There are some things I don’t get about Austin. Like today when I was trying to find DaVine Foods for some sprouted grain pizza, and I stumbled into the Enchanted Forest where a man was welding some things and didn’t notice me as I walked by four times looking hopelessly out of place. Only in South Austin would a bunch of toilets strung together and stacked on top of each other qualify as a wall in this ridiculous forest. Needless to say, there was no pizza for me.
There are some things, however, that make me sigh happily and think, this is why I love Austin. Sabia is one of those things. The little spa in a little house offers as many local products as possible, including a rare line of natural skincare products by a woman named Marisa and an exclusive line of essential oils sold to no other spa in the country. We all know I’m not a spa girl, as hard as I might try to be one. My first (and only, until now) facial was mediocre at best and I generally exfoliate by wiggling my toes in some Zilker Park sand. But this facial–and it was just a mini-facial!–I had today might convert me.
Pam, the aesthetician, is a brilliant organic chemist in a hippie’s body with the smooth face of a 13-year-old. In other words, a person immediately trusts her. She massaged, steamed, scrubbed, soaped, cleansed, antioxidized, moisturized, and sunscreened my face, softly soothing but with the precision of a surgeon. She told me about the products she was using in detail, and gave me samples of things she used after the treatment. In short, she made this rookie feel like an old pro. Oh sure, I get facials all the time. Oh, your spa didn’t use the cocoa butter sea salt scrub on you? Tsk, tsk.
I don’t even LIKE beauty products. I can barely be bothered to wash my face before bed. I apply sunscreen religiously but mascara plays only a distant second. But perusing the goods in Sabia’s quaint little house on South First, I wanted to buy one of everything. Vitamin C serum? I need some of that. Kiehl’s tinted moisturizer? Sign me up. SkinCeuticals mineral-based sunscreen? Check. Dr. Hauschka, no I can’t even pronounce your name but I need some of your bronzing gel.
Sabia also carries their own line, handmade here in Austin, and it changes with the seasons, the availability of ingredients, and so on. I was chatting with Sabia’s young, cool owner Jessica (who turned around a business plan and scraped together cash in 72 hours when the spa’s former owner offered her the place) about their impending move–in September they’re getting roomier digs on 5th & Lamar, between a gym and a bike shop–and she was assuring me that sporty types totally fit in at Sabia. Their Sabia line already features an awesome sore muscle soak; but she thinks the new location will be even better for sportsters because they’re bringing on a new acupuncturist and massage therapist who specializes in working with athletes. Perfect!
She also swears that they’re the best at waxing and makeup. For everyone, of course, not just us unkempt sporty types.
In the end, Pam told me that she likes my soap-and-water routine, as she likes simple. And then she gave me a scrub and told me to start using it 3-4 times a week.
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