To help you get the most out of your massage, we asked 2nd Street District massage therapist, Monique, to share with us the five things everyone should know before going to their next treatment.
Massage, Spa Partisans
Happy Father’s Day! To celebrate, we asked our Spa Partisans to share their favorite Dad memories, moments, and jokes.
Father’s Day is almost here and to showcase the love we have for Dad, we asked some of our milk + honey Spa Partisans to share with us some of their favorite memories, inside jokes, and moments with Dad.
There’s no time like the present to address some hard-wired morning habits we all are guilty of — reaching for our phones to check email/Instagram/more email/SportsCenter/you get the picture the moment our eyes open, grabbing the first caffeinated thing we can get our hands on, and never giving the day ahead a “big-picture review” before jumping into our 9 a.m. meeting. To avoid the proverbial, waking up on the wrong side of the bed, we must take matters into our own hands (and minds!). And that’s exactly what were doing right here.
1. Lemon Water Is Your New Favorite Drink. More specifically, a cup of warm purified water infused with fresh lemon is the perfect AM wake-up call. Drink it first thing — yes, before breakfast (which you should also be eating – it is the most important meal of the day after all!) — and reap the benefits of a natural miracle worker. Seriously. Warm lemon water helps to flush out toxins, purges the body of unwanted substances, helps to boost your immune system, aids in digestion, and improves your mood. Like we said, miracle. worker.
2. Avoid Your Phone (and Get Your Head in the Game). If you’re one of those people (guilty as charged) that reaches for their phone as soon as you’ve reentered waking life, try avoiding the home screen — at least, for the first 10 to 15 minutes of your morning. Instead, take these initial moments to review the day ahead. Mentally align your priorities, assign goals for both the short term and long term, and give yourself breathing room. If avoiding your phone isn’t in the cards, then we say, “embrace it and open the Headspace app instead.” This app acts like a personal trainer for meditation, with exercises ranging from 10 minutes a day to lengthier sessions. Cellular clarity, if you will.
3. Make Stretching a Priority. Stretch before you even get out of bed. It feels so good and the actual health benefits are numerous. Let us count the ways. Stretching helps increase the blood flow to the muscles, which in turn, helps you to feel more energized and refreshed. It also helps to prevent future injury from muscle stiffness.
4. Get Movin’ and Sweat It Out. Stretching is one thing — and it’s important — but really getting your body into motion is equally important. Yes, this means you should probably invest in an earlier wake-up time, but it also means that you should create a time and space for something as simple as 10 minutes of mat yoga, a 25-minute jog around your neighborhood, or a 30-minute at-home barre workout. Many people find that working out in the morning jumpstarts their day (and metabolism), regulates their appetite, and provides a built-in rhythm and routine to the work week.
5. Nourish Your Body. There are so many ways to do this, but we’ll give you two excellent tips to set you on the right path for the day. First, in a more literal sense, try dry body brushing before showering. You’ll need a dry loofah or brush. With it, you’ll brush your body in circular motions toward your heart, working your way outward in. This action not only sloughs off dead skin cells, it also promotes better circulation and reduces cellulite. Second, make yourself a green smoothie. Remember to incorporate superfood ingredients like kale, spinach, and chard, but mix it with more palatable (but also nutritious) items like apple, ginger, mint, pineapple, mango, blueberries, and lemon. Need more smoothie inspiration? Go here.
Unlike traditional self-tanners, which may contain toxins, the Whish Coconut Milk Self Tanner is free of parabens, sulfates, and phthalates, and leaves you with a streak-free golden look. This self-tanner contains ingredients such as Kigelia African fruit extract, goji berry, and mango berry that firm, refine, and moisturize your skin. And to top it all off, the Whish Coconut Milk Self Tanner is made with clinically-proven ingredients that have been shown to help increase skin’s firmness by up to 32% after eight weeks.
It’s time to indulge your champagne wishes and caviar dreams with Sugarfina candy. This luxurious candy brand features gummy bears, malts, dark chocolates, and other sweet treats from artisan candy makers across the world. Available at all five milk + honey locations, Sugarfina infuses classic confections with the finest champagne, wine, and bourbon.
Let’s meet these sweet treats…
You’ve just chosen your polish, picked out your favorite magazine, and put your foot in the pedi-tub filled with warm soaking water. Now it’s time to paint your toes in formaldehyde, parabens, and other toxic carcinogens. If this sounds wrong, then it’s time to take a closer look at your nail polish choices. You see, many mainstream polishes contain toxic chemicals like these. At milk + honey, our nail treatments are toxin-free and safe. See what makes us different.
1) milk + honey Series 2) Manly Retreat 3) Sugarfina Vice Collection 4) milk + honey Cream Deodorant No. 52 5) milk + honey Power Set 6) milk + honey gift certificate 7) FOREO Luna Mini 2 8) RAD tools
Father’s Day is Sunday, June 18 and we’re getting a head start on the search for the perfect gift for Dad. From therapeutic massage tools to milk + honey gift certificates (Dads love the spa too!), he’ll love our 2017 Father’s Day gift guide.
Here are eight great gifts to get Dad…
As most of us know, traveling, especially long-distance travel, inspires a mélange of feelings — ones that can range from pure exhilaration and enlightenment to frustration, impatience, and boredom. Where the latter is concerned, we wish we had the ability to instantly transport ourselves to our final destination. But until the technology to zap ourselves elsewhere is developed (ha), here are a few of my tried-and-true tips for staying sane, happy, and ready for adventure.
- Give yourself the spa treatment in the air. Let’s just say that “plane air” isn’t the most pleasant for your skin, but there are certainly ways to minimize the effects of it while you’re en route to point B. Here are some of my go-to tips: Drink lots of water to keep yourself hydrated (this should go without saying). Refresh yourself with a gentle toner or mist, like Cosmedix Mystic. If you do feel a spot of plane-induced acne cropping up, apply OSEA Essential Corrective Complex directly to the area and try your hardest not to touch your face!
- Meditate. Download the Headspace app stat and put those meditation exercises to good use after takeoff. You’d be surprised how calming, effective, and time-consuming (in the best sense possible) airplane meditation can be. If you’re particularly stressed about the act of flying, this should help immensely.
- Stretch and move yo’ body — within reason. I’m not advocating for a full-on yoga sesh on the plane, nor would the flight attendants enjoy that little party trick. Instead, when the seatbelt sign is “off,” get out of your seat, take a quick stretch in the aisle (barring the food cart, etc.) and shake out those limbs. If you’re already heading to the restroom, may I suggest a “figure four” stretch in the back of the plane? This same strategy can be used in other modes of transportation: train aisle works, pull over to the nearest rest stop if you’re driving, and if you’re on a boat, well, now’s the time to find those sea legs! It will feel divine and I promise it will reset your mood for the next couple of hours.
- Fill the time with simple pleasures. Whether traveling by plane, train, car, or boat, I find the things that keep me most sane happen to be the things that keep me sane all the time. For me, this means making a new (sometimes, themed) playlist on Spotify for the journey ahead, grabbing a book to read, making sure I have a crossword or two on me, and because I am constantly hungry and don’t want to rely on plane food/gas station fare/etc., I pack delicious snacks to reward myself with. What are the things that make you happy on-the-road?
- Pack light + smart. No matter what kind of trip I’m taking, I try to limit my packing to “carry-on” size. This makes the entire experience of traveling so much easier. That said, it’s good to be smart about it. Just because I’m packing light doesn’t mean I’m denying myself items of clothing that I’ll eventually need. I’m just realistic about that stuff I will never wear/take out of the suitcase. If that tactic doesn’t seem like it’s in the cards for you, remember to pack a toothbrush and extra underwear in your purse/backpack/laptop bag, etc. at the very least.
What are your no-fail travel tips? I’d love to hear ’em!
Cover your grays and roots with simple, revolutionary Eufora Conceal ($30). Unlike traditional touch-ups, which require you to dye your hair, Conceal is a lightweight mineral powder that temporarily colors your roots. This product is easy to use and will help you enjoy your color longer.
