Some would describe a visit to the spa as a luxury. I beg to differ. In my opinion, spa visits are an occasional necessity. Depending on the stress level of your life, you might need the occasion more often than other people do.

One great thing to come out of the recession? A proliferation of deals and specials and discounts and incentives to spend again. Allow me to share with you the most spa-riffic deals on my radar.

First things first, can we talk about Groupon? If you haven’t signed up by now, you are seriously missing out. Click here to rectify that. Now sit back and watch the deals roll in every day! On a weekly basis I get offers on discounts on facials, massages, manicures and pedicures amongst many other things.

And if you’re really in it to save, don’t stop at just one discount site. I also heartily recommend you sign up for Living Social, which tends to offer more spa deals and incentives than other discount sites. If you’re looking for a variety of offers on a consistent basis, I recommend signing up for both of them!

Maybe you’re more of a spa newbie, and you want to go when there’s a special deal and the offers are cheap. Well you’re in luck in the month of March – Spafinder’s Wellness Week™ will offer sweet spa deals between March 21-27. All you gotta do is click here to visit spafinder.com, browse the site for sweet wellness tips, recipes etc and then enter an email address and zip code to search for half-off and $50 special spa treatment deals near you! The list of Chicago-area spas is pretty impressive, and I hope to check at least one of them out so stay tuned for an upcoming review!

If you are like me and LOVE to spa, you don’t want to stop at one week of incredible offers. And you don’t have to! After you enjoy a spa-riffic March, you can look forward to an equally indulgent April thanks to Spa Week. It’s launching their highly anticipated $50 Treatments in 17 new cities this season. Spa Week is April 11-17, but booking begins March 14 and these appointments fill up quick! Click to check out their upcoming offerings.

So if you’ve never been to a spa, or your mom’s never been to a spa, or your sister…this is a great time to treat them and yourself to a truly pampering experience. If you’re a first-timer, I recommend you check out my spa rules of engagement to get an idea of the best way to do it. Of those 5 rules, the most important one is TIP. These discount deals are sweet for consumers, and they don’t necessarily hurt the spa owners…but the women and men who are actually doing the discounted massages and body scrubs, pedicures and facials are often getting shafted on the deal and from what I hear, it winds up hurting their pockets the most. So make sure to leave a nice tip for the person who made you feel special, and enjoy your indulgence!

What’s your fave spa treatment? I love a good body scrub, but I’m dying for a decadent massage!

COMMENTS

Cara Smith says:

March 3, 2011, 11:29 am

Awesome post :). Spa days are really important!! Since I'm trying to save money I love DIY spa days. My fave products are in the Yes To Carrots Smooth Over Body Spa Kit. Check it out: http://bit.ly/eYBSgL. Have you tried it? The body butter smells sooo good!

teachermrw says:

March 3, 2011, 11:57 am

Great post! I appreciated the information. :)

Nubeya Santiago says:

March 3, 2011, 1:25 pm

I appreciate this posting on your blog so much. I am a licensed massage therapist. I cater to athletes and business professionals. Thank you so much!!

BlackBetty says:

March 3, 2011, 2:36 pm

Ohhhh I love the spa. I had a lovely massage last week and can't wait to book another. I can't get enough of groupon or living social. But if you're like me and need a spreadsheet to keep track of all of your goodies and your email overfloweth with emails, try http://yipit.com/. You'll get all of the discounts in one email. It's brilliant!

Daree says:

March 3, 2011, 6:29 pm

In my post today, I mentioned that got a 100-minute massage for $60 while I was in L.A. last week. The great price was due to the massage being handled my students. I've got to find a massage school locally now that I'm back home!

ghdfghj says:

March 6, 2011, 9:47 pm

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Jenene says:

March 7, 2011, 1:59 pm

I love massages. My favorite was a chocolate aromatherapy massage. I was rubbed with a mixture of cocoa and rose oils. Honestly, I didn't want to leave the spa and ruin my glorious scent with outside air. When my hubby entered the reserves and was gone for 5 months, he wanted me to do something really nice for myself each month. So instead of buying things, I spent the money on massages each month. It really helped me deal with the stress of being a newlywed and being separated from him during his basic training.

adwoa says:

March 8, 2011, 6:10 pm

Loved this post! While I'm out of the country now and not currently working as a therapist, I'm a massage therapist formerly based in Boston. Both this and your five spa tips post are so right on, except for one clarification! A lot of times novice spa-goers forget that tip should be calculated on the original price of the service, not just the discount price. This is just the same as with other areas of the service industry, but restaurants have it easier in some ways (you get to look at the menu even if you're holding a coupon, whereas frequently at a spa if you come in having prepaid you would never see the pricelist). I really appreciate your acknowledging the uncomfortable truth that frequently it's the spa staff that eats the cost of discounts and group-purchasing deals. Keeping that rule of thumb in mind will help keep spa week from being a classic case of overworked and underpaid - and especially with bodywork, you want your practitioner to be free of stress so they can help you get rid of yours too!

Lex says:

March 13, 2011, 2:21 pm

As a broke college student, I have yet to shell out money for any spa treatments since starting school. But (un)luckily for me I've got a few pinched nerves in my back which equates to a 30-minute chiropractic massage once or twice a week. Shout out to my mom's dope PPO insurance coverage! Thanks for this post, I just signed up at Groupon and Living Social :)

InternetSlander.com says:

March 14, 2011, 6:51 am

Well this is my Favorite post...Spa is becoming neccesity in our busy life..It makes us feel relieve and stressed free fresh mind.It rejunivates our life..

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