Experience the Dead Sea and a Turkish Rasul at the Life Day Spa

The Life Day Spa at the Crystal Towers Hotel offers indulgent experiential spa treatments

My friend Lesley always tells me about this Rasul Chamber that she likes to frequent with friends in Europe where they “rub mud all over each other and then your skin feels like a baby's”. The detoxifying and cleansing spa ritual is based on the traditional Turkish bath and uses medicinal earth mud as a body mask while herb infused steam helps to open pores and draw out impurities.

Great was my delight to discover that the Life Day Spa at the Crystal Towers Hotel has a Rasul Chamber. Not only that but it also has a Floatation Chamber right next to it, where the water has a salt content similar to the Dead Sea, which means, your body floats in it. Not having been to Egypt myself, I have always wondered how it must feel.

So Lesley and I head off to Century City, 10 minutes out of Cape Town, where the Life Day Spa and an afternoon of relaxation await.  First up is the Floatation Chamber. Faux candle light and star lights in the roof creates a soft glow in the room. We get into the bath warm water carefully and lie back. The water envelops my body and easily supports my weight. Relaxing spa music is playing under the water. I put my arms behind my head to keep my ears out so I can have a chat with Lesley. For 30 minutes my muscles relax absolutely in this womb like environment.

Then it’s time to move next door into the Rasul Chamber. It can host four people at the same time but today it’s only Lesley and me. It’s better to do this with someone rather that alone (best being someone you’re comfortable getting half naked around) as you need a bit of help rubbing the mud all over your back. The chamber is all mosaic tiles and herbal steam and soft light. Soon I am so relaxed that I’m almost startled when a tropical rain shower starts falling from the roof and washes away the mud on my body. The tiny drops are invigorating.

I almost feel like a new person when we head for the sauna and steam room for 10 minutes before a massage and facial. Everything slows down. Yet my muscles are still tight when the massage therapist starts kneading the knots in my back. Just that extra bit of help is needed after the floating and the mud ritual to get rid of allll the stress.

Finally a carefully designed Dermalogica facial concludes the day. The products smell divine and I am pretty sure it is the perfect preparation for the beauty sleep that will soon follow.

By Lize de Kock

For more ideas on where to go for delightful beauty and wellness rituals, visit our Spa & Wellness Section.