gruesome deadline – it is necessary to relax and de-stress. You can try breathing exercises or yoga, but another great way to declutter your mind is at a spa.
The De La Mer Day Spa on Jumeirah Beach Road in Dubai is a small haven of serenity for the female executive. It offers a host of treatments from body scrubs to haircuts in a setting that is comfortable and professional.
Day spas are usually associated with hotels, a place to go when you’re really in the mood to treat yourself, but the De La Mer is more convenient for those on the go and was within easy reach straight after work.
I had the chocolate body scrub and Balinese massage combo designed to help exhausted executives relax and leave them with soft, smooth skin. It costs a total of Dh500 – Dh200 for the chocolate scrub and Dh300 for the massage.
Chocolate seems to be one of those magical ingredients. It tastes amazing, releases endorphins that make us happy and the smell is said to have a similar effect, calming us in the process. It also apparently has anti-inflammatory properties and is good for cellulite.
The treatment began with a foot soak, followed by the body scrub, which was wonderfully warm. The smell of chocolate is not overwhelming, it is just enough to be delicious and chase your mind to a mountain peak where a cup of creamy hot chocolate awaits. The therapist applies it with sweeping, massaging motions and so very quickly you relax and forget your workplace woes. The only awkward moment is having to turn over, which interrupts the process, but unless some whiz kid invents a massage table that automatically turns one around, this will always be the case.
After a quick shower, (my skin was lovely and smooth by this point) the Balinese massage begins. This was by far one of the best massages I have ever had. I dozed off at least three times, but forced myself to stay awake for reasons of professionalism and to appreciate the therapist’s hard work. Then I dozed off another couple of times.
q&a Moira Pirzad, De La Mer Day Spa
Who is this spa designed for?
Women who are tired, stressed out, want a change, want a makeover or would just like to come out and relax. We do get a lot of ladies in straight from the office who say “de-stress me”. They mainly want relaxation treatments like a Balinese or deep-tissue massage. Many of our clients are women who work; we have teachers, lawyers. During the day we go slowly but as it creeps up to 4-7pm it gets busy. Some weeks, our Mondays can be fully booked, but usually from Wednesday to Friday are the busiest days.
How did the idea come about?
It is a family-run business, with my husband, son and daughter. We opened on February 26 last year, so have been open just over a year. My daughter is a therapist herself and when my husband was close to retirement I thought it would be nice to have a business.
It is a very competitive market, how do you differentiate yourself?
We like to think we’re different from every day spa; we like ladies to come in and feel like it is their own home. They can come in and have a coffee and not necessarily have a treatment. We focus on the more organic side of things; our head therapist makes our lotions and potions and we mix our own organic facials. Plus we have a spa garden with strawberries and cucumbers grown, so we make [the lotions] fresh that morning and they’ve become quite popular.
thamid@thenational.ae
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