Chandan Sparsh spa opens

The first time I developed a zit, my grandmother ground me some sandalwood paste. “Just a dab on the pimple,” she advised me. My mum never used anything but sandal soap out of Karnataka’s very own factories. “It’s cooling, anti-ageing and antiseptic,” she said.

Some voices stay in your head, no matter how old you grow, so I felt like my mum and grandmum were watching approvingly when I walked into the newly opened Lambency Chandan Sparsh Day Wellness Spa. Long hours at the computer had frozen up my neck muscles to near-immobility, while my lower back felt stiff and inflexible. The therapist suggested the Classic Chandan massage from amongst the menu that offered the Chandan Deep Tissue, Chandan Signature Massage and the Hydro Back Massage.

Once on the spa bed, I realised that though the sandalwood element may hark back to ancient times, the application was completely contemporary. A good massage requires complete knowledge of the anatomy, the physiology and the muscular system and, as my therapist ironed out the kinks from my tired bod, I sent up a quick thanks for the marriage of science and sandalwood. The spa’s own sandalwood oil — the Floriana group, which promotes the spa, is the largest manufacturer of sandalwood oil in the country — had a cooling after-effect that left me energised.

Suffused with a sense of well-being, I ran an eye over the rest of their offerings: Chandan face treatments and facials for sensitive, oily, dry and ageing skins, body polish and body wraps and spa manicures and pedicures, reflexology for the hands and feet, as well as body sculpting, contouring and slimming programmes. All the therapies integrate the natural goodness of sandalwood with internationally patented FDA-approved technologies.

Science never smelt so good.

Lambency Chandan Sparsh Day Wellness Spa, 775, 100 ft Road, Indira Nagar, Bangalore. Tel: 42115122/23. Spa treatments start at Rs 999 and go up to Rs 1799. Hair and beauty treatments are in the range of Rs 50-6000.