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Yours truly isn’t the biggest fan of music festivals, despite being a huge fan of music, the crowds, the craziness, the dirt, the heat and the standing for hours on end between bands you don’t-actually-want-to-see all leave me a grumpy mess about an hour in. But when you get to watch the band you came to see, then oh is it worth it.

I’ve long wished there was a way to make the bits I don’t like about festivals disappear… maybe get a massage or facial in between bands? A bit of a spruce up? Well kids this year Big Day Out goers are in luck because they’ve teamed up with the sweet smelling sugar doves at Lush and gone and made this happen!!!

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Think free face masks, massages, cool-down treatments and even bottles of their earthy smelling “Grass” shower gel for the washrooms. Pretty good. Even better is that these pamper sessions are FREE!!

So in between rocking out, jive on down (wrong era?) to the LUSH tent to chill out and get a little wellness into you while waiting for your fave band to play!

Check out www.bigdayout.com for more info on the event and let us know if you’re keen to check to get some festival style pampering!

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

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When I heard about the latest decadent offering from Cove Spa, the Gem Inspiration Massage, I knew we were going to become well acquainted. Before I delve into the review though, I need to issue you an important warning:

Ideally you’re going to want someone to chauffeur you home afterwards, so you can continue enjoying the deep state of relaxation that will inevitably envelop you throughout this spa journey. If you have to drive yourself home, as I did- breaking my own above rule, you’ll be amazed at your new-found tolerance for bad traffic, terrible drivers and long waits at traffic lights!

Beautiful flowers in a garden next to Cove Spa 🙂

Locker with gown, shoes and choccie, to store your items in.

The Gem Inspiration Massage has its roots firmly grounded in all things healing and spiritual. As the name suggests, if you’re after some inspiration, this is the perfect place to start.

♥ Chakras – the purpose of this massage is to bring your chakras (7 energy wheels of the body) into balance, as an imbalance is said to cause mental and physical disease, as well as impaired wellbeing, eek!

♥ Choose your own adventure – I’m a giant big fan of customisable treatments, the ‘just for you’ vibe is pretty special, knowing you’re not getting the same treatment as every other person who comes in is a good feeling! I was asked to choose which round JOYA gemstone I most connected with (I chose amethyst for stress relief) and was also given the choice between scented or unscented oil (scented please!) and THEN given the chance to smell three different oil blends (I picked the meditation scent, mmm). Three customisable elements = three big ticks.

Choices, choices!

♥ The massage starts with deep inhalations of the meditation oil, which instantly calms me and sets the mood for whats to come. Throughout the massage, more gems are placed in my hands and between my toes, which is hopefully providing even more body balancing action!

♥ One thing to note about this massage is that it includes chest and stomach massage since the heart chakra is located there. Yup, you will be baring all for the therapist. If the idea of this makes you uncomfortable, just let your therapist know and she will focus on another area instead, but if you’re just a little nervous about it then why not throw your fears to the wayside and embrace doing something a little different?

♥ While I enjoyed the whole experience, the best part was the totally unique experience of the round silky gems being rolled and massaged across my body. If you can marry a massage, with the creamy smoothness of a Lindt lindor ball dissolving in your mouth, then that comes close to describing the amazing feeling.

Even more choices, a beautiful touch 🙂

♥ The last little treat was to be found in the form of some Louise L Hay “power cards”. I was asked to choose a card at random, which would then have an affirmation on it which would hopefully relate to my life! It did 😉

♥ The 90 minutes slipped by far too quickly and I was left wishing that the massage table was, in fact, a portal to another world (my own cozy bed). If a box of Lindt balls was to magically appear next to my bed too, well that would have been just perfect.

My massage was performed by Kate, one of the head massage therapists at Cove Spa, and I highly recommend her.

Cup o tea?

Waiting room @ Cove Spa.

Info

Gem Inspiration Massage is $175 for 90 minutes

Address: 47 Tate Street, South Perth, Western Australia 6151
Ph: 08 9367 1877
Web: Cove Spa

What do you think? Could you do with some chocolatey-esque crystals being massaged across your body?

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I have spent the last few weeks of every Tuesday A.M. with Larissa Amos from Devine Wellbeing Practice. What she awakens within the four walls of her consciously decorated studio, with modern and retro themes, branded by peacock feathers and a beautiful landscape of attuned crystals, is simply awe inspiring. Larissa greets you with heart at your first consultation, at which moment you are quite assured that you have entered into something quite special. I’m not generally taken by the air and fare that you can experience from ‘so called’ healers, but with Larissa the confidence is raised to a whole new level.

Inside it is both cosy and ambient with soft soulful music playing, the senses are in appreciation. Larissa combines a unique selection of therapies (meditation, massage & healing) which culminate together in both a feel good and life enhancing experience, her time with you is almost always on the generous side, so be sure to spare a few extra minutes, they are well worth it.

Have you ever wondered why you experience the physical and emotional discomforts you do?

Larissa will bring you closer to your answers. “I like to think of emotions as a way of reading information, either sent from an outside source or an internal one, emotions are simply trying to tell us something, my system of healing guides and teaches the individual management of the mind body and spirit” Larissa shares.

My time with her was an awakening experience and a connection to strengths I didn’t know that I had. From the first time that I saw her I have continued to utilise these strengths in the world we live in. Absolutely empowering! I would highly recommend taking a breather to investigate the potential Larissa can elevate you to, truly magical.

The Devine Wellbeing Practice is located in Coolbinia, nestled within the suburban streets, bookings are by appointment only.

Address: 7/23 Ardross Crescent
Coolbinia, Perth 6053
Email: larissa.amos@devinetime.com.au
Mobile: 0419 858 074
Web: http://www.devinetime.com.au

Review by Lavida Rose.

Disclaimer: Devine Time is currently advertising on Wellness WA. This advertising relationship in no way affects the nature or outcome of the review.

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A day at a day spa… the scene was set with a perfect, blue-skied, almost winter day with a latte, Johnny Cash bellowing poetry on the speakers and my GPS pointing me in the wrong direction.

When heading out to the dreamy wonderland of Brookleigh – don’t trust your Sat Nav, people! Fortunately, I knew Brookleigh was next to Belvoir Amphitheatre and a lot closer than the GPS suggested. And it’s a problem the owners of Brookleigh have dealt with a lot, so get your directions clear before you hit the road unless you want a 45-minute detour.

So, back to the blue skies, latte and Johnny Cash… I arrived feeling pretty peaced-out and ready to relax. I met the wellness consultant and personal trainer, Rachel and owner Nikki on arrival and was impressed by how healthy they both looked. Both had glowing skin, very fit bodies and huge smiles… these were happy people and I was ready to discover the secret to their sunshine.

A Brookleigh horse

My day began with a personal training session with Rachel. We jogged past the beautiful horse stables (Brookleigh started out as an equestrian centre and still is an Olympic training venue), the chateau where the spa resides and guests stay and a “roundabout” which is a gorgeous, meditation-style garden.

Roundabout

We kept on joggin’ past all of these beauties and out the back of the property where an “obstacle course” awaits. It’s also an equestrian training area but nicely doubles as a people fitness area too. The jumps were utilised as push up, dip and sit up stations while a trotting area was used for some punishing sprints (it was here the heart rate monitor I had to wear really betrayed me, sounding like a hideous alarm going off as if warning everyone I was about to drop dead).

After the PT workout, we stretched by the small lake where Brookleigh hosts weddings every weekend throughout October to May. You can see why, with a quaint gazebo overlooking the lake which is perfect for the ceremony to take place. Huge trees, the neighing of horses and the surrounding paddocks combine to make you feel as though you are far, far from civilisation.

Next up was the spa treatment. I met with the lovely consultant, Lisa, and discussed facial options and confessed my skin woes. Breakouts in certain areas were plaguing me and I definitely needed help. I was treated to a lime sugar exfoliation to start, which sloughed off any dead skin on my legs. Despite Lisa warning me it might hurt a little as the sugar did its job, the scrubbing felt just right and my skin was glowing by the time it finished. The smell of lime was delicious. The massage was next and thankfully Lisa applied just the right pressure for the knots in my muscles to be erased while sending me into a state of utter bliss. Despite trying very hard not to, I also fell asleep in the later stages but I guess it’s a sign of ultimate relaxation so I tried not to beat myself up about it too much.

Guinot Facial @ Brookleigh.

The facial did wonders for my skin. Brookleigh has either Guinot or the local, organic range Joi Pure. Despite trialling Joi Pure previously and knowing it was delicious, my skin was in need for something a little stronger and Guinot was enlisted. I had the classic facial and Lisa used a peel around the troubled areas to break up the congestion. Despite my skin glowing afterwards, it was also a tad red and it wasn’t until a couple of days later that I really noticed the benefits. My skin really cleared up and it totally confirmed what I’d suspected all along… I need to be getting regular facials.

To complete the day spa package, I had lunch at Stewart’s Restaurant which is also a part of Brookleigh. Stewart’s is one of the best restaurants in the Swan Valley and has plenty of healthy options to complement the day spas and health retreats that are on offer. I had the salmon with roasted beetroot and pumpkin with a lemon sauce and holy yum, it was sensational. And post-meal, I felt as though my body was being further nourished rather than overly-full like you might at many of the wineries boasting first class restaurants in the area.

Urban Spoon rsetaurant rating:

Nikki and Rachel mentioned the three and five-day health retreats now on offer and I think they sound fabulous. Half a day out at Brookleigh and I felt rejuvenated and as though I’d been much further from Perth than the 45-minute drive it was.

If you’re looking for a girls’ weekend (classy hens’ weekends would be perfect there), doing something for your health or simply a getaway from the daily grind without travelling too far, Brookleigh is the place you’re looking for.

Check out their website to see enticing pics and more info, call (08) 9296 0018 or email Nikki or Rachel on info@brookleigh.com.au.

Brookleigh is located at 1235 Great Northern Highway,
 Upper Swan in the Swan Valley.

Article by Lisa O’neill, Freelance Journalist and Brookleigh’s newest devotee!

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Huna is a form of Hawaiian massage that stimulates the natural flow of energy within the body in order to bring about changes in your physical, emotional and spiritual state. This nuturing massage enables stress and tension to be released and can even help to improve your immune system.

With all this in mind I paid a visit to Scott Davey at Massage in Perth in Hocking where he works from home.

In order to experience the true magic of Huna it’s best to go commando, as in no underwear, with towels strategically placed to cover the important bits. However you can of course leave your underwear on and even have a large towel covering you if you wish. Scott emphasises that the MOST important thing is that you feel comfortable at all times. Never once did I feel uncomfortable.

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Once the massage started I discovered what Scott meant. With the assistance of a silky oil there are grand sweeping strokes that run down your body almost from top to toe that make the stress just melt away. If you were wearing underwear these strokes would be interrupted. These amazing fluid movements are like waves that wash all of you worries and cares away. In fact if you were to watch a Huna massage it would look like a beautiful dance routine being performed by the therapist.

Almost no area is left untended, but it was the more unusual areas that really allowed my stress to dissipate. I never knew the palms of my hands and the bed of my foot just under my toes were the key to this! There were also a series of incredible wrap around strokes on my forearms, other movements actually sweep up underneath you.

By the end of my treatment I was in absolute bliss, centred and so relaxed I truly did not want it to end.

If you too think your soul could do with a little nurturing, your chakras in need of rebalancing and your stress to disappear I cannot recommend a Huna massage enough – my soul is still thanking me.

Price: 75 mins $100

♥ Massage in Perth
♥ Connect with Scott on LinkedIn
Ph: 0405 801 996
Therapist: Scott Davey
Location: Hocking

Review by Kristy Mollica freelance TV and radio presenter, lover of girl power & things that are so totally not beige!

Be well,

xoxo