From pedicures to massages...
If you're still going to the spa for a plain old Swedish massage or pineapple scrub facial, you're living in the Dark Ages of pampering! Around the globe these days, spas are offering ever more exotic (and frankly scary treatments) to eager customers. From Vaginal Steam Therapy, to a Snake Massage to Caviar Shampoo, there's something for everyone. Here's a dozen to consider. And yes, they're all real.
Bird Poop Facial
How do geishas and Kabuki actors keep their skin so radiant and even-toned? Think it's make-up? Think again! The Japanese performers have long been smearing their faces with enzyme-filled nightingale droppings to keep their complexions clear, white and smooth. Now you can too. The Diamond Spa at Diamond Hawaii Resort & Spa in Maui begins all their featured facials with a coating of dehydrated (and scent-free) nightingale poop, which apparently provides spa-goers with flawless skin.
Beer Therapy
No, this isn't the treatment enjoyed by frat boys across the country. It's even better. You SIT in beer. At the Chodovar Family Brewery Spa in the Czech Republic, guests sit in a bathtub full of dark beer while drinking, yes, beer! Supposedly the bath increases circulation and aids in detoxification. Waaaaait a minute. You're getting detoxed while drinking beer? This sounds too good to be true!
Butt Facial
I generally think the skin on my tush is the softest on my body but I guess I'm mistaken! In New York City, the Smooth Synergy Cosmedical Spa now offers the "Fanny Facial" to "rectify" that situation. The treatment combines an invigorating scrub, microcurrent therapy which not only zaps those cheek zits but lifts and tones through a series of positive and negative compressions, AND a sunless tanning application
Snake Massage
Okay, this really doesn't sound relaxing to me. In Northern Israel, spa therapist and owner Ada Barak will place six non-venomous snakes on your back. As the snakes slither around, tension supposedly melts away. (Either that, or you pee in your pants.)
Fish Pedicure
Outside of Tokyo at the Ooedo-Onsen-Monogatari hot springs spa, you can order up Doctor Fish's "pedicure" and "manicure." Call it revenge of the sushi - because the fish eat you. This particular fish, known scientifically as Garra rufa, has a taste for dry, flaking human skin. The fish happily (and one hopes, gently) nibble off the dead skin and hangnails and leave behind baby-smooth skin. Visitors dangle their tootsies in a warm pool or flop their mitts in smaller aquariums where the fish do their jobs. Presumably, they accept tips.