5 ways to look and feel totally ready for festive partying in Pune
From forest essentials facials in your bedroom to a luxury spa retreat in the hills, Pune's spa seekers are spoilt for choice.
Wellness Weekends
ATMANTAN
When a spa and wellness resort is run by a couple that swears by fitness regimes and alternate healing methods, you can be sure that the therapies are thoughtfully designed.
Sharmilee Agrawal Kapur, 38, pranic healing practitioner and Nikhil Kapur, 39, Methodical entrepreneur and Ironman Tri-athlete has designed the fitness wing, making sure that they've brought some of the best techniques from the world over to Atmantan Health and Wellness Resort. Nestled in the hills at Mulshi, facing the green carpeted Sahyardri mountains and a lake, Atmantan welcomes you to "feel transformed" with a mix of ambience, dcor, therapies, yoga routines and food that come together to ensure a feeling of complete wellbeing.
The well appointed spa section is done up with black crystals, specially curated music aimed at inducing relaxation, an infrared sauna room and chambers for different therapies. They've got the Ayurveda abhyanga and shirodhara that treat tired muscles and basic disorders with medicated oils, the refreshing aromatherapy massages and the unique Chi Nei Tsang, a traditional Thai technique that clears built up toxic energies with an abdominal massage by a trained expert.
They have different packages to suit your needs but if it's the first time you're going there, we recommend the Atmantan Living or the Spa Life, where you can try out different spa techniques that use decoctions made with aromatherapy, herbs, minerals and clays that are selected for each skin type.
WALLET WATCH Packages start at Rs 75,000 for three days. AT Mulshi, a two hours' drive from Pune. atmantan.com
Doorstep Grooming
MYGLAMM
For years, we've had the local 'beauty parlour girl' come home for a quick fix grooming sessions but now, at-home beauty services get a more professional touch with MyGlamm, which bring hair, skin and spa treatments to the comforts of your own home, at merely the click of a key. It's been a year since the concept launched in Pune in August 2015 and the numbers are steadily increasing, especially for the specialty services such as bridal makeovers, spas, the Novlash eyelash extensions and Forest Essentials facials.
"While running our spas, we noticed consumers asking our stylists to come home or complaining that they never got last minute appointments," says Darpan Sanghvi, CEO, The Glamm Team, which has introduced India to the French L'OCCITANE Spas, the New York based Warren Tricomi Salons and the fashionable ELLE Spas and Salons. The services menu is extensive and ranges from basic grooming, manicures and pedicures to the more elaborate facials and eye lash extension services. To bring highend products to your home, they've tied up with brands such as High Definition Brows, NovaLash Eyelash Extensions, Forest Essentials and Biotique so you can be sure of the quality.
LUXURY AT HOME Soaking in a spa experience is as simple as clicking a key on your smartphone app-you choose the service, the time and then pick from the aestheticians who are available. And you don't even have to clean up the mess after a luxurious massage; the 'MyGlamm artists' come equipped with towels and equipment.
WALLET WATCH Minimum billing of Rs 500 but on an average a session will cost Rs 1,500. AT Myglamm.com
Quick Fix Relaxation
MARRIOTT SUITES
Looking for a quick fix massage rather than a long pampering session? The spa at the just opened Marriott Suites is a good pick if you want swift, yet relaxing, therapies. It's not too often that you'd check into a business hotel for a spa experience but the Marriott Suites spa in Mundhwa is certainly worth visiting.
The menu is basic as compared to the luxury spas in the city with a handful of massages and rubs, probably aimed at a guest who wants a relaxing session with little time on hand. So, there's foot reflexology, a traditional Thai massage, aroma scrubs and head massages and even a jet lag massage for travelers who want to ease stiff backs and necks. If you have just an hour on hand and want to unwind, opt for their foot reflexology; the therapist effortlessly kneads away the knots and fatigued muscles in the feet, leaving you refreshed within 60 minutes.
A popular therapy is the jet lag massage that promises to relax those tired and stiff neck, shoulder and back muscles. With the festive season coming up, we suggest you opt for the aroma scrub in which the therapist exfoliates dead skin cells with a scrub that's infused with an aromatherapy oil of your choice. The 90 minute long massage is refreshing as the oil works wonders.
QUICK FIX You don't find just a head massage in most luxury spas but the Marriott Suites spa offers a relaxing session that works on the pressure points to instantly release stress built up in the muscles. If you've had a hard day at work or a long stint in the sun, ask the therapist for this.
PRICE Starts at Rs 1,250. AT 81, Mundhwa, Koregaon Park Annexe
Mane Time
LANE SIX
When Karishma Mansata launched Lane Six, Pune's first hair and blow dry bar in May, she roped in Amy Louise Harris, senior stylist with Duck and Drydown, a leading hair blow-dry bar in London, to introduce the concept to the city's fashion conscious. It was, after all, Pune's first brush with a blow dry and nail bar-a casual salon where you go to blow dry your hair and dress up your nails.
It isn't a spa that offers full body therapies nor is it a conventional salon where you can drop in for a facial. The boutique salon promises to be a trendsetter in nail dress ups and hair blow dry services. The space is fun, casual and cosy where customers are welcome to spend long hours getting pampered. For the Indian market, they have a menu of cuts, colours and luxurious hair spas to suit our requirements besides an extensive signature blow-dry menu that leaves you hair looking perfectly groomed within minutes. Mansata's signature specials include a Shellac manicure, chrome nail art, Moroccan restorative hair spa and sugar cane and wine pedicures.
DON'T MISS Feet soaked in a minty bath as you curl into a pretty turquoise floral printed couch and look out into a rain soaked garden-it's hard to find a better start to a weekend right in the middle of the city. Their manicures and pedicures are a treat.
DIY It's a unique idea for a girls' day out. Lane Six helps you organise parties with special packages and makeovers.
WALLET WATCH Price ranges from Rs 350 - Rs 1,200. AT C-4 Raksha Lekha Society, Lane 6, Koregaon Park.
Massages and More
THE CONRAD SPA
If you've scoured the spas in the city and are looking for something new, head to the spa at the recently launched Conrad Hotel that spells luxury and understated opulence. Soothing music, fragrant aroma oils wafting through the air and gentle light filtering in prepare you for a few hours of relaxation as you sift through their menu. There are 26 different therapies, ranging from international massage techniques like the Balinese or the Swedish massage to Ayurveda treatments such as the shirodhara and the herbal oil-soaked abhayanga.
Take your pick or let the spa manager help you choose. If you're looking for relief from tired muscles, opt for the hot stone massage or the lava shell massage that relaxes knots and aches and leaves you feeling much lighter. For a quick dose of skincare, they've got a pearl and jasmine scrub and a signature Ananda face therapy. The Conrad spa uses products by Ila Spa, the all-natural skin care brand from England, which is safe no matter what your skin type.
TIME TESTED If you're looking for something different, go for the Ku Nye Massage, a rejuvenating therapy using traditional techniques to repair dry, tired skin.
The therapist uses a blend of five essential oils that are believed to stabilise the five senses and then uses a mix of techniques like Tibetan cupping, kneading and acupressure to release tension and knots. The firm hand movements are supplemented with healing crystals and poultices that enhance the relaxation and aid mental relaxation.
LOOK OUT FOR Ananda Face Therapy, pearl and jasmine scrub with amethyst wrap and the Kundalini back treatment.
PRICE Therapies start at Rs 2,500. AT 7, Mangaldas Road. conradhotels3.hilton.com