iSpa: My First Korean Spa Experience
Is there such a thing as a spa blogger? If not, where can I sign up?! LOL. As much as I enjoy my monthly visits to a luxurious European spa otherwise known as Burke Williams, I actually came up with a new mantra to get myself out of a recent mental health funk. This new mindset and lifestyle change of mine is to try something new ONCE per week. To do something that challenges me. To do something that scares me. To do something that leaves me with a gained experience and new take on life. To do something that reignites my passion for life and to live life at any day, any time, and not just on the weekends.
Sounds easy, right? But to a pre-COVID extrovert turned into a current-COVID homebody, forcing myself to do something outside of predictability and comfort frightened me. However, for the sake of improving my mental health and to reignite the spark for life that I once had, I decided to change things up a bit and go outside of my comfort zone by scheduling my very first spa appointment at a KOREAN SPA on a Thursday evening after work.
I decided to visit iSpa in Irvine since it had great reviews on Yelp and was local to me. Additionally, I was there for approximately 4 hours and highly suggest going on the weekdays to avoid the crowds. In this blog post, I will go into detail of my ENTIRE Korean spa experience - from the customer service to experiencing spa nudity for the first time to my honest review of my 110-minute body scrub + seaweed massage. Let’s get to it!
*Note: As a disclaimer, I did not take any photos at this spa to respect the privacy of others and to respect spa policies, but you can find more photos on Yelp if needed!
To help not make this blog post a novel-length read, I compiled two TL;DR (too long, didn’t read) versions of my first-time Korean spa experience down below so you know exactly what to expect when walking into your first Korean spa. I’ll go over my personal thoughts on customer service, my service, and more in a bit!
TL;DR version - Korean Spa Experience
If you hate reading (then why are you reading this blog post? LOL), I condensed a TL;DR version for those who just want to know what to expect at a Korean spa.
check-in at the front desk to pay for your service and retrieve pink uniform + keys
use key to put away your shoes (no sandals or footwear is allowed in the premises)
walk into the large vicinity with changing rooms, bathrooms, hot tubs, dry sauna, steam room, massage “cubicles”, and more (everybody is nude at this point & every room is accessible to the public)
take a shower before you utilize any of the amenities
must soak in the hot tub for 30 minutes before your massage/scrub service
an employee calls your number (it’s on your key & there is a TV screen that shows upcoming appointments) and guides you to your “cubicle” or “spot” to get the scrub or massage
give cash tip to employee (they do not take credit card for tips)
eat at the food court (before or after your service) if desired (food court is a gender-shared room)
place used uniform + towels into respective hampers
change back into your clothes + shoes and hand key to front desk
TL;DR version - 110-Minute Seaweed Body Scrub Massage
full body scrub (lasted about 15 - 20 minutes)
rinse your exfoliated dead skin with warm water (they pour a large warm water basin all over your body)
soapy scrub
another warm water rinse
employee tells you to leave the room to quickly rinse off in the shower
employee places lightweight “foil” material on the table
lightweight mud mask mixture is rubbed on your entire body
foil is wrapped around your body for 10 minutes while you receive a cucumber facial (tiny cucumber pieces are placed on your face)
employee tells you to leave the room to quickly rinse off in the shower for a second time
soap-like body scrub (feels very similar to a hot stone massage)
lotion-like body scrub (the product applied felt like a lotion)
2nd facial - collagen jelly mask facial
I don’t know exactly what product they used, but it felt VERY similar to a Korean jelly mask product I received at a previous facial linked here. I absolutely LOVE this product and bought it for myself to use at home!
full-body deep tissue massage + mint spray
hair treatment (shampoo, conditioner, hair scrub, mint spray)
First off, I want to start off with the fact that the employees are extremely nice, but there may be a bit of a language barrier if you were as confused as me when arriving (LOL). It may seem self-explanatory, but I was initially very confused since I thought I’d be receiving sandals when I’m actually supposed to walk around the premises barefoot. Also, it doesn’t help me too much that the signs are mainly written in Korean, LOL. However, I was able to ask questions to various friendly strangers and staff and they helped me easily navigate around the vicinity.
Back to the story - I was handed my respective key and uniform and the very first thing I did was put my shoes in the locker. From there, I walked towards the changing rooms to put away all of your belongings. When I reached the public vicinity (which includes the hot tubs, dry sauna, steam room, massage cubicles, and more), I had to take off all of your clothes at this point. Honestly, I thought I’d be nervous or self-conscious about doing so, but everybody is so respectful, welcoming, and comfortable here to the point where you wouldn’t think twice about it.
Everybody is supposed to take a shower before they use any of the amenities for common courtesy and cleanliness reasons. Thus, I took a shower in the public stall (none of the shower stalls have doors btw) and then proceeded to go to the food court because “Hi, haveeeee you met food-driven Mish?”. If you caught the “How I Met Your Mother” Barney Stinson pick-up line reference, then we should be friends.
The food court received great reviews from various Yelpers and I couldn’t agree more, as the Japchae (glass noodle) dish I ordered was probably one of the best glass noodle dishes I’ve ever had. Plus, it was piping hot to the point where I felt like Ash’s Charizard having 0 control over releasing Flamethrower. Wanting to pamper myself further, I even treated myself to a Mocha Frap…which was questionably intriguing, for lack of better words LOL. In my personal opinion, the food court prices are a bit high, but it’s only because they serve LARGE portions of food so this makes sense. I chilled in the food court area for about 30 minutes while I updated my followers on my current spa experience before heading to the hot tubs for a 30-minute soak.
I tried…I really tried to soak for 30 minutes, but I started becoming woozy and lightheaded so I left the hot tub before the recommended amount of time. I guess Mish and hot tubs will never really get along, le sigh. Thus, I soaked for a good 10-minutes, but it turns out, you’re supposed to be ready for your appointment 10 minutes before your scheduled time so Employee #7 (Jessica) fetched a lost Mish to bring her to her respective massage spot. What great timing!
You can read all about the Seaweed Body Scrub Massage steps in the TL;DR version above, but let me just say that this body scrub and massage is for those who get massages frequently or can handle deep tissue massages. I do NOT recommend a Korean Spa if you have never gotten a massage before or cannot handle deep tissue, as the scrubbing and massaging intensity level is pretty high IMO. They definitely scrub every nook and cranny that your body has, which includes your arms, armpits, legs, inner thighs, breasts (they avoid the nipples - this was my one fear, phew!), butt, neck, face, and even a little bit of the genital region. For those who are extremely ticklish, I can assure you that you will be fine, as I’m a very ticklish person but I was able to get through this entire scrubbing and massage experience fine! Additionally, if something makes you extremely uncomfortable, you can always let the staff know and I’m sure they will avoid that region. You know that they do a good job with the scrub when you see all of the dead, grey exfoliated flakes of skin shed around you.
As for the massage, I want to say it felt more short-lived and I felt that the scrub process lasted longer - not complaining, just stating matter-of-factly. Overall, I do want to summarize that I truly felt like I was at a getaway away from home, as I’ve never stayed at a spa for as long as four hours. iSpa offers so many amenities (and an awesome food court!) that in all honesty, you can truly stay there all day if you wanted to, LOL. I stayed there for four hours and one of my followers stayed there for 7 hours so…not surprised if somebody can stay at iSpa all day, LOL!
Price-wise, I will say that you definitely get EVERY bang for your buck at a Korean spa. I thought I signed up for a full-body scrub and massage, but it turns out, I also received a hair treatment and facial as well (to my surprise). When you go to a Korean spa, you truly get the pampering of a lifetime. All in all, I’m definitely happy with my overall experience and would go back to iSpa again to treat my body to another solid evening of pampering. Next time, I think I want to try the body scrub and gold massage. Until next time ;)
Did this blog post help you understand Korean spas a little bit better? Have you been to a Korean spa before? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section - let’s chat!