Blissed Out at Bliss

Yesterday my friend Amy took me to a mecca for spa lovers, namely the Bliss Spa on 49^th street. I got to enjoy their Classic Hot Cream Manicure and the Milk and Almond Pedicure. I don’t go to spas often because I tend to get my nail care and waxing done at typical New York budget nail places so this was definitely a wonderful treat.

In terms of a review, it was pretty fabulous, seeing it was Bliss. But here are some thoughts on what the extra dinero of a spa like Bliss gets you when it comes to nailcare:

I don’t necessarily think spa nail technicians are that much more skilled than some of the better nail technicians who have done my nails at budget places. However, because the emphasis at Bliss is not on volume, the nail technicians have much more time, and as a result can do a more thorough job, especially with cuticles and hangnails and really tough heel skin. That’s the first reason I like going to a spa to get my nails done once in a while.

The second reason I love high end spas is not so much the treatments as the setting. We specifically decided on Bliss 49 as opposed to the other Bliss’s in New York because it has the largest comfiest lounge. We also made sure to get there early so we could enjoy the lounge for a while. The nail care room upstairs has TVs and everyone has their own personal remote.

The hot cream manicure is a Bliss classic and involves spending about 10 minutes with your hands in plastic bags that have heated unscented body cream in them. The next day my hands are still super soft. I wish I had the guts to nuke some body butter and slather it on my hands at home, to replicate the Bliss hot cream treatment, but I am afraid of blowing up the microwave or something.

The Milk and Almond Pedicure was a little different than what I expected. While I did get to soak my feet in hot milk and almond essential oil (very blissful), there was no ground almond scrub or almond scented cream. Clearly my interpretation of Milk and Hot Pedicure is different than Bliss’s! Their interpretation was excellent too. It involved the Bliss Lemon and Sage scrub (very fresh scent and a fairly gentle scrub) and Bliss Lemon and Sage Butter.

All in all, it was a wonderful afternoon! Many thanks to my friend Amy for taking me to Bliss!