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Ah, Bliss!

W Hotel 930 Hilgard Ave, Los Angeles (323) 930-0330

Welcome to spa-la-land!

Floating on the second floor of the hip W hotel (also home to the splendid Nine-Thirty restaurant), Bliss is a trendy 7,000 square foot “tension fighting facility” designed to look like the Jetsons have made earth their home and the beauty business their earthly vocation.  And if the loyal, enthusiastic clients in the lounge of this nation-wide spa are any indication, Bliss has been inducing itself successfully. 

The uniqueness of this spa is evident from the moment you retrieve your robe from a digital locker and await your specialist in the lounge where brownies, lemonade, tea, cucumber slices with crackers and cheese are laid out.  The visual simplicity here is striking not only because it calms the senses but also because even as it reaches for an image, the spa remains unpretentious.  Even the music is hand-picked – Marilyn coos you in with her love of diamonds, Aretha suggests you try a little tenderness as the aesthetician works on your visage, and Diana Krall surrenders her body and soul as you dissolve under a massage.  Bliss is a concept spa developed to the max without seeming generic.

Start with a microdermabrasion add-on for superior exfoliation.  Then ease into the Triple Oxygen treatment that begins with a relaxing décolleté massage. At Bliss the face is prepped with an oxygen wrap instead of steam which can dehydrate, irritate sensitive skin and carries the risk of bacteria.  The extractions are pain-free and the massage continues intermittently so your relaxation is guaranteed not just during phases of the treatment, but throughout the transformation.

A “task mask” which is proprietary to Bliss and, as the name implies, is customized to alleviate individual skin ailments comes next.  A really thick, creamy peel-off, this mask includes seaweed, bilberry and Vitamin C as key ingredients to pack a punch.  While this is working its magic, you have the choice of either a foot or scalp massage (will the pampering never cease?) The final step of your Bliss facial is a regenerating Vitamin A, C, and E Oxygen spray that feels refreshingly cold.  You can just feel your pores tightening and the skin coming alive as the mist covers you. 

Bliss is like a loaded gadget and you are bound to discover numerous perks as you investigate.  But it might be good, at least for Bliss-virgins, to have someone provide a brief introduction to the amenities.  The shower after all is not just a shower but also a steam room, one that emits invigorating plumes of eucalyptus as you shower.  But how to fire this up?  What buttons will activate this delight?  For those who have patronized Bliss in other parts of the country, the newly unveiled LA location is like visiting an old friend.  For the newbies, equally excited, a little rudimentary introduction may go a long way to discovering its hidden qualities.

--GD