All in the details

The laws of physics state the one crucial rule of gravity is what goes up, must come down.

But you don’t need to be a scientist to know the truth of this statement. In fact, all you need is to have lived through a big party weekend, like the recent Mardi Gras celebrations.

While weeks, and in many cases months, are spent in the gym buffing the body into perfect shape for a weekend of dancefloor marathon endurance, the days afterwards are not always kind as the body recovers from what is has just so willingly endured.

Ask anyone who has spent the best part of a weekend grooving around a dancefloor what they want in its wake, and the response is usually along the lines of a wash, a massage and a good lie down.

One city health spa has embraced this coming down phase in an attempt to turn it into one of the more pleasant parts of the party weekend experience, and at the same time capture a sector of the male beauty treatment market.

Detail for Men Body Workshop has introduced the two-hour After Party package, which offers the combination of a hot stone massage with a deep cleansing facial.

When people are clubbing and partying, they are taking in a lot of smoke and putting their body to the limit with lots of dancing, and they can also become pretty dehydrated, therapist Jasmin Walmsley says. While there is always a lot of preening before a party, there is now a big trend for people wanting to take care of themselves in the days afterwards too.

Hot stone massage works through a process of heating polished riverbed stones to 54C, and then having the stones placed on and under the body, at the same time as the limbs are massaged.

Walmsley says the hot stone massage, which originated in the US, is becoming one of the most popular health treatments available, not only for the relaxing benefits, but also for the detoxification it provides.

The hot stones relax the muscles and work deep within any tension nodules, so it is a very deep massage, Walmsley says. As the heat from the stone warms up the muscles, the blood rushes into that area and the relaxation begins. And one stroke with a hot stone along a limb is equivalent to 10 strokes in a remedial massage.

The best thing about the stone massage is it is great for detoxing, as it works the circulatory systems and also the lymphatic systems, which are the waste disposal unit of the body. So any damage that you have done to your liver, it will start circulating the stuff out of there. It is then up to you to flush it out by drinking a whole lot of water in the days after the massage.

After the stone massage, the second part of After Party is a full cleansing facial, which includes a pressure point face massage to drain the face of toxins, and it’s then completed by a multi-vitamin mask.

This puts a whole load of vitamins back in your skin and hydrates it. Vitamins A, B and C are all fantastic for skin renewal. B is great for repair, C for stimulation and E for anti-aging. The skin is usually so dry after a big party weekend that it is thirsty, and this kind of facial is like giving it a big glass of water.

More information on Detail for Men is available online at www.detailformen.com.