I’m Mark Smith - aka The Spa Man - and I have teamed up with The Good Spa Guide for a male takeover of the website and social media channels. The week-long event (12th June to 18th June) is designed to encourage more guys to visit the spa and consider all options available on the spa menu.
First a bit about me: I’m a specialist spa and grooming writer and have been reviewing spas for over ten years, writing for European Spa Magazine, Tatler, Asia Spa, The Telegraph and Wellness magazine. I visit around 30 spas a year – I know, it’s a tough job – so am up to date when it comes to new innovations in men’s grooming and wellness.
I may have been in a very small minority of male spa writers when I started out, but times are changing.
Men in the UK are visiting spas in greater numbers than ever before, so The Good Spa Guide felt it was time to give us a voice on their website. Coinciding with Men’s Health Week and Father’s Day 2017, the Male Edit has features on health and wellness with hot topics like mindfulness, fitness, diet and digestion – yes, the way to a man’s health is literally via our stomachs!
There’s lots of way to get involved like joining in the Tweet chat on Monday 12th June from 8pm-9pm with the hashtag #GSGman.
During this week, various spas around the country are hosting special events relating to men’s health and wellness. If you are near Essex then head to Lifehouse Spa which is hosting a presentation with Chris Booth MBBS, FRCS, Clinical Director of CHAPS, the Men's Health Charity. His talk on The State of Men's Health will discuss the symptoms of prostate cancer and why it is so important to be aware of these for an early diagnosis.
Here on The Good Spa Guide you can also check out some brand new spa reviews written from a male perspective. Each journalist who has been involved brings a different specialty and a fresh insight on the spa experience for guys.
Cillian O’Connor writes about men’s grooming and lifestyle for Mr Porter, AskMen and the Sunday Times Style. He favours a deep tissue massage and visited Ockenden Manor in Sussex to report on the benefits of the new isopod flotation tank.
Mike MacEacheran is a travel writer with a taste for adventure writing for Conde Nast Traveller, Lonely Planet Traveller and The Independent. He is a real globe-trotter and can be found travelling from Singapore to Seattle (and everywhere in between). He went to Blythswood Square in Glasgow to try out the Ishga Men’s Facial and Stress Reliever Massage.
Nigel Pizey is a film and sport writer and editor for TV Times, a beardy, real ale, Indie music sort of bloke, dad of two teenagers, husband of Spa Spy. He likes to think of himself an everyman spa-goer, and has come to believe that massages don't have to hurt to be good! We sent him to Lifehouse Spa in Essex for an Energising Back Treatment which includes coffee scrub, chocolate mud mask and massage.
I stayed nearer to home, making my way to one of London’s finest wellness destinations. ESPA Life at Corinthia really is one of the best spas around and I experienced the ESPA Mindfulness Massage, a new therapy for stress and anxiety.
I hope you enjoy all of the specially curated content which gives a whole new perspective on what’s available for men in the spa. You might love a facial or deep tissue massage, but there’s also a whole world of wellness to help renew and restore your mind and body. And you don’t have to stick to the For Men section on the spa treatment menu...
Suave Spy
12th June 2017
Spy Likes:
Tepedariums (heated seats make my spa day); pools you can actually swim in; eucalyptus steams rooms; deep tissue massages.
Spy Dislikes:
Anything to do with ice or cold plunge pools; having to go outside mid-spa day; other people talking loudly; hot tubs with the bubbles on!
