New York Magazine - Drugstore Cowboy

New York Magazine, November 2001
by Amy Larocca

Would you lava massage? If checking into Oasis for a day isn't in your budget, check out these ways to find bliss in your own bathroom.

The holiday season hasn't even started, and you are already beat. Bruce Schoenberg and his wife, Marti, owners of the Oasis Day Spa and soon-to-open Oasis on Park, are known for their mean lava-stone massages. But they understand your thrifty, homebody impulses. Here are Schoenberg's suggestions for turning your home into a treatment center without going farther than your corner Duane Reade.

- Soak your aching feet in a warm bath of Swan Epson salts ($2.99 for eight ounces). Follow up with an exfoliating scrub using an inexpensive buffer to get rid of dead skin (Beauty by Me, $3.79).

- Finish by massaging a heavy moisturizer (Neutrogena Hand Cream, $4.49) into your feet to help eliminate toxins and relax your whole body.

- Prepare a hot bath with extra foamy bubble bath. Calgon ($4.99), which is particularly sudsy, is one of Schoenberg's favorites.

- With a loofah mitt (Elementals, $1.99), apply fresh herbal body wash. Neutrogena and Clairol Herbal Essences both smell great ($5.99 and $4.76) all over the body.

- Put a relaxing blue-gel eye mask (Le-Claire Bayot, $19.99) in the fridge for an hour and then place it on your eyes for ten minutes.
Prepare a warm cup of chamomile tea (Celestial Seasonings, $2.99) and curl up on the couch with a great book.

- Before bedtime, apply a rich moisturizer (again, the Neutrogena) on both hands; immediately put on an old pair of gloves and go to bed.

And maybe the best thing about making your home into a spa is that you get to decide what to put on the CD player; why suffer Yanni? You're trying to relax.