The Place: Richard Joseph SalonSpa, English Village
I'll confess, I'm not much good at relaxing. I'm a Type A, high-strung kind of girl, and I don't really know when or how to turn that off. It's so bad, in fact, that my last spa visit ended with me mentally reviewing my to do list—DURING my massage. So you'll have to forgive me for my Saturday agenda. Work, work, facial, errands, work, work. I was a woman on a mission. That is, until I spent a little time at Richard Joseph SalonSpa.
True to my mission-minded personality, I showed up 20 minutes before my Elemental Nature Facial. It was my first visit to the Mountain Brook spa, and I'd been advised to arrive early for a little tour. The Richard Joseph staff met me at the salon door, guiding me from the beautiful displays to the check-in desk. Then the tour began.
I had no idea how much you could tuck into what, from the outside, seems like a little space in English Village. The main floor is the salon, featuring two stylist stations for haircuts, a coloring room and a cafe where chef April offers delectable treats throughout the day. (I sampled an olive tapenade on my way out of the salon, and it was delicious.) It's an elegant space set at a fun pace—but slide over to the elevator and you'll find yourself in another world.
The spa is serene, immediately transporting you out of a busy schedule and into another time. And it's not that any spa I've visited elsewhere wasn't soothing. But those spas didn't have Jennifer. Jennifer is one of Richard Joseph's aestheticians, and she is a wonder worker.
The tour led me past massage tables, steam rooms and to Jennifer, who met me outside the room where my facial would take place. I changed into my wrap while she graciously grabbed me a bottle of water, and the magic began.
The Elemental Nature Facial is great for first timers like me! While Jennifer began my foot treatment (there's a foot treatment? With my facial?! I'm sorry, no one told me this was heaven...), I filled out a short survey about my skin's needs at that moment. Adding up the answers, it was clear that I needed the fire nature facial, which promises it "cools and soothes sensitive, irritated skin." That's me—bring it on!
Ah, but how quickly that spunky "bring it on" attitude slipped away. Jennifer selected three oils and asked me to blindly smell them, selecting the one that stood out most to me to incorporate into my treatment. Then she began moving through the steps of the facial, applying exfoliating treatments, masks, extracting clogged pores and incorporating a foot, hand, scalp and shoulder massage.
Massages? Yep. Remember when I said I once left a massage with a full mental to do list? Not so this time. I started composing it early in the facial—run to the library, stop by the coffee shop—but it quickly fell away. At the end of the hour-long facial, I was on the verge of sleep.
And did I mention the difference in my skin? Though I obviously wasn't wearing a stitch of makeup, my skin felt hydrated, exfoliated and in shape. That might be the best it's been since puberty set in!
I was so relaxed, in fact, that all of my work-minded goals fell away. I drove home and climbed into a bubble bath. I was eager to get dolled up and show my friends how great I felt—but not so eager as to burst that well-earned bubble of relaxation. Who knew that it only took an hour, some peppermint oil and a facial to knock the Type A right out of this control queen?
