One thing I don’t get to try on my journeys through the world of wellness are men’s spa treatments. So I’ve started deputizing my editor to go try them for me. Recently he visited The Cocoon (#05-22 Ngee Ann City, 391 Orchard Rd., 6734-6626), the flagship Urban Homme Outlet  for an Oxy3 Face Spa ($500 per session). The treatment is a three-step process that uses pure oxygen to rejuvenate the skin. Jets of oxygen are first fired into the deeper layers of the epidermis (a strange, though oddly pleasant experience, he says); then an oxygen mist is blown across the surface, and finally a soothing face mask is applied, and you’re left to relax, inhaling the finest O2 for the best part of half an hour. All very professionally done, I’m told; and though a single treatment probably isn’t enough to draw conclusions, he’s certainly looking a lot better for it.
I, however, was not so lucky. Refresh Day Spa (#02-08 Far East Plaza, 14 Scotts Rd., 6733-6344) just launched their facial service and their PR girl C invited me to try it on for size. As it turned out, my skin was having a bad month so the spa manager recommended a customized mask and serum approach as well as an extraction procedure (gasp!). Needless to say, that bit of the process was painful as hell. If like me you have a low threshold for pain, request for a hot compress before the extraction to prep your skin. After a mild cleansing, she applied a heavy moisturizer. Unfortunately, she didn’t consider the fact that my skin was still reeling from the pain of the extraction and that some parts were bleeding slightly. By the time we got to the massage, I was so tense you couldn’t have relaxed my muscles with a rolling pin. A shame, as I’ve had their massages before and they’re great.
In other news, Australian beauty brand Aesop is now stocked at the luscious Beauty Emporium (#02-01, 8D Dempsey Rd., 6475-7375) and The Little Dröm Store (7 Ann Siang Hill, 6225-5541). You can find a great variety of their skin, hair and body care products at these two places, including the Aesop Resurrection Aromatique Hand Balm and Hand Wash ($39-122) and even their handy Jet Set Kits ($43).
Finally, if your happy glow from running the Standard Chartered Marathon last year is starting to wear off, listen up. Adidas will be opening registration for the Adidas King of the Road (KOTR) running championship in the next few weeks on their website (www.adidasrunning.com). Held in five countries across the region, the individual 16.8km races will be conducted in city areas and culminate in a final showdown, the KOTR Southeast Asian Championship in the Philippines.