Indulgence The Home Spa

My friend planned a surprise spa treat for myself and 5 others to finish off a girl’s getaway to Santa Barbara. It is cool that they come to you (we had our massage and nails done by the pool at our hotel) but there’s a lot of room for improvement.
Our friend that had done the planning had already prepaid for 6 though. There were 2 massage therapists, and two manicurists, and we were supposed to cycle through 2 getting a massage, two getting their nails done, and 2 hanging out relaxing. Just before our session was scheduled to begin one of the girls had to be taken to the ER, so our group of 6 turned to a group of 4. I got my massage first, and it was an ok massage. Not bad, but it was nothing special. My massage was over long before my friends nails were done so I sat down to wait. Instead of being polite and at least faking a little concern for our friend that was still in the ER, they started pestering my friend about whether or not they would still get paid for our two friends that weren’t there– just plain RUDE. My friends nails were finally done and we switched so that they could get their massages and my friend and I could get our nails done. My lay hadn’t even made it to my toes yet and my friends rushed massages were over.
My friends nails seemed to turn out fine, but I was far from impressed with mine. The lady was a little snarky when she realized that I already had silk wraps on and kept commenting on how she only liked to do natural nails and normally wouldn’t touch fake nails. I’d only asked her to file them down a little and do a color change– nothing more than what natural nails would have required. She globbed the polish on super thick. She said it would take an hour to dry, which I already thought was unusual. Almost 3 hours later I thought my nails were completely dry and I had them resting on my leg. The polish was so thick and gluey though that they ended up sticking to my leggings and picking up an imprint from them.
The worst part was really how they behaved when they found out our friends wouldn’t make it back from the hospital in time for their pampering. Our friends injury wasn’t life threatening or anything but obviously if she had to go to the ER it was serious. They could have at least been courteous. Instead they were snarky about getting paid and then hightailed it out of there with all the extra money the second we knew that our friends weren’t going to make it back in time for their massages and nails. It was just so all unbelievably unprofessional.

I was very pleased to be part of my friend’s wedding in beautiful Santa Barbara over the holidays. Despite having to go through the hassle of traveling in busy days of December. We arrived to a beautiful weather with sunny skies. It was a great time and I would love to mention that Indulgence the home spa made it more remarkable. They had stations ready for massages, manicures and pedicures and my feet were soaked in a warm water with rose petals. It was a private spa party for all the best girls and could not have been better than that. I will sure be missing all this treatment coming back to snowy weather like.

I was interested in getting a unique gift for my mom’s 70^th birthday. After perusing the usual (and often overpriced) culprits for massage options in SB, I stumbled on a Unilocal review for Indulgence the Home Spa. Inspired by the great review i checked out the website and found just what I was looking for– a private yoga class, followed by massages and pedicures for me and my mom! I e-​mailed Caroline and worked out all the details. I was a little nervous on the day of, but when Mary arrived, set up the mats and started us on our yoga breathing I knew that I had struck gold. The yoga class was the perfect start to a relaxing pampering day, followed by fantastic massages given by Jasmine. I’ve had quite a bit of massage so I’m fairly picky, but Jasmine had the perfect touch for me– strong but also incredibly soothing and relaxing. My mom also loved Jasmine, and she likes a totally different kinds of massage– much lighter– so Jasmine was able to please us both. Then out to the rose petal strewn foot bath which had been set up buy the pool, replete with some chocolates and lovely conversation with the charming Caroline, who is the owner of the business. She runs a fantastic business, everyone was great at what they did, charming, on time, totally professional and I would recommend this experience to all of my friends. My mom felt really pampered and special, and Caroline went out of her way to take care of her. Next time I’m in Santa Barbara i will definitely be seeing Caroline and Co. again!

At the end of a 3-​day bachelorette party, the last thing I want to do is think about making it to an appointment somewhere — even if it is to get pampered. Bring on Indulgence The *Home* Spa. That’s right, they come to your home to do you some serious pampering.
After a long and riotous night of dancing in heels, I wake up with a mild headache, and very sore feet and calves. I amble into the kitchen/​dining area where groggy girls are lolling about in various postures of repose. As I poor a cup of coffee, a sweet sweet voice offers, «Ravena, do you want to get your pedicure done?» This is only my 4^th ever pedicure, I’m not really one to get overjoyed at the thought of one. But on this fateful morning, my mind was changed forever. «Sure,» I mumble, oblivious to the puddle of happy place I was about to become.
Stumbling onto the patio by the pool, lovely Caroline has set up a warm basin with rose petals floating in the water. I sink into a lounge chair, and proceed to discover a new love in life. This is not your average pedicure, my friends. Caroline massages your feet and calves with Bliss salt scrub, she scrubs with a pumice stone, moisturizes and then does the rest of the pedicure expertly. I went with a gorgeous shade of dark blue, which hasn’t chipped at all, now almost 2 weeks later. I must admit, she may have actually converted me to be a regular pedicure devotee — that is, if I can find someone as expert as Caroline up here in San Francisco.
Extra info: Caroline has a whole team of practitioners who can come to the home. Our girls were getting massages, manis & pedis. I heard from the other girls that the massages were also amazing. I have the sense that Caroline hires only very good practitioners, who are professional and pleasant to be around. The rates are quite reasonable, especially considering that they come right to your house to do it. We got discounts on the services for which we had 4+ girls signed up.
Highly recommended!