On my birthday last Friday, I decided to skip half day of work and went to Burke Williams Day Spa for a relaxing afternoon. Thanks to my honey who gave me a gift certificate, I could finally get a real massage by trained professional.

Burke Williams is a chain day spa company in Southern California. They provide the best services and great facilities for people to relax and enjoy professional body care. Their treatments are very expensive too. I have heard so much about it from friends but never dare to go in due to their high prices. Now I finally had an opportunity to see what is all the buzz about.

I went to the Santa Monica store located on Santa Monica and 4th street. It has indoor sauna, steam room, 2 Jacuzzi and shower rooms. Guests can go in one hour ahead of their appointments to take showers and use their facilities for free. They also provide you robes and slippers to wear. 5 minutes before the appointment you go into a big lounge waiting for your names to be called.

I booked a massage and facial for that day. My masseuse was very friendly and she had great skills. The massage was quite different than I had expected. Instead of rubbing and knocking on my back as I normally would perform massage on other people, she used her hands to “push” along my back and instantly warm up my body with her hands. She also massaged my legs and arms. It was a bit embarrassing for a total strangers to touch most of my body like that. But oh~ it felt so good and so relaxing. My first massage experience was a great “two thumbs up”! I got another massage gift certificate from another friend. Maybe I’ll go in again some other time!

My facial lady was also very nice and I heard she was the best there. Since I had a facial before, I pretty much know what to expect. But this facial was different from the one I had before. At the beginning, she dipped my hands into these hot water, which felt like hot wax on my hands, then cover my hands with plastic bags and gloves. She told me it would help to keep my hands moisturized. She also washed my face, applied some nice smell creams,then exfoliated my face, finally put lotion on my face. The entire face care didn’t take that long. She spend the rest of the time massaging my neck, upper back, hands and legs. Her force was different from the masseuse I had, but also felt very nice!

After this spa experience, I understand how nice it would be to spend my time there everyday and be treated like a queen. In reality, this dream probably won’t ever come true.  But I’m glad I had such a chance to experience the real spa life.