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 | A Taste of the Authentic At this junction in spa history, the comprehensive system of healthy pampering known as Ayurveda -- an across-the-board Hindu wellness practice that translates to “knowledge of life” in Sanskrit -- is part and parcel of the industry lexicon. In San Francisco alone, there are at least a dozen spas that profess to employ some ancient Ayurvedic techniques in their services. But for spa babies who aren’t content with watered-down exotics (an oil treatment here, a mantra thrown in for good measure there), Maharishi Ayurveda Health Spa is the real deal.More |  | Undiscovered Terrain for Spa Babies Personally, I’m so [i]over[/i] overstimulation of the senses. I attribute that to relentless marketing and, of course, the advent of the holiday “gimmes”. Everywhere I go, I can count more iPods, Blackberries, and other fun gadgets with completely useless vestigial features than I can count people. That’s why I thank the deities of beauty and health for Oakland’s FLOAT – Flotation Center and Art Gallery, for offering some respite from all the madness.More |  | Spa Therapy for Your Toes If you thought smooth, callus-free feet and perfectly polished toenails were beauty considerations strictly confined to warmer months, think again. For the sake of hygiene and, well, hygiene -- do your tootsies a favor this winter season and give them some preventive care against the humid confines of boots and sneakers. Recently, I stumbled upon a couple of new favorites, who dispense with the fast, factory-line pedicure treatment and add some sanitary know-how to the brew of indulgence.More |  | Beauty Made Simple As much as I love the science of beauty, frequenting the typical med spa isn’t really my idea of a good time. The vision that springs to mind when I think of med spas usually involves antiseptic, staid environments; poker-faced doctors in lab coats, plying patients with machines that look like they were built specifically to inflict pain; and plasticky debutantes itching for their next Botox fix. Sure, this isn’t a picture that’s altogether accurate or unbiased, but that’s exactly why places like Aura Skin Spa exist -- to school the ignorant (including me) out of their beauty prejudices.More |  | Customized Skincare Lisa Bradbury and Shirley Lau have been in business at Fillmore Street’s Lisa Bradbury Skincare for six years -- and quite simply, they’re in the business of making your skin the best it can possibly be.More |  | A Scion of Good, Old-Fashioned Decadence Chicago-based Silent Theatre Company understands the appeal of classic celluloid, which they ape to sublime ends in their piece "Lulu", an adaptation of German playwright Frank Wedekind’s 1894 Lulu cycle, comprising "Earth Spirit" and "Pandora’s Box", but bearing more of a resemblance to G.W. Pabst’s 1928 film revision starring über-vamp Louise Brooks.More |  | An Outpost for All Your Autumn Skincare Needs Soothe (formerly London Elise Skin Care) is one of those cozy home-away-from-home establishments that make full-scale spas seem bland and passé in comparison. A modest one-room organic skincare and body healing clinic, it also happens to be one of the best-kept beauty secrets in the Upper Haight.More |  | The Breadth Of What We Fear Terror is perhaps the major hot button term of our epoch. It used to define overwhelming fear, a sense of looming danger exemplified by an inability to act. At some point, that protean, not easily identifiable fear became alloyed by specific words and ideologies --such as the threat of systematic violence by hostile others, government intimidation, and the egregiously coined “War on Terror.” It’s impossible, these days, to even bethink the term without having it attributed to code red.More |  | A Classic Case of the Domestic Squabble Frustratingly verbose games of cat and mouse; privileged yet disgruntled middle-aged harpies having at it; hardly suppressed Electra complexes; emasculated college professors burying their woes in a nightcap and a novel. Yes, my friends, that's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" in a proverbial nutshell. Edward Albee's 1962 play, with its characteristic histrionics and intentional shock value, might seem dated these days, but it did for theater what films like [i]Last Tango in Paris[/i] did for cinema--namely, it created a new vernacular for its form, one which seethed with bitter contempt for traditional family values and canned gender roles.More |  | Experience the Luxury It’s 8am on a Saturday, and while most of the people I know aren’t even beginning to wipe the sleep from their eyes, I’m in the spa waiting area of the Claremont Resort & Spa -- along with at least a dozen other women in identical white robes. From the looks and sound of it, my peers range from brides-to-be to debutantes on an early weekend excursion. About three minutes pass before spa attendants pour into the room, one by one, calling out clients’ names and ushering them towards a facial, massage, or some other such ministration. The room empties rapidly -- it’s clear that even on sleepy weekend mornings, the Claremont Spa means business.More |
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