What Exactly is a Body Wrap at the Spa?

Growing up, I thought that going to the spa would be a lot like the scene from Legally Blonde, where Emmett and Elle visit the ex wife. For my 24th birthday, I decided to spend a day at the spa. While reviewing the spa menu I saw a list of body wraps and I had NO idea what they were or what they were supposed to do. Is it that cocoon thing that lady was doing in Legally Blonde? Or is it a detox contraption where you sit and drink tons of water hoping to lose a couple inches like those It Works! wraps?

There was only one way to find out. I booked my appointment for a Detoxifying Thai Wrap. The description on the spa menu simply said:

“A Green Tea & Crushed Rice Body Scrub and a Sea Kelp & Green Tea masque will be applied before the body is wrapped to allow for a deeper detoxifying and moisturizing experience. An application of our Thai Coconut Lemongrass Silk & Honey lotion will be used to hydrate your skin.” 

…OK.

So I still had no idea what it was but sure sounded like I’ll end up looking like this for $130 and 75 minutes.

My spa day finally arrived and oh, my gosh. First of all, thank you to Yelp! for helping me track down the best spa in my city. With an almost perfect rating, I chose the Spa at La Bella in New York. I ALWAYS thoroughly read reviews, and I think its so important to do so when you are splurging your hard-earned cash for someone to sit there and rub lotion on you. It better be outstanding, right? This spa was perfect with a cabin-like vibe.

After going to my locker and changing into my robe, I had about 20 minutes to have some apples, tea, and lemon-cucumber infused water. They also had blankets with the sofas and a cozy fireplace in the waiting area.

My therapist finds me and leads me to the body treatment room. It was pretty intimidating at first. There’s a massage table, a giant tub, and a shower. I had no idea what to do.

So basically, the therapist leaves the room and you get to disrobe and lay under the towel on the heated massage towel. The treatment started with the therapist applying a heavenly exfoliating scrub all over my body. After each section, she would apply a hot towel over the scrub to open my pores. It felt ahhhh-mazing. After this, she covers me and has me lay on this platform inside the giant tub and then applies a clay-like mask all over my body. She wraps me in a plastic-y wrap that sticks to the clay mask, and lowers the platform into the tub which is full of hot water. You basically just lay there and float for 15-20 minutes. The lights are super dim and there was spa music playing so it was really, really relaxing.

When the 20 minutes are up, ( 😦 ) the therapist gently raised the platform, makes sure you’re covered, and leads you to the shower where you have to rub off the dried clay from you body. When you’re done, you dry off completely, go back to the heated massage table where the therapist massages you with ultra-hydrating aroma-therapeutic lotion.

And then its over 😦

I loved this body wrap so much that I have started to prefer body wraps over massages. I think it’s a better deal to get a full body treatment on top of a massage (for me it felt like I got 3 massages!) than just one regular massage.

I stronggggly recommend these body wraps for people in colder and drier climates. Moving from Miami to New York made me feel like a molting reptile after a week in New York, so this hydrating treatment was awesome rehab for my skin.

It’s worth the splurge and after working so hard, you deserve to treat yourself!