Spring splendour at Sparadise: Coconut massages and eco spray-tans!

In case you’ve been living under a rock recently and missed the memo, ‘Coconuts are the superfood of 2014’. I’ve been reading and hearing about the benefits of coconuts from a number of different people; from those who have just enjoyed a coconut on the beach in Phuket, to my Indian mother who used coconut oil on my hair every night in the hopes of long beautiful locks. So when the offer came along to try out Sparadise’s 60 minute Jax Coco Coconut Oil Honey Treatment ($800), there was no reason to decline.

Sparadise is probably one of the only spas in Hong Kong that has an outdoor massage bed, so even though you’re just taking a taxi to midlevels, if feels as though you’ve arrived at a spa in any beach resort.

Developed by Guerlian Spa at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, the treatment starts off with a toning coconut and honey body mask, which hydrates the skin. It also lays out the groundwork for the next step, which is a scrumptious scrub made in-house using organic sugarcane and honey. This really helps to exfoliate dead skin.

A quick shower follows the scrub, and you can’t help loving the smooth feel of your skin! After the shower, Sparadise helps to lock the moisture in with a gentle full body massage using Jax Coco’s unrefined coconut oil, straight from the Philippines. The massage ends with a refreshing Jax Coco drink.

I was concerned that I would be smelling like coconuts from a mile away after the treatment, but the staff at Sparadise are well trained and know when to stop. I felt so relaxed that it was hard to resist falling asleep! The treatment is for both men and women so if you can’t get away for the summer, make sure you book an appointment at Sparadise for a little holiday indulgence!

As a pink-tinted and pasty Irish skinned lass who grew up in the north of England, I am probably amongst the best qualified in Hong Kong to review the latest in fake tans. After years of having finally accepted and embraced my see-through charm, I was reluctant to go back down the yellow streak road. Needless to say, when I was sent on my way to check out the new Eco Tan spray tan at Sparadise, they weren’t in for an easy ride, not with my keen eye for patches!

Sparadise is a tranquil temple to all things natural and I immediately relaxed and began to succumb to the incense wafting around me. I’m all for organic, it works great on my dinner plate and it’s nice in my shower gel, but when it comes to cosmetics? I wasn’t convinced we were there yet.

And that’s when the lovely Tina Gilbert managed to change my suspicious mind. ”The skin is the body’s largest organ,” she reminded me. She then went on to inform me that it takes just eight seconds for whatever we put on our skin to be absorbed into our bloodstream! Sonya Driver established Eco Tan after her sister was diagnosed with melanoma. In search of a sun-free tan, the two women turned to spray tanning, though it didn’t take long before Sonya began to question what, indeed, they were spraying themselves with. If I tell you it took Sonya ”two minutes” to decide she would stop using spray tans, I hope you might too begin to question what we are slathering ourselves with in the name of beauty.

Tina was meticulous with her spraying and drying, and the process took a lot longer than usual spray tans – all of which was deeply comforting to me. The spray was practically scentless and it was nice not to feel like I was inhaling an entire pharmacy. The overall finish is very dark due to the cacao colouring Eco Tan uses as a guide. It is also very sticky, so after the tan, ditch the bra, jump straight in a taxi and get home. It does have a certain ‘fake tan’ odour to it, which to me means it’s working!

When I awoke the next morning and glimpsed myself, I had that familiar panic and stumbled into a hasty shower to wash off the cacao. I emerged from the shower with a honey-hued and streak-free tan, and for the first time in about a year, I donned a miniskirt!

On day 3, my tan hadn’t cracked and left me looking like The Enormous Crocodile. I continued to use Eco Tan’s Winter Skin in the following days, which is a fabulous product with a whole lot of love behind it. I, for one, will be booking in early for summer to make sure I’m junk-ready.

Sparadise
G/F, Mid-Levels, Central, 21 Mosque Street, Mid-level, Hong Kong
5962 2236
www.sparadise.com.hk