Go to any Sephora and you’ll see a wall of Ole Henricksen products–all natural, smells delish, and the stuff actually works. But did you know they had a spa in Los Angeles? It’s the only one they have in the United States, and if you live anywhere close or are planning a visit to Hollywood to tour the crazies, then you absolutely must go.

I purchased a discounted spa package through Gilt City Los Angeles, which included a 25-minute dunk in their Hydrotherapy Soak tub (complete with a glass of champagne), a 50-minute massage, 50-minute sea salt body scrub, and a 50-minute Advance Hydra-Dermabrasion facial, all for $245.

The soak was nice, the wall of candles made the room smell wonderful, and the heat and steam from the pool really opened my pores. My only complaint was the water was a bit too hot, and there weren’t any directions on how to turn down the heat. No matter, I just climbed out to cool off and then got back in.

Then from the soak came the sea salt scrub, in a room with a massage bed and showers on the ceiling. Ladies, be sure you come to this spa with your hair ‘o naturale, or you’ll be upset. Not even a shower cap will keep that overhead water off your head. The sea salt scrub is infused with lavender oil and lemon grass and smells heavenly. The scrub left my skin like butter, and what’ ‘mo better, you can buy the same product and use it at home and save yourself $75. Well, kinda. The scrub is $48, but the folks at O.H. say it lasts a long time.

Then there was the massage, which as pretty standard as massages go. Nothing much to see here…moving along…

By far the height of the visit was the final treatment, my hydra facial. My esthetician, Gary, said my skin looked amazing and asked me what I used. I told him, Innovative Skincare, of course! Now before I get into it I should tell you that I have mixed feelings about facials. They HURT…all the squeezing and tissues…nails digging up against my nose…the tears. All that goes away with the use of technology.

HydraFacial machine

Hydra facials utilize a diamond tip for deep exfoliation and pore refinement. Then put a serum that dissolves the blackheads into liquid and a miniature Dyson-type suction takes it all away, no squeezing necessary. I highly recommend this for ladies like me who fight off blackheads and oiliness.

What’s even better is there’s no puffiness or dark spots after the procedure. Here’s a photo of me I just took, one day after…

As a parting gift, the salon gave me a full-size bottle of their Body Sleek Lotion, full of good stuff like avocado oil, aloe vera gel, apricot oil, Vitamin D, sunflower seed oil, and almond oil. The true test of it’s effectiveness was how it would do on my summer-standard ashy ankles and feet. If I could put it on once and the moisture lasted all day, I would be customer for life. And…I’m a customer for life.