The first issue of Allure Spa has some triumphs and blunders, but overall it's a lively read with terrific writer and graphics, good spa tips and lots of celebrity coverage -- just in case you always wondered about Lindsay Lohan's favorite facial (caviar) and how many times a week model Gisele Bundchen gets a massage (three).
The Best Things About Allure Spa
The best thing about the first issue is writing and design that kick things up a notch from the typical serene and gushy -- okay, boring -- spa coverage. One coup is an essay by Elizabeth Gilbert, the funny, inspiring author of bestseller "Eat, Pray, Love", which tells how Gilbert recovers from a messy divorce by dividing up a year to indulge in food in Italy, meditate at an ashram in India study with a medicine man in Bali, where she falls in love.
For Allure Spa, Gilbert goes back to Bali on an intensive two-week Iyengar yoga retreat and rediscovers her beauty while soaking (and weeping) in a rose-petal filled bath after a traditional Balinese massage.
Fans of Gilbert will recognize her thoughtfulness and humour as she describes her dreamy immersion in the Balinese culture of beauty (amidst strenghtening thigh stretches), where she begins to wear saris and put flowers in her hair and feel more feminine. "It's not an impossible standard of beauty that the Balinese seek, but just a beauty that they can live within and celebrate all the time, no matter what they may actually look like."
Allure Spa Makes a Few Blunders
Dany Levy reveals the perils of spa gluttony when she visits The Mayflower Inn & Spa in Connecticut, where the rate includes as many spa treatments as you want. Though warned not to overindulge, Levy, like many others, can't help herself.
The magazine is full of valuable information and tips that can make you a more savvy spa-goer. At the same time it has some misleading information that might raise false expectations. In an article called "Day Trip," about making the most of your day spa vist, it says, "Charm the pants off your aesthetician and you may find yourself the happy recipient of free add-ons, extra treatment time, complimentary snacks, or even champagne."
As a working esthetician, all I can say is, don't count on it! Free add-ons and treatment time could get you in trouble with management, and most spas don't have extra snacks and champagne sitting around for discretionary use.
The "Destination and Resort Spas Directory" is a list of select properties, with fun features like "best room" and "things you must do." But it misses the chance to explain the difference between a destination spa and resort spa. And after the first headline all the pages say "Destination Spas Directory." So it's adding to the confusion instead of clearing it up.
A piece on medical spas has good tips like finding out if the glitzy medical spa has a doctor in the house. But in my opinion it overstates the risks of Botox -- like the famous drooping eye -- without mentioning that it doesn't work on everyone.
The Bottom Line: It's Fun!
There's lots of product coverage, with a "Spa Hot List" that includes favorites of celebrities and hotshots like Marcia Kilgore, founder of Bliss Spa. The magazine is a publicist's dream!!! But still fun!!
The Allure Spa editors have also brought over fun Allure features like "Free Stuff," where you can go on-line to enter contests for beauty baskets. An Allure Spa Beauty Box is $35 for $255 worth of stuff from advertisers. And if you become an Allure Expert and tell them what you think about the magazine, you can win a free spa treatment.
Allure Spa is a fun read, and has lots of good information. I hope it does well enough that we see it more often!
