Archive for April, 2011
Spa Gregorie’s Day Spas & Salons Offer Guests a Skintervention With a Monthly Facial Club
Encouraging your clients to adopt a new skincare regime isn’t always easy. Old habits die hard, as they say. However, Spa Gregorie’s (Del Mar, Newport Beach, Rancho Santa Margarita , CA) has come up with a way to make it a bit easier thanks to the Skincredible Monthly Facial Club. Starting in May, the spa is offering complimentary skin evaluations to address individual skincare concerns. The Skintervention appointments are available for a full week at each Orange County location. Once clients have their tailored prescription, they are invited to join the spa’s monthly membership club. For $99 a month, members enjoy one monthly professional-grade facial, two complete homecare kits valued at $240, 20 percent off all additional skincare purchases, upgrades, and more. It’s a great way to help your clients put their best face forward and keep them coming back for more.
China Glaze Adorns Nails at Fashion Show
“My Fair Lady” was the theme of Sue Wong’s Fall 2011 show that took place at her private residence in Los Angeles. Paying homage to the Edwardian styling of the film and the overall theme of transformation, Wong chose China Glaze to complement her collection that was filled with ornate gowns, rich satins, flowing chiffons, and fine laces. Wong decided that China Glaze Drastic (a dark brick red) and China Rouge (a rich, creamy red) would fit the mood she was looking to set. All manicures were then topped off with Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat for a high gloss shine.
A New Survey Reveals What Women Can Do Without
Although I’m as vain as the next person, I must admit I was somewhat surprised by the recent findings of a national survey commissioned by L’Bel USA that gauged women’s attitudes on beauty, products, and lifestyle choices. According to the survey, women are willing to give up coffee, chocolate, and even sex for one week rather than part with their favorite beauty product. It also reported that they would more likely give up their favorite pair of shoes or jeans than their favorite skincare or makeup product. Conducted by TNS, the online survey reached a national sample of 1,321 American women ages 18 and 0lder. Some other interesting findings included the following:
Three-quarters of women (76 percent) report that they carry a makeup/skincare-related product in their purse regularly. Lipstick/lip gloss (63 percent) topped the list of items.
The top-ranked item that women reported as being a must-have when going out at night was their lipstick/lip gloss. Six in 10 women (59 percent) prefer lip gloss to lotion (17 percent), fragrance (12 percent), foundation/concealer (9 percent), and mascara (6 percent).
While I rarely leave the house without mascara, I’d probably do more than just consider it before going cold turkey on chocolate. Then again, I have a ravenous sweet tooth. What would you go without?
The Leading Hotels of the World Offers
Club Members Hometown Benefits
As Bon Jovi likes to ask, “Who says you can’t go home?” (Yes, that’s the Jersey girl in me shining through.) And now home is even more enticing for members of The Leading Hotels of the World’s Leaders Club if their hometown is London, New York City, or Paris. Club members residing in the metropolitan areas of those three cities can now enjoy “Home Benefits,’ which includes specials and food, complimentary cocktails, spas products, and more at Leading Hotels in their home city. The program was launched in these particular locations because they all have multiple Leading Hotels and large numbers of Leaders Club members. “Home Benefits are an exciting new way to engage our Leaders Club members,” says president and CEO Ted Teng. “We are constantly looking at way s to provide value to our customers and increase business to our member hotels. These extended Leaders Club benefits encourage members who live in the vicinity of London. New York City, and Paris to experience the exceptional facilities and services of nearby hotels without spending the night away from home.” To find out more about the program, click here.
Signature Worldwide Offers Customer
Service Training Sweepstakes
In the current economy, customer service is the key to setting a hotel—and spa—apart from the others. Exceptional service can provide a business with a significant advantage over its competitors. Keeping this philosophy in mind, Signature Worldwide is launching its Legendary Makeover Sales & Service Training Giveaway. Hotels across the U.S. can enter the contest, with one lucky hotel winning Signature Worldwide’s renowned customer service training, valued at more than $50,000. From a guest’s arrival to their departure, hotel employees will learn the value of customer service on all levels, in turn increasing profits, morale, and hotel ratings. “Signature Worldwide has been a sales and customer service training partner in the hospitality industry for 25 years, and we know many hotels are excited to improve the level of service they provide,” says CEO Steve Wolever. “We want to help the hospitality industry provide legendary experiences for their customers at every touchpoint.”
Hotels are strongly encouraged to use social media outlets, video and photos to convince the judges why they should win. Entries will be accepted on www.signatureworldwide.com through May 15. Judges will determine the winner based on dedication, enthusiasm, and commitment to success.
The Atlantic Celebrates the Royal Wedding
I suppose you would have to be living under a rock to not realize that Royal Wedding Fever has taken hold of the world—in less than two weeks, millions will be tuning in to watch the wedding spectacular. (I’ll admit, I’m looking forward to it myself. I was only six when Charles and Di wed, but I still have fond memories of watching her descend from her carriage in her puffy princess dress.) As for this wedding, it’s everywhere. It’s on the news, it’s online, and it’s even in the spa. Last week, we wrote about some fun wedding-themed offerings at The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans. This week, get a glimpse at how The Atlantic Resort & Spa (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) is honoring the upcoming nuptials of Will and Kate. Festivities include a Royal Wedding viewing soiree, which takes place from 4 to 9 a.m. There, guests can watch the wedding on TV while sipping tea and noshing on strawberries and cream, hot buttered scones, and savory canapés. The resort is also hosting a “Royal Reception” cocktail hour to toast the newlyweds with flutes of champagne, Beefeater Gin mixes, and Bloody “Marrys” offered at $4.29 to commemorate the wedding date and light bites including mini fruit cakes on the resort’s fifth floor terrace overlooking the ocean, from 3 to 5 p.m. Finally, guests can get the royal treatment throughout the day at Spa Atlantic, where the popular Marie Antoinette and The King ($376 per couple, 110 minutes) experience will be available for 20 percent off. This tantalizing session begins with a chocolate body scrub, followed by a marshmallow body mask with a chocolate and strawberries bubble bath. The experience culminates with a 50-minute massage using a milk and honey body icing application.
“Not only is celebrating the Royal Wedding fun for our guests—especially those visiting from the U.K.—but a great opportunity for us to provide them with a day of ultimate pampering,” says Susan Aichele, the resort’s director of sales and marketing. “We aim to treat our guests like royalty and encourage them to reward themselves with luxury and relaxation on this highly anticipated day.”
Tweezerman Partners with Starlight Children’s Foundation
Tweezerman partnered with the Starlight Children’s Foundation to launch its new Reach for the Stars Zip File. A portion of the sales proceeds from the bright pink file will be donated to the foundation to help fund its mission to brighten the lives of seriously ill children and their families.
Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans Unveils Royal Wedding Festivities
For those us who will not be attending the Royal Nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey, do not fret. On April 29, beginning at 5 a.m.,The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans is offering royal wedding watchers a chance to see the wedding of the century in true British fashion. Guests are invited to watch the event at the Davenport Lounge on the lobby level of the hotel to enjoy traditional British teas, scones, pastries, and other English delights or drink a Bass Ale while feasting on fish and chips. Visitors will also have a chance to win a CZ sapphire necklace inspired by Princess Diana or a Royal Four Hands Massage at the The Ritz-Carlton Spa, New Orleans. After the celebration, guests then head over to the Fairgrounds for the 41st annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival—perhaps not as regal an experience as a royal wedding, but most certainly just as fun.
Spas Offer a New Way to Detox
Recently, I had the chance to go off the grid while on a 10-day cruise in Antarctica. With no cell reception or internet connection, I found myself enjoying a newfound sense of freedom. My only outside news came word of mouth during a visit to Port Lockroy, a restored British Antarctic research station that now serves as a museum, post office, and souvenir shop. Fortunately, spa-goers don’t have to travel to the ends of the earth to escape technology’s far-reaching grasp.
Instead, they can opt for the ultimate solo package at Teton Mountain Lodge. There, they can enjoy three nights of accommodation in a Lodge Room, two full-length spa treatments at Solitude Spa, one full-day privately guided hike to the iconic Jackson Peak complete with a picnic lunch and a High Altitude Therapy bubble bath upon their return as part of Solitude: Unplugged – The Digital Detox Package (starting at $1,432.50). The package is available through September.
On the east coast, spa-goers can ease their digital detox with the Stillwater Hand Massage at Hyatt Regency Newport’s Stillwater Spa. It is designed to relieve stress and tension due to excessive typing and texting. They’re also given complimentary Blackberry Balm for at-home use. At Omni Bedford Springs’s Springs Eternal Spa, there is the Blackberry Retreat, a hand reflexology service that involves a gentle blackberry salt exfoliation, hand cleansing, and moisturizing massage with whipped Blackberry Vanilla Body Butter. What better way to get the detox started…aside from heading for the hills?
Should Calorie Counts Apply Across The Board?
A few days ago some friends and I went to the movies. (We saw the remake of “Arthur,” which in no way lived up to the original, but my unexplained obsession with Russell Brand make it worthwhile.) Generally speaking, I don’t usually snack on a lot of junk food, nor do I drink soda. But for some reason, a movie just isn’t the same to me without a bag of popcorn (with butter…yikes!) and a small soda, which is usually the size of my head. As I was standing in line for my goodies, I remembered an article I recently read in the New York Times about how the federal government released a proposed rules requiring chain restaurants and other food-services businesses to post calorie counts on menus, but, after objections from theater chains, they are not required to do the same. The National Association of Theater Owners claim that movies are “escapist entertainment” and that moviegoers do not go there with the intent of eating a meal (not true in my case).
My personal opinion is that, considering all the health problems and the obesity rate in the U.S., the rules should apply across the board, especially at an establishment where a large popcorn and a large soda can contain as many calories as a typical person needs in a day. I’m not condemning people for eating and drinking these snacks, because that would be hypocritical, but I do believe the public should have the right to know exactly what they are ingesting. What are your thoughts on this topic?
