glow

LIVING IN THE LIGHT

Treat yourself to a blissful facial or massage with 100 per cent natural products
Name of treatment: Heavenly facial Whats it like? The Heavenly facial

at Machka salon is a 60- to 75-minute treatment that puts your skin under examination to remedy problem areas that are specific to you. I arrived at the salon with dehydrated skin, so the treatment that followed made sure to instilled copious amounts of nourishing moisture to bring my face back to life. With her latex gloves on, my therapist started the session by looking at my skin under a magnifying lamp while steam wafted all over my face to surface any dead skin cells. A combination of a eucalyptus-scented oil for sensitive skin and a moisturising lotion that contained lavender was then mixed together and lathered all over my face during a 20-minute face massage. With her hands circulating over my temples and around my eyes and cheeks, the therapist finished the massage by using her fingers to push down on various pressure points for what I could only imagine helps the bodys circulation. Finally, a brightening mask was applied with the use of a bio-light to shine over me for a further 20 minutes. When it was explained that the bio-light works much like a laser, helping to reduce pigmentation due to the sun, acne scars or hormonal changes, but without any zapping, I felt I had reached the pinnacle of this treatment and was sure that with the bio-light prompting bright all-over skin, coupled with my recently hydrated face, I was on track to looking five years younger. Verdict: Hygienic but nourishing. Machka is a one-stop shop that keeps their premises sparkling and gets the job done. Cost: AED400 for 75 minutes Location: Villa 961, Al Wasl Road, just after J3 Mall, Dubai, 04 328 8800, www.machka.ae Reviewed by Tia Seifert.
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YHI Spa

Machka

colour therapy massage Whats it like? A Swedish massage is blissful in almost all circumstances, but combining it with colour therapy on a dry floatation bed takes relaxation to a whole new level. The dry floatation bed, which is like a shallow, scaled-down waterbed, changes colour from red to orange to yellow to green, and while your eyes may not be open to witness the glow, the effect is still there, according to my therapist Lucia. Colour therapy works on frequencies and each colour has

Name of treatment: Swedish

a different frequency, which your body feels, even if you dont see it. As if the massage isnt enough to induce proper relaxation, at the end of the treatment, Lucia turns on the jets in the floatation bed, which gently vibrate the water, helping to increase circulation. Verdict: Rainbow-coloured bliss. Cost: 80-minute Swedish massage AED375, colour therapy dry floatation bed upgrade AED50 Location: YHI Spa, Melia Dubai, 23 Kuwait Street, Port Rashid, Dubai, 04 376 7475, www.yhispa.com Reviewed by Amanda Tomlinson.

yoga life

feb R ua R Y 2014

WORDS: TIa SEIFERt & aMaNDa tOMLINSON. IMaGES: SHUttERStOCK aND SUPPLIED.