Home > The Luxe Life > Archives > 2008 > March
March 2008
Spa’s long-running makeover gets attention
How often does this happen: A former nudist camp and lodging house for rodeo cowboys is named the top spa in America?
The Lake Austin Spa Resort has pulled that off, landing the top rating in Conde Nast Traveler’s annual ranking of the best destination spas in the country.
The spa has been in the top five before and moved up to No. 2 last year.
These days, the spa is a serene waterfront retreat, with just 40 guest rooms.
It had much humbler beginnings as a fishing camp in the 1940s and was briefly a nudist camp in the 1970s. During that decade, it also hosted rodeo cowboys and clowns who were training at nearby Steiner Ranch, which was then a working cattle ranch.
Mike McAdams bought it in 1997 and has invested several million dollars in renovations and upgrades.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Spas
Spa Week’s coming
Why not take some time to pamper yourself for a new season? Here comes Spa Week, which was started in 2004 with spas nationwide offering treatments for no more than $50 during a select period. Spa Week’s spring event will take place April 14-20 in 21 markets nationwide including Austin.
Don’t forget to book early. Local spas and some $50 services are:
A Beautiful You Med Spa (12233 RM 620 N. 336-1772, www.abymedspa.com);
Avant Salon Spa (9901 Capital of Texas Highway (Loop 360). 502-8268, www.avantsalon.com), with treatments that include a 60-minute stress- and tension-relieving massage, 60-minute essentials pedicure with foot-soothing massage and 60-minute results-focused facial with essential oils for different skin types;
Spa at the Lake (900 RM 620 S. 263-7611, www.spaatthelake.com);
Milk + Honey Downtown and Hill Country Galleria (204 Colorado St., 12901 Hill Country Blvd. 236-1115, www.milkandhoneyspa.com), with treatments that include a 45-minute urban retreat massage and mini-manicure, 45-minute skin bella facial, 60-minute spa manicure and pedicure combo. The new Hill Country Galleria location recently opened and includes nine treatment rooms, a luxurious lounge and locker rooms, robe and slipper service, a nail department and an infrared sauna.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment Categories: Spas
New treatment tackles a host of problems
For those with problem acne, rosacea, unwanted hair and sun spots, there’s a brand-new, FDA-approved laser treatment called IsoLaz offered in Austin.
Dr. Ted Lain of Steiner Ranch Dermatology is the first to provide this painless, quick and powerful alternative to facial peels, micro-dermabrasion and prescription drugs.
IsoLaz uses an intense-pulse light combined with a vacuum to destroy bacteria-causing acne and reduces swelling of pores. It’s painless because IsoLaz’s vacuum pulls and stretches the skin closer to the light source requiring less energy to treat the pore. Previous intense-light therapy treatments felt like a rubber-band was snapping on your face.
“This is the next generation for intense-pulse light procedures,” Lain said.
The treatment takes about 10-30 minutes, doesn’t require numbing creams or gels, and has no side-effects. All that is needed before the treatment is a simple face wash. This isn’t one of those treatments that makes you break out or takes a couple days to take affect. Results are almost instant — redness and swelling go down — and it also tightens the skin.
Trina Mallet has tried everything from facials, chemical peels to antibiotics. She said they would clear her acne for a few days, but it always came back.
“I was lizard-faced for a week and couldn’t go out in public after my chemical peel,” Mallet said. “IsoLaz is so much better.”
Before the treatment, Mallet’s face was blemished and red. Dr. Lain wore protective lenses and covered her eyes for precaution. He zapped her face and then targeted problem areas. For her deeper pimples, Lain used a small needle to open the pore then applied the light therapy so that it would reach deeper. After the treatment, Mallet’s face looked smooth and rejuvenated, and she said her face felt tighter. The redness was dramatically decreased. Dr. Lain put a sunscreen on her face, and she was ready to go.
IsoLaz typically takes about five treatments to clear acne. Some patients, Lain said, clear after three treatments. At Steiner Ranch Dermatology, the IsoLaz is $800 for the five-treatment package or $250 per treatment. He recommends a treatment about once a week, then one every one or two months for maintenance.
Lain has had 16-year-olds to 35-year-old women with acne requesting the procedure. Some women have even used it in replace of facial treatments because it gives the same cleansing effect and tightens skin.
This deep-pore laser therapy is mainly used to treat severe acne, but is a two-in-one because it also permanently removes hair. It takes about the same amount of treatments, five to seven, to permanently remove hair, but it isn’t painful compared to other lasers.
“Once people find out about IsoLaz and realize the benefits, the treatment will become widespread,” Lain said.
The IsoLaz treatment isn’t the only new development at Steiner Ranch Dermatology. Medical aesthetician Karey Schafer will join the practice in April, offering a full range of procedures, including facials, facial and body waxing, microdermabrasion, chemical peels and skin analysis.
