Why would I willingly let burned bamboo be smeared all over my face? Oh, but if you go to spa.ce in Bangalore, you may want the bamboo charcoal facial too. And maybe more – they offer all massage and beauty care spa services.
Of course I didn’t just take spa.ce’s word for it regarding the bamboo charcoal facial, which they call the Black Sapphire facial.
I Googled “bamboo charcoal” and learned it has great absorption properties, even after it’s carbonized into charcoal. Bamboo charcoal is even used to remove impurities from drinking water. So, I figured I’d trust it on my face. It’s been used as far back as the Ming Dynasty in China in the 1400s. Some say bamboo charcoal will absorb smells from the air, just like setting out some baking soda. Doesn’t that stack of bamboo charcoal sticks look much cooler than a box of Arm & Hammer baking soda?! And, bamboo grows very fast so it’s certainly more renewable than trees that are cut and burned.
After the pollution and sweat my face was repeatedly exposed to in India, I felt like getting the bamboo charcoal facial on the last full day there helped to clean my skin and, in a way, start un-doing the hardships it goes through during travel. And how can you not indulge in these things in India? A facial at spa.ce is a fraction of the cost of a facial at the spa down the road from my Chicago home.
Living up to its name – spa.ce – this place is not just a spa, it is quite the space too. There are two locations. I went to the Cunningham Road location, which is on the ground floor of a large and majestic old Bangalore home. See this inner courtyard:
I liked their textiles and furniture. They are a skillful blend of modern and traditional Indian, and they add to the soothing atmosphere:
The above photos are from the spa.ce website gallery. I also snapped photos of the pretty garden outside their Cunningham Road location:
Garden view from inside the spa:
There’s a good restaurant next to the Cunningham Road spa, called Fat Buddha. That might be a name we expect to see on a fast food restaurant. But that’s not what this restaurant is. It’s good Pan-Asian food, lots of Thai flavors mixed with Indian – uncommon but creative and tasty. And you can enjoy a lingering meal here.
You can get a good lunch or dinner and a spa experience just a few steps from each other, and it’s all set back a far way from busy Cunningham Road – even the traffic noise is muffled as it should be for this experience.