Alone on a recent weekend, I decided to finally treat myself to a seaweed bath using the dehydrated kelp I’d brought back from a trip to Ireland. I thought there might be a bit of a mess — though the large leaves were encased in a mesh bag, I figured a few might stray out — but nothing prepared me for the salad bowl that my bathtub resembled after the water had drained away. Nor did I realize that I would require a full-on scrub in the shower to remove the shreds of seaweed that stuck to my skin like glue. By the time I got everything cleaned up, I was a frustrated sweaty mess more in need of a spa day than when I’d started.
It was at that point I realized that perhaps the best place to take a spa day, particularly if it would involve making a mess, was at an actual spa. Even better, I decided to find one where I could indulge in mess-making therapies and ingredients that I’d never want to try at home.
My destination was Calistoga, California, which is known not just for healing mineral pools, but for decadent spas that utilize the messiest of all spa ingredients: mud.
Unless you’re four, at first glance, mud — or should I call it dirt paste — seems like it’s about the last thing you’d want to put on your skin. But go back to biology class and you might recall that mud is actually just organic matter that has decomposed into dark sludge.
Of course, not all mud is created equal. In Calistoga, ancient volcanoes and underground geothermal springs produce water that’s so packed with body-boosting curative powers that people have soaked in it for centuries. When it’s combined with local volcanic ash and a few other purified organics, it produces a turbocharged goo that can work miracles in the spa. “That rich black mud is a real tonic for your body,” says Carene Coulter, spa director at the Four Seasons Napa Valley, which is located in Calistoga. “It infuses your skin with vitamins and minerals while at the same time drawing out toxins.”
To that end, I’m lying in an oversized concrete tub at Doc Wilkinson’s Spa & Baths that’s been filled with a steaming, proprietary mixture of composted botanicals, peat moss, mineral water, volcanic ash, and other organics. It’s the same recipe that wellness pioneers John and Edy Wilkinson developed in 1952 when they opened the spa and began offering therapeutic mud baths to tourists.
The sensation is odd. Thanks to the loamy texture of the peat, the viscous mass is fully enveloping and supportive yet somehow light: when I wiggle my fingers or toes there’s almost no resistance, yet I don’t have to do a thing to stay afloat. It’s warm, too, about 107 degrees, which assists with the detox. To keep from overheating, I sip from a glass of icy water perched on the edge of the tub. And just in case you’re wondering, after my treatment, boiling-hot water will be pumped into the mixture to purify it before the next person goes in.
After a shower rinse that took longer than expected — a friend who’d had the treatment earlier wasn’t kidding when she said I’d find mud everywhere — a warm mineral bath, detox time in steam, and a brief temperature-regulating nap under cool cotton sheets, I was shocked to discover that my skin wasn’t just soft, but fresher looking than it had been prior to the mud bath.
Of course, not everyone wants to spend 20 minutes submerged in a tub of muck, no matter how good it is for your skin. That’s why Solage Calistoga, an Auberge resort known for its pampering spa and extensive wellness offerings, developed the Mudslide, a signature treatment that offers the healing benefits of Calistoga’s mineral water and volcanic ash without all the mess. “The original inspiration for this treatment was to provide a “cleaner twist” on the traditional full-immersion into a tub of volcanic ash, peat moss, and mineral waters,” says Robert Vance, Solage’s spa director. “We created a unique facility in our Bathhouse just for this treatment.”
Though I’m not immersed in mud, I am covered in a layer of bone-white clay, which I applied myself — a spa associate provided an assist for my back — and lying motionless on a deliciously warm and surprisingly comfortable concrete slab. As the clay dries, it pulls chemicals, bacteria, and other impurities from deep within my skin to the surface, where they can be whisked away in the shower. Everything is perfect, from the temperature of the room to the aroma of the essential oils worked into the clay, to the lush plants in the outdoor garden shower where I wash off the clay.
After a soak in a warm bath and a nap in a zero-gravity chair, my brain is as detoxed as my skin, which is also smooth as silk. My only regret is that I didn’t arrive earlier: in addition to the Mudslide and an array of other spa treatments, Solage offers infrared sauna, hot-and-cold plunge, mineral pools, eucalyptus steam, and other amenities to hotel guests and spa goers. I’d booked two nights and I’m glad I did. When I wasn’t at the spa or taking a wellness class, I was exploring downtown Calistoga aboard one of the resort’s complimentary bikes. I also dined at Solbar, the resort’s beautifully designed indoor-outdoor restaurant, where menu items like raw Pacific oysters, chilled lemongrass and lobster soup, pan-seared scallops with fennel and clams, wagyu tenderloin, and roasted octopus with tamarind vinaigrette circled the globe and made choosing a challenge.
Ready to clean up your body with a messy spa treatment? Here are four more California spas where you can do just that.
Four Seasons Napa Valley, Calistoga
Top off a day of wine tasting with a glass of local bubbles at Four Seasons’ Talia Spa, where an array of treatments make use of mud, marine algae, salt, and sugar. Try the Brave Spirit Ritual to renew mind and body with a salt-based exfoliation followed by a slathering of thermal mud or lock in the benefits of essential oil-infused mud with the Bountiful Earth Wrap. The resort, which is surrounded by a vineyard, also offers a scrub down with grape skins and seeds from fruit grown just steps away from the spa.
Indian Springs Resort, Calistoga
Thousands of years ago, members of the Wappo tribe gathered around this natural geyser to benefit from the curative mineral water that emerged from the Earth’s core. By 1861, California businessman Samuel Brannon had opened the Hot Spring Hotel on the site. Today, those same underwater springs fill the pools and mud baths at what is now called the Indian Springs Resort. Mud baths utilize volcanic ash gathered each day on the property and take place in the same concrete tubs that Samuel Brannon had manufactured in the 19th century. After your bath and rinse, you’ll enjoy a mineral bath and cocooning cool down; your final path on the journey is relaxing on the wooden boardwalk that encircles the relaxing Buddha pool.
Ojai Valley Inn
Clay from the desert is renowned for its ability to detoxify without drying; Ojai Valley Inn’s exclusive Kuyam treatment pairs the healing qualities of this special clay with time in the dry heat of a Kuyam, which translates to “a place to come together” in the language of the Chumas, a Native American tribe from this part of California. The treatment also includes inhalation therapy and a guided meditation before a refreshing cool rinse.
Rancho Valencia
Seaweed hydrates, firms, and improves elasticity of the skin; Rancho Valencia offers spa goers a time to take a good long drink with a Marine Mineral Wrap, followed by an outdoor shower and an application of Laminaria oil, which is derived from seaweed and is packed with antioxidants. The resort’s tranquil spa is set within a blooming garden where waterfalls provide a relaxing soundtrack.
La Quinta Resort & Club, Palm Springs
When is a wrap more than a wrap? In the case of La Quinta Resort & Club’s deeply nurturing Organic Warm Spiced Mud Wrap, it’s when the wrap begins with a water massage under the energizing pressure of a Vichy shower. From there, you’ll be coated in a mixture of ocean mud infused with aromatic oils for your time in a steam bath, followed by a full-body application of moisture-boosting lotion (a necessity in the desert) that will lock in the benefits of the mud.
Featured image courtesy of Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa
