New year, new spa treatments; and this one involves local gems. The Five-Star spa at Mandarin Oriental, Boston will launch a new, customized healing crystal treatment January 1 that includes a foot ritual, a 20-minute exfoliating scrub and an 80-minute massage — all using the power of gems.
The gemstone are mined from the New England area, making each crystal about as Boston as the Red Sox. Your treatment starts with a 10-minute consultation, where you’ll select the crystal you are most drawn to out of four carefully selected gems (garnet, black tourmaline, smoky quartz and amethyst). Each crystal has its own healing properties, and you’ll be encouraged to touch each one and see what “speaks to you.” Garnet is the stone for success in business and it helps eliminate feelings of sadness; black tourmaline calms nerves and enhances creativity; smoky quartz eases back and joint pain; and amethyst is the stone of wisdom, increasing meditation and releasing toxins. You don’t have to know any of the properties going into the treatment; according to the therapist, your body will choose the one you really need.
Once you choose your gemstone, you’ll get to pick between two essential oil blends, each with their own healing properties, such as aiding in digestion, self-confidence and anxiety.
Then comes the 20-minute scrub (made up of ground-up calendula seed and grapeseed oil), shower and 80-minute massage, where the therapist places the selected crystal in its most powerful location (think lower back, hands and chest). The Gemstone Vitality Treatment costs $270 on weekdays and $295 on weekends, and crystals are available to purchase too.
Photo courtesy of Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
