On She Space Pigments and Pampered Feet

During The She Space's last sale, I ordered several full-size pigments and a couple of quads which I was really excited to get. Heather just mailed them to me this week because she never received a notification of my order and just found out about it after checking her Paypal account. Good thing she shipped my package via Priority Mail (free upgrade) because I just received them last night. They are beautiful! I love the intensity of the pigments and I actually am glad about my lone custom pigment purchase (Round the Town which I chose Gold Twinkle to be added). It makes for a pretty wash on the lid, and I can't wait to play with these! All pigments were swatched with a damp brush:

Doesn't this eeriely remind you of the MAC Smoking Eyes quad from the Smoke Signals collection? Yummy!

Pampered Feet

Many people from California, especially in the L.A. area are probably familiar with the $15-an-hour foot reflexology craze going on. For 15 bucks an hour, Chinese-speaking attendants will massage, stroke, knead and apply pressure on every nook and cranny of your toes and feet and other parts of your body using the ancient Chinese technique to de-stress, detoxify and flush out impurities from your system. I tried one of the better foot reflexology salons in Southern California when I went there several weeks ago, and it left me in Cloud 9 and craving for more. They bring out this bamboo bucket filled with very hot water with herbs mixed in it for you to immerse your feet in. They let you soak your feet for a good 15 minutes then they start a massage on your head, neck, shoulders, back, arms, hands for 20 minutes, then they concentrate on your feet and legs for about 40 minutes. You get out of the salon really sore but totally de-stressed!

I left California with a heavy heart as I thought I'd never find that kind of foot reflexology using asian techniques here in the valley. I have been looking high and low for something like that in my area (and with the same price as well), and although I didn't find service as cheap as that, I did find a foot reflexology spa that is as good, and I'd say even better, than the one I tried in California.

First, for those of you who are new to this kind of massage, what is Reflexology? Wikipedia describes it as "the practice of massaging, squeezing, or pushing on parts of the feet, or sometimes the hands and ears, with the goal of encouraging a beneficial effect on other parts of the body, or to improve general health. Reflexologists posit that the body contains an energy field, invisible life force, or Qi, the blockage of which can prevent healing. Other reflexologists claim to be able to relieve stress and pain in other parts of the body through the manipulation of the feet. Other proposed effects of reflexology include the release of endorphins (natural pain killers found in the body), the promotion of lymphatic flow in the body or the dissolving of uric acid crystals." They say that every part of your hands and feet corresponds to a certain area or organ of the body. Reflexology is a complex system that identifies and addresses the mass of 7,000 nerve endings that are contained in the foot and hands. Reflexology is a completely natural therapy that affords relief without the use of drugs.

(Click for more She Space swatches and my foot reflexology experience)