Manila's Best At-Home Pampering Treats

They say that you can tell a lot about a woman or a man just by looking at their hands, feet and teeth.

Growing up, I remember how my father, a stickler for grooming and style would say "You can tell a lot about a man by his shoes and his belt." I suppose the same holds for a woman's bag and shoes as well. However, I digress...

As I grow older, I notice that I have a fetish for the following things - immaculate hands and feet (think well trimmed nails and no chipped polish) ; for body scrubs and pearly white teeth. Daddy always had clean hands and feet. I knew all about Dr. Scholl's products even as a seven year old. His collection of colognes was quite vast and I remember how he used to spend a great of time in the bathroom just brushing his teeth every morning. No matter the time of day, he always smelled squeaky clean! The original metrosexual :)

The last few days I've been indulging myself by pampering these most abused parts of my body. Yesterday afternoon I indulged in a major scrub and had tha masseuse come over for reflexology. The benefits of massage are simply wonderful. Your mind calms down, your muscles get unknotted, you have an over-all sense of well-being. Best of all, when it's done in the confines of your home, you don't have to bother with dressing up, driving to the spa or tha mall, and getting your wallet derailed by other stuff that you see on the way to a massage.
I guess this is the reason why there's been a boom on home service massage companies over the last year or so. Life has become soooo stressful in Manila that a massage has become de riguer in order to preserve one's sanity. I've been calling on the girls from DIAL A MASSAGE (727-3954)for the last year and a half now and have been so happy with their services. They are highly skilled, courteous, well-mannered and mind their own business. Best of all, at 275 pesos an hour (of course you need to add a tip) it's really great value for money. Don't believe me? Give them a call this week-end and you'll see what I mean. For Quezon City you can call 723-9552 and for the Makati area call them at 723-7157.

Shameless plug : This wonderful scrub a dub is made by another classmate, Rose Manzano. Very relaxing and does the trick to slough off dead skin. 294 pesos for two tubs at Watsons

Today, I decided to try out the services from TOETALLY NAILED (634-8512) a "nail service salon at your doorstep" which is based in the Valle Verde area. I booked for 10AM and a few minutes before the appointed time, Fe was at my doorstep. Now, this is not your usual manicurista who comes visiting at a set time every week. Fe came complete with their own foot spa tub and a host of other gadgets, creams, masks and scrubs. The works! Highly skilled, I dozed off in my armchair as she gave me a very thorough and invigorating foot scrub and woke up to a living room sweetly scented with peppermint. And don't pooh-pooh their nail enamel... no Bobbie or Caronia here girls. Only Essie, Orly and Sally Hansen. ANd the best part - the rates! At Toetally Nailed a manicure costs a "staggering" 150 bucks, and an hour long foot spa is priced at 250 pesos only. I was so happy with their services that I booked them again for tomorrow to do the roomie. Yes, he's part metrosexual too.

And as for teeth. Well, I am blessed to be classmates with Dr. Noemi Reyes (727-3677) over at Greenhills Dental who has the lightest of hands that I always fall asleep in her dental chair. That is how good she is! So, I've got the dental hygeine part down pat. Thank God for dentist-classmates. My next project is to try out a teeth whitening procedure that I've been curious about for the longest time.

I wasn't this particular about these body parts before. You know what they say about the "warranty" being gone after the age of 40... I do not know if it is age but the things we women go through to take good care of ourselves. And this is not vanity folks, I mean we're dealing with the basics here. .I'm not talking Vicki Belo, La Mer or La Prairie... Indulge once in a while and take good care of the basic stuff. Life is short and it doesn't take a fortune to stay happy and clean. When people see your hands and feet and when you smile - what do you think goes on in their heads?

P.S. I had all the time in the world to indulge this week because I was stuck at home nursing a viral infection. Which to me was a signal, to take better care of myself again. And mini-pampering always does the trick!