Trance Spa soothes the senses

Impossible deadlines, grouchy boss, multiple bad hair days, a broken heel — yep, my week had definitely not been the best. I needed some super serious TLC and a tub of chocolate ice-cream wasn’t going to make the cut.

So over the blissfully long weekend, I hopped over to check out the new Trance spa. In looks, it didn’t match up to the rose-petals-and-muted-lighting images you see in glossies. But what they lacked in visual appeal they more than made up with their services.

The Rose Butter and Body Spa felt as delicious as it sounded: A body polish of aromatic rose and rosehip flower oils and mineral salts, followed by a massage of rose flower body butter that improves skin elasticity and prevents stretch marks. Then came a sinful body wrap in chocolate — and I was as yummy as a perfectly made dark chocolate mousse.

A relaxing steam bath later, it was time to pamper those stiletto-battered feet. The Foot Reflexology Massage — a combination of massage techniques using scented lotions — was just what the foot fairy ordered.

The spa also has an ayurvedic practitioner who helps sort out those stubborn aches and pains through massages like Shirodhara, where a stream of oil is poured on to the middle of the forehead, and Kati Basti, where warm medicated oil is placed over the lower back in a black gram flour dough. There are also exotic floral facials and aroma mani-pedis.

Before I stepped out all dew fresh and satin soft, I booked a Dead Sea massage, with Dead Sea mineral salts, lemongrass, lavender, vanilla and patchouli oils.

Mmmm. Sometimes, beauty is all about being skin deep.

Trance Spa, #2, 2nd cross, off Nandidurg road, Jaymahal Extn, Bangalore 46. Tel: 42048219. Massages range from Rs 550-2200. Salon services from Rs 250.