My body was bungled after a week straight of moving, boxing, packing and unpacking. Four hours after our house was broken into (when we were sleeping), me and my hubs had another lease signed and movers booked. We were like; FENNESSYS OUT! I’m so grateful things moved fast and we are now in a place where we feel safe BUT between the emotional toll and physical burden of it all, I was like; Mama needs a spa day! So I set that up real quick.

We’ve only been in Atlanta for a few months so I didn’t really know “the best” place to go but I figured I couldn’t go wrong booking “the works” at The St. Regis, Atlanta. I called on a Thursday for Saturday appointments and I can’t believe I got in. All of a sudden I was looking forward to:

• 6o minute massage
• 30 minute facial
• Mani + Pedi

A dream come true right!? Just about. Even the fanciest of fancy spas tend not to carry nontoxic products. There is definitely a stigma out there that nontoxic = not working. Even after chatting with my facialist about it, she agreed by saying, “Some people come in here and go, Give me all the parabens! Like they just want something that will WORK.”

I agree…..to a degree. I mean even 10 years ago, green beauty meant an apple cider vinegar and clay mask. It didn’t feel luxe, it smelled bad, it was DIY and it was lackluster of a spa experience. But green beauty has come so far! There are truly some amazing, effective, active, luxe (and budget) products available that not only work but in addition, feed skin and are actually good for you.

What I brought to my facial

So this being said, I brought in a couple of products with me for my facial and went over them with her before I got on the table.  I was like, it’s up to you what you think my skin needs but here is a range of products that can accommodate whatever you see. The facialist was definitely a little skeptical but she was really sweet and accommodating – didn’t make me feel awkward at all.

We started with True Botanicals Resurfacing Moisture Mask (one of my all time faves) and then I gave her the choice of using Leahlani’s Meli Glow Mask – a honey based mask to plump and hydrate; May Lindstrom’s The Problem Solver that is pretty much a miracle-worker and does a little bit of everything and May Lindstroms The Honey Mud which she chose to use.

The Honey Mud is a clay and honey based mask. It works to soften, brighten, smooth, hydrate and clean skin. One of my all time fave masks. I just picked up a refill recently at Citrine Natural Beauty and I was so excited to have it on hand. So as the facialist applied the mask, she was making chit chat saying she loved the chic packaging, the smell was amazing, it was a little hard to spread with a brush (I use my fingers) and then when she took the mask off – this is when the magic happened.

And by magic, I think we literally put a doubt in her head about the effectiveness of plant-based, natural, luxe skincare. She goes, “Oh my God. I love this mask.” And I’m like, why!? Tell me more! She goes, “Your skin looks brighter and tighter. Wow.” I mean, the proof is in the pudding peeps, and she saw it with her own eyes.

We followed this up with May’s The Jasmine Garden and Laurel’s Antioxidant Facial Serum. Which I’m loving as my daily right now.

Massage Oil

I got Will for my massage. He was amazing. If you go to the St. Regis, Atlanta, YOU MUST request him. Some people massage you and you can just tell they are checking the boxes or just going through the motions – they are like, hands? Check. Legs? Check. Back? Check. But they don’t take the time to respond to MY body. This guy did. He was intentional and responsive. So good.

I brought a couple of options for him to pick from and he ended up going with Night Body Oil by Osmia. I LOVE this body oil! It smells like mint, lavender and rosemary earthy-ish in the most subtle way. It was so beautiful to take in the aroma while knowing that no toxins, preservatives, synthetics, fillers, fragrances, chemical deodorizers or dyes were going into my skin. I didn’t know if this would make a good massage oil because it assimilates so well into my skin – like not greasy at all but it worked out well – at least for me it did.

Nails

Okay I desperately needed my nails done after handling all the boxes, wrapping, unwrapping etc – my hands were shot. I wore polish on my nails a couple of times this summer which is abnormal for me but I got hooked onto Lark & Sparrow’s nail art and every time I went I was like, Just one more time! Anyways I just wanted my polish removed and my nails buffed. Simple, pretty and clean.

But I do love polish on my toes. I hadn’t worn it for a couple of years but I think I was repressing myself – thinking I couldn’t wear polish because it was too toxic. And it is. I mean, paint is paint and to make it work you need some specific chemicals to do it – same as hair dye. But there are some formulas that have committed to taking out some of the big time offenders like formaldehyde, DBP, TPHP etc. Check out my guide for buying nontoxic nail polish. (P.S. – My nails are only buffed here – no polish – don’t they look so shiny!? Like it looks like I have clear polish on. Why don’t I buff more often?)

So for my toes I brought with me RMS’s Beloved – a cheeky red that felt fun and pretty much the perfect shade to transition from summer to fall. RMS’s polishes are free from:

• Petrochemicals
• Parabens
• DPB
• TPHP
• Toluene
• Camphor
• Xylene
• Formaldehyde
• Formaldehyde Resin
• Animal Products

I also love that RMS runs their color line across the board so they also offer a Lip2Cheek in Beloved too (for lips and cheeks) – I mean, talk about tying a look together!

The After Math

Okay so you are probably wondering what an afternoon like this costs. A 20% tip was included, which I kinda love because then I just don’t have to think about it. But all-in this was $475. Plus, booking spa services grants you access to the hotel’s amenities so I showed up early and got to sit by their pool for an hour or so. They also had a steam room and a sauna you could use as well. Basically I was there from 1pm-7pm so when you look at it that way….

Go!

I would totally recommend the St. Regis spa to anyone who is interested. Seriously, everyone was SO NICE. Super accommodating. At the pool, they were so attentive with passed fresh blueberry pops, reserved seating and you have someone walking by like every 5 mins so if you need something (towel, drink, umbrella, food) there is literally no wait or effort on your part. The lounge chairs were super plush too as well as the towels. The pool was a little smaller than I expected and it was packed but it still felt like a slice of heaven to me. #PerspectiveIsEverything

Have you been? Is there a spa you would recommend in Atlanta?