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Happy Feet: Super Relax Foot Massage is Super Relaxing
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Well, in life as in real estate, it's all about three little words: location, location, location.
When my darling friend Veggetina invited me to try Super Relax Chinese Foot Massage in Sherman Oaks, to say that I was resistant would be a gross understatement. Based on my first foot massage (see my June 1st story: $15 foot massage: how to maximize a minimal experience @ www.examiner.com/examiner/x-11877-LA-Spa-Treatments-Examiner~y2009m6d1-Fifteen-dollar-foot-massage-how-to-maximize-a-minimal-experience ), and my visions of a repeat experience complete with dirty carpeting, massage technicians with cigarette-smelling hands, and communal jars of vaseline (now you just have to read that article, don't you?), I felt justified in my reluctance. However, Veggetina was persuasive so I agreed to go, but not without an arsenal of personal comfort items.
The immediate difference between Master Wong's and Super Relax has to be that Master Wong's is in the East Jesus section of the San Gabriel Valley and Super Relax is in a busy, more upscale strip mall right off Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks. Just walking tranquilized me; the store is hushed, with the trickling of fountains and a "Quiet in the Spa" sign instead of screaming communication in the mother tongue. The two rows of plush chairs in the "Spa" face a giant screen which projects soothing images of plants, flowers and people riding elephants in Southeast Asia as the narcotizing music filters in softly.
This time around I asked for a female technician, hoping desperately for a non-smoker, or at least a smoker with good hygiene. I must say, though, that I was given the impression that Super Relax had high standards regarding employee cleanliness - and cleanliness in general. My therapist, the lovely Nancy, was confused when I produced from my giant vintage Coach tote some Batherapy natural mineral bath salts (www.queenhelene.com/batherapyhome2.php), Me!Bath Spa choco-holic body icing (www.mebath.com/), and Trader Joe's lavender body oil (sorry - they don't make this one any more) to enhance my foot massage, but one good whiff of the choco-holic lotion and she was down with the program.
About the massage itself: wonderful wonderful wonderful. And not just foot-focused either; it was actually sort of a full body massage (as most foot massages are anymore), fully clothed. As tightly wound as I am normally, that's how limp a noodle I was at the hour's end. This fabulous hour-long massage, at the incredible price of $25 ($20 if you have a coupon, which we did) was far more restorative to me than the mediocre $145 (tip not included!) massage that I received at Skin Spa in Encino last month. Such a shondeh! I surely won't be going back to Skin Spa, but guess where I will re-visit?
Super Relax is a total find. Ask for Nancy. Tell her the girl with the chocolate lotion sent you.
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