Archive for February 16th, 2006
Pamper yourself with these luxurious, fragrant bath and body products, created by Boucheron Paris, the century-old jewelry house that views fragrance as an “invisible adornment” as precious as creations in diamond and gold. Each is made of the most luxurious ingredients and scented with a voluptuous, radiant blend of orange blossom, jasmine, ylang-ylang, vanilla, and sandalwood.
The fragrant body line includes:
- Body cream (shown in front), body lotion (far left), and shower gel (shown on right): 6.6 ounces.
- Dry oil spray (shown in middle): 3.3 ounces.
February 16th, 2006
Few places in the world offer cuisine that compares with that of New York City, home to some of the world’s greatest chefs. If you’ve got money to spend and are interested in splurging at one of New York City’s most expensive restaurants, look no further than this list. Do note: reservations are required at all of these restaurants — many of which book up a month or two in advance. Call the restaurants directly for their specific reservation policies.
Masa
There are just 26 seats in Masa, an elegantly designed Japanese restaurant in the Time Warner Center. There is no menu; all diners will spend about 3 hours having an unparalleled omakase experience.
At Masa Restaurant, what you see, hear, touch, smell, and taste all spring from the same complex sensibility - the ideas of shibui and umami.
Masa is shibui: simplicity devoid of unnecessary elements, and the honest presentation of materials.
Masa is umami: the basic essence or flavor inherent in each ingredient.
The experience begins at the arrival where diners are transported from the bustling mall into a 26-seat zen-like sushi temple. The choice of materials used to construct the dining room reflects the original beauty of nature. At the sushi counter, a heroic single slab of Japanese cypress Hinoki wood sets the performance stage. The backdrop behind the counter is a pond with a bamboo garden and a floral arrangement by Masa according to the season.
February 16th, 2006
For the ultimate price, you can have the ultimate in luxury–60 acres of coveted Hamptons farmland transformed into an uber-estate. There is the grand main house, which totals more than 25,000 square feet and has a great room with a 28-foot-high domed ceiling. The 14 gardens include vegetable, hydrangea and butterfly plantings, as well as a rose garden modeled after the one at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. And how could a home be considered complete without its own U.S. Golf Association-rated course designed by Rees Jones? The grass tennis court, 75-foot pool and three large ponds are just extras. Three Ponds is listed with Susan Breitenbach at Allan M. Schneider & Associates.
Price: $75 million
Location: Bridgehampton, N.Y.
February 16th, 2006
The global spa industry generates approximately $40 billion in revenue per year, according to Spa Finder, a New York City-based spa travel and marketing company and the publisher of SpaFinder.com and Luxury SpaFinder magazine. But growth in the industry is slowing significantly. The reason is market saturation. Not only are established spas such as the Golden Door and Canyon Ranch battling to hold on to their long-time customers and attract new ones, but there is also growing competition from new stand-alone luxury spas as well as from hotel chains like Peninsula, Four Seasons and Marriot’s Ritz-Carlton chain.
The number of spa openings in the U.S. is increasing at a rate of just 12% per year, down dramatically from the 2000 peak of 51%, according to a 2004 report by the Lexington, Ky.-based International Spa Association. The same report states that U.S. revenue for 2003 ($11.2 billion) represents a 1.8% decline over 2002.
All Massage Therapy Products
February 16th, 2006
Barbados’s Sandy Lane: high-luxe style with low-gear ambience
Thompson certainly built the largest spa in the Caribbean, a 47,000-square-foot building with a Las Vegas-y faux waterfall in front that flows into the 7,500-square-foot resort pool. The entryway is an open, columned rotunda in which curling, make-an-entrance staircases descend to the spa level. The 11 treatment rooms, which lie along a dimly lit, gently curving corridor, have their own bathrooms and showers. (They were designed for celebrities, who won’t usually put up with using a locker room.) Nine of them have private gardens, and in three of those there are private outdoor hydrotherapy pools. In the public areas, space is used lavishly for effect. The treatment-room corridor ends in a small rotunda that holds three tall creamy white amphorae, and the hydrotherapy pool is part of a faux-grotto stage set, with burly blocks of coral stone cut and dressed to evoke an architectural ruin.
There’s a cool classicism to the spa architecture and decor. It’s clearly seen in spa’s relax room.
What is striking about the spa is the quiet. Where is everyone? I wondered on my second morning as I lay in the relax room, a soothing spectrum of whites (a scheme borrowed from Les Thermes Marins at the Hotel Hermitage in Monaco), waiting for my therapist. At the beach and pool, it turns out: Only 20 percent of the hotel guests use the spa (up from 11 percent when it opened), and aside from the 4 to 7 p.m. rush hour, you can have the run of the place. In three days I never met another person in the locker room–and the resort was nearly full during my stay.
The relax room and adjoining hydrotherapy pool became my resort within a resort, with its own spa buffet: Crystal Laconium Steam Room, where an amethyst crystal is intended to transfer energy to you (didn’t work on me); aromatherapy steam shower; and hydro pool vitality beds, one hidden in a stone niche. My headquarters was a relax bed in the corner of the room. Made of mahogany and one of the most difficult pieces to source, according to Thompson, the beds have thick white pads and voluptuous curves–like a caterpillar doing the limbo. The shape drops your derriere, supports your lower back, raises your legs slightly, and causes you to sort of pool. With running water in the background as my soundtrack, I dropped off to sleep on both days that I holed up here. You know you’ve slept soundly when it takes a visit to the spa’s Ice Cave to drive out the cobwebs.
February 16th, 2006
Bora Bora is the kind of tropical island most often found in dreams… a Polynesian jewel of glittering coral, clear blue water and lush green forests.
Once home to Paul Gauguin, inspiration to countless other artists and writers, it retains all its legendary beauty and charm, exerting an irresistible magnetism on those seeking to escape the cares of the everyday world.
In the middle of Bora Bora’s spectacular lagoon lies Motu Toopua, a fragment of an ancient volcano that has become the ultimate tropical hideaway, a sweet-scented enclave of lush plants and flowers, tall palms and white sand beaches.
This is the home of Bora Bora Lagoon Resort & Spa… a private paradise that will make all your tropical dreams come true.
February 16th, 2006
Pale gold-plated, beaded collection in multi-coloured crystals; crystal beads with central woven flower and beads dangling from fine chains, with a rainbow effect.
You could also choose the entire Angelique collection of Daniel Swarovski, visiting his site.
February 16th, 2006
Coloured crocodile and galuchat handbag; chain handle with coloured crystal pav�; buckle set with crystals using Ceralun(TM) technique; limited edition.
Size: 23.5 x 14.5 cm
Price: EUR 4,800.00
www.swarovski.com
February 16th, 2006
