AsiaSpa — November-December 2017

SpaJourney

50 AsiaSpa November/December 2017

Writer Joyce Yip

A-List Touch

Zensa Spa in the Hollywood-themed Studio City Macau rolls out red-carpet treatment

THE DEAL: Celebrating two years since

its opening, Studio City Macau’s 13-room

Zensa Spa welcomes guests with a grand

white marble lobby. While sipping on ginger

or camomile tea, your preferences will

be determined with a detailed four-paged

questionnaire, and an additional fragrance

test to select your oil of choice.

Its menu, though expansive, is divided

not only by treatment, but also objectives

such as energise, synchronise, nourish,

hydrate and activate. For more specific

needs, suggestions are made for the sleep

deprived, those suffering from jet lag, as well

as expecting and new mothers. To really shut

your brain off, experts will personalise 120

minutes’ worth of pampering based on your

current condition and mood.

Regular spa-goers will know to leave

enough time to check out the wet facilities,

and at Zensa, nothing is textbook. Its vitality

pool, for instance, is a decagonal star where

each tip is a cocoon walled with water

jets. Be sure to check out the Snow Room.

Designed as a post-sauna concept, the cold

is supposed to close pores, boost circulation

and improve the immune system. Unlike

regular chill rooms, this enclave with

stone facades is covered with actual ice

and ‘snow’ – a feature that requires daily

maintenance and shovelling by staff in

down jackets.

THE LOWDOWN: Zensa Spa categorises

their treatments into Sense of Flow,

which serves to awaken the body; Touch,

exemplified by the treatments; and a Living

Spa Concept, which continues practices

of stimulation and balance with a home-

care kit.

Sense of Flow begins with a foot scrub

using a fennel seed-based polish in a

brass bowl, which the therapist shakes to

send vibrations throughout the body in

preparation for the upcoming treatment.

Personalised for me by my therapist, it was

the best of all worlds. While I was sprawled

across the massage table, she placed a pair

of hot stones atop each foot – a move that

was already enough to dissipate all traces

of stress – before drawing figure eights with

two more rocks across my back.

Undeniably hot upon initial contact, the

heat makes the relaxing juniper oil quickly

melt into the skin with circular movements,

soothing muscle aches and knots almost

instantly. The stones are followed with a

pressure point massage using fingertips,

hands, forearms and elbows, variations

dependent on area and tension levels. My

shoulders welcomed stronger kneading,

while a gentler touch on the delicate

forearms and inner thighs was appreciated.

To ensure I was pampered from head to

toe, the treatment ended with a 30-minute

express facial, an add-on to body treatments

designed to cleanse and rehydrate.

THE BENEFITS: My body definitely felt

lighter and muscles looser post treatment:

aches and tension from my shoulders and

thighs evaporated. And though the facial

was just a quick pick-me-up, my skin visibly

looked more radiant and pores smaller.

Despite the treatment being only 120

minutes, I felt as if I had a good night’s sleep.

THE VERDICT: Before the therapist even

shows you her moves, the spa’s decor,

facilities and surrounds are enough to

impress. The grand interiors are soothing at

the same time; pre-treatment garb thoughtful

and creative; and the sheer size of the

couple’s room – complete with his and her

sinks and prodigious vanity and bathtub –

was dazzling.

The therapist is spot-on with her strokes

• definitely two hours well spent.
  http://www.studiocity-macau.com