With Labor Day behind us, summer is officially over. For Californians, that doesn’t mean much because the sun shines nearly all year long. In the Golden State, it’s not the change in climate so much as it is the change in atmosphere that rings in the fall season. Fall announces itself with the smells of harvest in the air, soft yet distinctly pronounced. Bakeries and pastry shops are scented with pumpkin pies and apple ciders and the hunt for the right Halloween pumpkin is just as important as preparing Thanksgiving dinner.
To indulge in the last bits of summer and ease yourself into the coming holiday season, you should treat yourself to a day of tranquility! So let go of any residual summer travel tenseness and relax to the smells of autumn spices guaranteed to put your mind at ease, one grape seed oil massage stroke at a time.
A good starting point for your spa retreat is a nice, long massage of the can-we-please-pretend-the-sixty-minutes-are-not-over-yet kind. At Auberge du Soleil in Napa, you’ll be begging for the clock to be reset as you’re pampered to pure relaxation with the Cocoa Cabernet Scrub and Massage. It’s a wonderful treatment that uses Napa Valley grape seed oil and local red wine. Located farther south, visit the Agua Serena Spa at the Hyatt Regency in Indian Wells to indulge in the Fall Restoration Package including a Bourbon & Brown Sugar Body Scrub followed by a massage using a deeply hydrating shea butter that will nourish the skin. Before saying goodbye to the holiday season, be sure to check into the spa at the Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles for its signature Hot Chocolate Stone Massage, a holiday twist using soothing chocolate oils with heated basalt stones to relax knotted muscles, relieve tension, and rejuvenate the holiday spirit.
