What's in my bag - The Spa Edition

 

When I graduated form high school a friend of my mother's got me a gift certificate to a spa. 

At 17, I didn't understand the appeal. I thought it was boring. I didn't need to relax. I didn't need to heal. 

Now, at 33, I finally "get it." 

I am obsessed with the spa, and fortunate enough to live within a 3 hour drive of one of the best ones. 

Going to Olympus Spa in Seattle used to be reserved for weekend trips to the city with me bestie, but now with a kid a home, such trips are rare. 

That's why we have taken to making a day trip to the spa. One weekday every couple of months, I'll wake up at 6:00am, drive 2.5 hours from my house in Portland to Tacoma, Washington, and spend all day soaking in the pools, getting a scrub and massage, and eating a large delicious Korean lunch.  

Through my experience, I have perfected the art fo packing for the spa. 

Here is what I take with me on these day trips.

To hold my stuff:

• Spa Bag: freebie from Victoria's Secret
• Makeup bag: freebie from Korres

For the bath:

• Korres Body wash
• Korres Hair mask
• Body sponge
• Razor
• Korean facial mud mask
• Deodorant (for when it's time to go home)
• Toothbrush and toothpaste (for after lunch)

I wash my hair at the spa, and this is the source of many problems. For one, my wet hair soaks the mandatory hairnets we must wear, which makes me uncomfortably wet in the dry parts of the sauna. Second, it takes forever to dry so I often have to leave the spa with wet hair. To that end, I have a lot of solutions for these problems:

• Hair Wrap: to wrap my hair under my hairnet so it doesn't soak the hairnet
• Hair drying spray: to help my hair to dry faster
• Waterproof Drying bag: for my wet mask and hair wrap
• Blow Dryer: they have free ones at the spa, but only two of them , and I don't want to wait in case both are occupied
• Fast-drying hair brush

Covid-19 Protocol - we have to wear a mask at all times in the spa, so I come prepared:

• Waterproof mask for inside the pools
• Mask shield to help with breathing
• Dry mask to put on in the lounge (so I don't have to wear the wet one)