Day Spa

The San Fernando Valley is 260 square miles of suburbia. Actually, make that suburbia on nutritional supplements. And antidepressants. With perhaps a little cosmetic surgery south of Ventura Boulevard, where the big money is. Or maybe - now that it's grown to more than 1.7 million people in nearly three dozen cities and neighborhoods rich and poor - the Valley isn't even a suburb anymore. It begins just 10 miles northwest of Los Angeles City Hall, sprawling west to the Simi Hills, north to the Santa Susana Mountains, and east to the Verdugo and San Gabriel mountains.

Leslie H. of Phoenix recently wrote to us with the following question: "Do ionic foot baths really remove toxins through the feet? I'm skeptical." Skeptical? You've come to the right place. Ionic foot baths are a "detoxifying" treatment that have become popular at health fairs, alternative health clinics and spas. Many companies also sell ionic foot baths online for home use. Wherever they show up, ionic foot baths follow the same basic approach to detoxification. Users stick their feet in a basin of salt water that's buzzing with a small electric charge from two submerged electrodes.

Dtox Day Spa - Los Feliz The Valentine's weekend celebration at luxuriously tranquil Dtox includes spa treats, gifts, and a little bubbly. Promotions include the "Hot Chocolate Facial" (50 minutes; $95), the "Kissed by a Rose Organic Facial" (50 minutes; $125) the "Floating on Air 'dtoxygen' Facial" (50 minutes; $225), the "Choco-Delight Body Treatment" which includes a chocolate raspberry sugar body scrub and a hydrating organic shea butter body wrap and the "Aroma-Berry-apy Custom Massage" (both 50 minutes; single $95, couple $190)

If nothing else, Le Petite Retreat lives up to its name. A hideaway flanked by a tall office building and a piano store just north of the shops, restaurants and foot traffic in Larchmont Village, the bungalow is easy for passersby to miss — making it all the more secluded. And it is most certainly small, from the tiny changing areas (the men's room is big enough for only one person at a time) — with their individually wrapped mini toothbrushes and makeup remover cloths — and the claustrophobic showers to an easily cramped check-in area and parking lot. Lack of size means elimination of some perks for those used to major spa chains.

Mom deserves special treatment every day, but spas all over Southern California are making it easy to spoil her on Mother's Day, offering special deals on massages, treatments, relaxations, classes and products. And it's not just for her; since Mom loves you, she's going to want you to benefit from all this discount feel-good too. Ole Henriksen Face & Body Salon During the month of May, the acclaimed spa offers the Like Mother Like Daughter treatment (30-minute lavender hydrotherapy soak by candlelight, customized facial, one cleanser and one eye cream specifically suggested by your esthetician, $250)

ON A recent afternoon, Hyatae Williams was getting her nails painted a sparkly shade of tangerine, while her sister, Ionisia, was having light-blue eye shadow brushed on her lids. The Williams sisters, swaddled in pink terry cloth robes, looked relaxed after a morning of pampering at Spa Di Da in West Hollywood. It was the kind of scene that unfolds in countless Los Angeles spas every day, except for one major difference: Hyatae is 11 years old and Ionisia is 10.

It must be confusing to run a spa these days. The recession has prompted cutbacks in spending on luxury goods and services, the demanding Baby Boom generation is still seeking the fountain of youth, and discerning clients are using words such as "wellness" and "eco" as they book their treatments. And they want the results in less than an hour. That's a tall order, but spas seem to be adapting. According to the International Spa Assn. of Lexington, Ky., 86% of ISPA members are now offering a wider variety of 30-minute options, instead of traditional and pricier 60- or 90-minute sessions.

Golnesa Gharachedaghi talks like a real soon-to-be housewife of Beverly Hills. The 30-year-old self-proclaimed Persian princess, who doesn't shy away from confrontation or dropping expletives, explains her simple tastes. "There are two things I don't like. I don't like ants, and I don't like ugly people. " Another time, the young woman who says she is eager to settle down offers a guiding principle of her active night life: "Looking good, and not repeating outfits, is imperative.