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Excellent Facial
Aru Spa is a new spa in a brand new building offering valet service and your choice of tea once inside the modern East/West fusion style waiting room.

The waiting room is a little noisy as the spa also has a hair salon, but once past the glass door entering the spa section, you are treated to a pleasant escape with a sensuous, circular, genie-in the bottle type lounge seating area with muted lighting, relaxing music, locker and steam room.

After my steam, Sam was waiting to take me to my room. With a delightful English accent, she explained, thoroughly, what the treatment would consist of. I had the Aru Signature Facial, a glorious skin lifting treatment which helps to reduce expression lines and promotes a radiant glow.

Sam convinced me that continuing to use the fine facial products at home would be a good thing. When I arrived at the reception desk before leaving to pay for the service, my products in brightly coloured boxes were piled in front of me. I was curious as to why the receptionist did not tally the products in with my bill.

She looked at me with a blank stare and asked, "you are taking all of them?"

"Yes," I replied. "Perhaps I should get a total on them first?"

"Two hundred dollars per bottle. I was surprised you were taking all of them."

Not as surprised as me! A three month supply of facial products for $1200? That would buy me a lot of Aru Spa facials!

Ancient Cedars Spa at the Wickaninnish Inn
The delicious aroma of Aveda products would float up to our room as we watched the waves crash into the shore. It was too tempting - we had to try the Ancient Cedars Spa.

Upon arrival, I was given a locker with a robe and then returned to the Zen-styled lobby while my attendant had me choose which type of oils I wanted used with my tourmaline facial. I chose Eucalyptus. I was then escorted outside to an Adirondack chair overlooking the Pacific with a wool blanket placed over me and my feet in a basin of warm water with marbles on the bottom for a foot massage.

After finishing my tea and enjoying the pristine surroundings, my husband and I were escorted into the private cedar hut perched on the ocean's edge. While he had a massage, my facial treatment included two masques customized with essential oils and plant botanicals to suit the needs of my skin followed by a relaxing face massage that included acupressure points on the face and a Lymphatic Drainage massage that helped detoxify the skin. Marine and plant extracts were added that infused visible life into my skin. The treatment finished with a soothing foot and scalp massage.

After it was over, I looked in the mirror. My face was beaming and I looked 10 years younger! I finished off the experience with a 15 minute session in the steam room.

There isn't enough room here to describe my entire experience at the Wickaninnish Inn, nor could my words adequately describe the immense beauty and relaxation of the Inn and the Ancient Cedars Spa. Let's just say that if I won a lottery tomorrow, I would move in and visit the spa daily! Life simply couldn't get any better.