Edina
The moment that every Minnesotan waits for each year is finally here: we can now start shedding layers. We’re packing up parkas, freeing ourselves of long-sleeved everything and breaking free from closed-toe shoes, all the while getting an absolute vitamin-D high from those glorious glimpses of almost-summer sunshine. Before you can properly show your shoulders and bare those legs, however, you’ve got to commit to a little behind-the-scenes prep work and wake your skin up from its cloistered life of winter blahs. We’ve combed the city to find the fifteen must-have spa treatments—from scrubs and tanning to nails and hair—to help you get your body in tip top shape for any and all forms of summertime glory.
Scrubs
The dry winter weather probably didn’t do you any favors. Rid your skin of those layers of dead cells and get glowing with a professional body scrub. Not only will your skin be enviably smooth, but exfoliation also encourages the lymphatic system, getting blood moving around and nourishing those precious skin cells. Extrados Salon & Spa’s “Head to Toe Glow” body scrub boasts the highest integrity marine-based products (discovered by salon owner Leah Simon-Clarke after a 5-star spa experience in Laguna Beach). This pumice-based exfoliation, followed by intense antioxidant-packed hydration, promises to even eradicate those nagging little bumps that can develop on upper arms. Skin ends up divinely soft and unquestionably touchable.
Juut Salonspa’s Caribbean Therapy is a renewing treatment that utilizes dry exfoliation and a seaweed wrap that guarantees to refresh tired skin.
Tanning
Although the notion of catching some rays and getting “just a little color” has a definite allure, we all know better: today’s innocent bronze glow will inevitably be tomorrow’s age spots and wrinkles. Thanks to decades of increasingly better sunless tanning technology, we don’t have to stay pasty white (or get grossly orange, for that matter) to stay healthy. The low-aroma (seriously), organic “Skin Perfect Sunless Tan” at Extrados is truly one of the best sunless treatments on the market. Lasting an awe-inspiring 7-10 days, the tan (which should be applied 48 hours after your body scrub treatment) pulls color out of the skin, mimicking the way it would naturally take to the sun. Mid-summer tan without the actual tanning? Yes, please. (Only available at Linden Hills location.)
The Day Spa’s luxurious and relaxing sunless tanning treatments are applied by hand and massaged into the skin, post exfoliation of course. Using natural St. Tropez products, the super believable “just sun kissed” color is the perfect companion to beach or cabin ventures. Better yet? During the month of May, Day Spa customers receive a free four-ounce St.Tropez bronzing mousse (for keeping up the color at home) with the purchase of an 80-minute exfoliation and tanning treatment (a retail value of $30).
Manicures & Pedicures
Few greater joys are there than bare feet, whether slipping them into cool pool waters or wandering along sandy beach shores. For this very reason—the countless days during the summertime that your toenails see sunshine—the pedicure is the most essential of all summer treatments. Proper polishing alone is not enough, you need seriously skin sloughing to do the trick. The Day Spa’s fruit-focused “Seasonal Organic Pedicure” this summer is “CoCo Luscious,” comprised of a pleasantly tropical combination of coconut and pineapple Eminence products. The kicker here is the mango-pineapple enzyme peel that devours dead skin cells on legs revealing—and this is probably where they get the name—“luscious” fresh skin.
Spalon Montage has the answer to activity-induced polish chipping. Their new OPI Axxium Gel Lacquer manicure is life changing, staying shiny and un-blemished for up to two weeks. Cured with UV light, these gel polishes adhere to the surface of the prepped nail and are completely dry by the end of service. Get this treatment before a summertime trip, and add “touch ups” to the list of things you won’t worry about.
