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By Marie Moon
Opened in February 2004 the Body and Mind day spa in Karon Beach
offers a setting and service comparable to a five-star resort for
only half the price. Founder of the spa Khun Araya Limpanudom chose
the Karon Beach area because, "the Karon area is densely populated
with hotels and resorts but there are no other day spas." With
a stroke of inspiration Khun Araya took her family's abandoned hotel
building and converted it into a lavish day spa.
Although the Body and Mind spa has only been open for one year,
it has seen considerable success and Khun Araya has already made
enough profit to expand her operations into the upper level of the
building. The lower level houses the reception, a gift shop with
very interesting and reasonably priced items, there are sections
especially for foot massage and Thai massage and a number of private
treatment rooms. These treatment rooms are very nicely decorated
and could be mistaken for high-class hotel accommodations. Each
has two treatment beds, a deep whirlpool bath big enough for two
and separate shower. The rooms upstairs will all be for individual
or couples sessions. There will be different rooms for different
treatments for example Thai herbal compress treatments will be secluded
to one room for as Khun Araya confessed, 'some people do not like
the smell of these compresses". Sessions with steam therapy
will be in yet another suite which is being built with a contained
steam room.
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The Body and Mind menu is not exhaustive but presents a good selection
of massages, skin treatments and facials. All the sessions are well
timed, lasting for at least an hour except for a 30-minute neck
and shoulder massage designed for people with little time to spare.
Khun Araya explained, "as most of our clientele are tourists
they want to try a Thai treatment. We do have other international
treatments on our menu but they really aren't as popular. Thai people
like to try something a little different so I also offer aromatherapy,
Swedish and Sports massage."
Body treatments include wraps and scrubs. The scrubs that Body
and Mind present look wonderful; sesame and honey, jasmine rice,
fresh coconut, yoghurt and oatmeal; each has its own set of exfoliating
agents and moisturizing qualities. The body wrap also sounds good.
I have never had a body wrap and am fascinated by the sounds of
a Thai white mud wrap which is hailed to clear rashes, reduce fever
and stimulate circulation. The green tea wrap helps clean away toxins,
performing deep cleansing and the milk and honey just sounds delicious
regardless of the fact that this combination moisturizes, improves
the generation of new skin cells and softens the skin.
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Facial treatments include a traditional honey and cucumber facial,
Asian herbs facial which employs husky herbs to exfoliate dead cells
then a mud mask is applied to brighten and tighten the face. There
is also a Dermalogica facial which uses this well known product
line. Khun Araya explained, "I get many customers from Korea
and Japan and these people like to use brand name products. Western
clientele usually opt for the natural fruit and vegetable treatments
and the Asians go for the Dermalogica treatments."
The best value for money is represented by the eight different
Body and Mind special packages that offer between 90-minutes and
3-hours of pure indulgence. During my visit I experienced the 'Secret
Jasmine Rice' package. The 3-hour session begins with a nice warm
cup of bael-fruit tea in the beautifully appointed treatment room
before a quick shower to rinse the Karon beach sand from the therapist's
canvas, my body. As I lay down staring through the hole in the table
my therapist Khun Koong applied the jasmine rice body scrub to my
back, buttocks, legs and feet. Jasmine rice is rich in vitamin E,
antioxidants and acts as a natural sun protection material. I could
feel the rice granules wearing away at bumpy sections of skin, the
sensation wasn't uncomfortable but the mixture was coarse. After
flipping over and having my front smeared with the milky white scrub
it was time for another quick shower. Washing away the sticky mixture,
my skin took on a new satiny feeling; the dry patches on my elbows
and ankles gone.
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The next step was a full-body aromatherapy massage and as this
was the Secret Jasmine Rice package, the aroma that would soothe
my senses was that of jasmine. I love the fragrance of jasmine but
often find it too strong in a body oil. At the Body and Mind spa
I was relieved to find that the oil was not overpowering, rather
the heady scent was subtle enough to induce a very relaxed state.
I told the therapist to use a medium amount of pressure and well
trained as she was she softly enquired if the pressure was to my
liking a couple of times during the session. The 60-minute massage
was great, the therapist, using long deep strokes combined with
faster figure-8's and fanning movements, worked my already relaxed
muscles to jelly.
The massage ended as I lay face up, swaying between vague consciousness
and slumber. Khun Koong now went to work on my face. I enjoy facials
but must admit that the 60-minute session proposed by this package
was a little too long for me. I would have preferred an extra 30-minutes
massage and a shorter facial treatment. Mostly it's the lying still
that bothers me. Yes, I was relaxed and almost asleep but during
a facial you have to keep your eyes and mouth closed and it can
be a little uncomfortable. However it is during a facial that I
actually feel the good work being done. The therapist's hands were
warm and slick with luscious goo and as she flitted around my cheeks
and jaw with practiced dexterity I could feel the mixture sinking
into my skin.
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The strangest part of any facial is waiting for a face mask to
dry and harden; you can actually feel it tightening your face. Originally,
as I lay there, I pictured a new firm face without any fine lines
or wrinkles but as time progressed and the face got tighter and
tighter, harder and harder I envisioned some kind of cartoon caricature
with shiny tight skin and I hoped it was nearly time to wash it
off. Thankfully just as my mind started to become too active she
came back and washed it off. It's an amazing feeling; after removing
the mask the skin retains its tightness without any of the discomfort.
As I got changed back into my clothes I couldn't help pushing my
finger into my cheeks just to see if they would move.
This session was wonderful and actually because I did fall asleep
in parts, it seemed longer than 3 hours and that is always a good
thing. The service at the Body and Mind day spa was excellent and
comparable to any five-star experience I have had, yet the prices
that Khun Araya attaches to each treatment are very reasonable.
"There are so many spas now that what we need to concentrate
on is the service level. I want to offer each guest personalized,
top quality service. I try to train my staff to be as good as a
5-star resort experience."
I was so impressed with this spa that I returned a week later with
my Mother who was visiting me from Australia. We had a body scrub,
a wrap and an aromatherapy massage and I am pleased to say that
the service and quality was again of five star standard. Top quality
at low prices, you can't go wrong at the Body and Mind Day Spa at
Karon Beach.
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