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Summer Spa Safari – The Loews Ventana Canyon Lakeside Spa

Summer’s here!  At the beginning of the summer, I’m always feeling like I want my body and skin to look their best.  My strategy this year?  I’m taking a summer spa safari, sampling spas around the country and trying out local specialties and treatments (yes, I know, I have a hard job).

I started my safari in Tucson at the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort’s Lakeside Spa, an intimate, lovely space at an upscale resort.  The only tough part about my spa experience?  Deciding which treatments to try.  My choice – go local, allowing the professionals to use ingredients and techniques specific to the area.

That’s why I started off with the Sedona Sacred Clay Energy Restorer, a combination body scrub and wrap.  The aesthetician used salt to smooth my skin all over, then had me shower (when I found that my winter scales were gone!).  Next, she applied warm clay to my entire body, wrapped me in plastic and blankets, and massaged my scalp while I snoozed in my cocoon (I’m pretty sure I snored, but the discreet woman doing my treatment didn’t mention it).  Following Native American tradition, she wafted smoking sage around the room while I relaxed.  When I showered for a second time, I felt like a noodle.

Next up?  A Desert Rain Pedicure.  The spa director explained to me that guests who travel from afar wish they could bottle the scent of the desert after it rains. The spa decided to see what it could do; they purchased specially blended product from Sweet P’s, a Tucson-based company, to use in conjunction with a salt scrub for the most luxurious pedicure I’ve ever had. Not only did the pedicurist massage my legs with hot stones, she put little ones between my toes while I reclined with a warm neck roll.  She sprayed my legs with the gorgeous scent, then polished my toes bright purple (all the better to lounge by the spa’s lovely pool afterwards).

Yes, I live in Philadelphia, so it will probably be a while before I find myself in Tucson again.  When I do, though, you can bet I’ll be back at the Lakeside Spa – there are tons more treatments I have to try.

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