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The Royal Treatment
Location: Instanbul, Turkey
The traditional Turkish hamam goes back to Roman and Byzantine eras, when baths were more than just a chore, but rather an opulent treatment. Your royal treatment starts in a steam room followed by a head-to-toe scrubdown. One visitor describes the vigorous clean saying, "I was being scrubbed so hard that my milk-chocolate brown skin was now littered with ribbons of black dirt." After your skin is squeaky clean, you're given a full-body moisturizing massage while lying atop a heated marble stone.
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A Bubbly Bath
Location: New York, NY
This bath full of Cava (Spanish sparkling wine) is the grown-up version of the best bubble bath ever. Cava is rich in antioxidant vitamins C and E, protecting the skin from free radical damage. After 30 minutes in the bubbly bath, you're treated to a four-handed massage (that's two masseuses working in sync) for 90 minutes. Next up, a 90-minute thermal bath that moves from an ice pool to a cold pool, to a warm pool, and finally, a hot pool. End your treatment in the steam room sipping a drink on the heated marble seats. May we suggest champagne?
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Icy Hot
Location: Grindavik, Iceland
Blue Lagoon's geothermal lagoon, which has a temperature of approximately 100 degrees Fahrenheit and is said to have curing powers, is one of the most visited attractions in Iceland. Here, you receive a relaxing massage with active ingredients and essential oils from the lagoon as you lay on a partly submerged water mattress. A silica mud mask is also included in the treatment. And if the Icelandic winds give you a chill, you'll be given a special water blanket to stay toasty.
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Gold Digger Deluxe
Location: Chicago, IL
The Gold Lift Facial includes a 90-minute treatment with a cleanser, light exfoliation, a customized peel and a 24k gold, collagen-infused mask, which penetrates the skin with the help of micro-current technology. The facial is supposed to minimize pores, refine skin, reduce skin spots (hyperpigmentation), target dark under eye circles, help promote blood circulation and metabolism and strengthen facial muscles to promote firmer, plumper skin. But as far as we're concerned, the biggest benefit is being able to say that you've had your face smothered in gold.
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Thai Curry
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
This treatment involves a body scrub of enough yummy ingredients to want to eat. The scrub uses grated coconut, green bean, jasmine rice and coconut oil. After a hair treatment with a "specialty product" containing herbal ingredients (which we like to think of as a magical secret ingredient to justify the price), you finish with a steam and a rice milk cream massage. Yummy!
These insanely indulgent spas are home to treatments so luxe and unbelievable, we're creating a whole new category for our list of bucket lists -- the spa treatments you've gotta try before you die. If you don't want to add at least one to your lifetime bucket list, you're not dreaming big enough.