Nirmala NatarajSF Station Writer |
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Nirmala Nataraj's Articles
 | Deliciously Luxurious As winter, with its occasional bouts of sunshine-accompanied merriment and invariable frosty spells, gives way to a lovely Bay Area spring, the transition to toastier weather warrants a little celebration. And what better way to usher in the longer hours of sunlight than a meditative jaunt to the heart of wine country? More » |  |  | Tis the Season for Pampering! The holidays are enough of a pain for even the most creative people to succumb to generic gift-giving. This season, you can dispense with gift certificates, ugly sweaters, and even the well-intentioned homemade tchotchkes, and instead, grace your loved ones with hours of decadence and pampering. Here are some ideas for treats that your friends and family definitely won’t want to re-gift. More » | |  | Get Into the Holiday Spirit ‘Tis the season for holiday fare, and would Christmas really be complete without paying homage to the god of the dancing nutcracker? The San Francisco Ballet version of "The Nutcracker" is particularly special, since the War Memorial Opera House was the first American venue in which the beloved piece was performed, back in 1944. And to this day, both venue and performance still dazzle. More » | |  | Traditional Luxury with a Twist Over three years ago, I had my first introduction to the glitzy, glamorous world of spa. I was on assignment for a bridal magazine to get the scoop on the latest trends in hair and makeup. After a few phone calls to my most pampered, privileged associates, I was directed to LaBelle Day Spa in Palo Alto. Despite the fact that even on an early Saturday morning, the place was packed to the max with anxious brides and hardcore beauty buffs, I was immediately impressed with the professionalism of the staff, who curled my tresses and polished my visage like I was the only gal around. Three hours and a first-class makeover later, I was smitten. More » | |  | Customized, Natural Beauty A week before the biggest event of my life, my wedding, I am exhausted. It’s supposed to be a time of jubilation, when the butterflies in a bride’s stomach are more symbolic of healthy anticipation than things being seriously awry. But all I want to do is collapse on my bed and fall asleep for 72 hours or so. Of course, I can’t complain too much -- this evening, I have an appointment to keep, but it doesn’t have anything to do with a last-minute fitting or bothersome rehearsal dinner. It’s a facial with Kirsten Quint Fairbanks, who runs Apotheca Skin Body Wellness. More » | |  | Feel-Good and Unfaithful I haven’t seen Oprah Winfrey’s eponymous prime-time talk show in years, but it’s hard to deny her presence in our cultural milieu. Whether I’m eyeballing the needlessly self-aggrandizing covers of [i]O[/i] magazine at my grocery store’s checkout stand, getting the scoop on a tawdry celebrity confessional on Oprah’s hot seat, browsing her book club selections at Borders, or reading a mawkish inspirational piece on Ms. Winfrey’s symptomatic do-gooding, I’ll be the first to admit that she’s officially planted her flag. More » | |  | A massage is the apex of luxury. What could be more extravagant than soaking in the warm oils of a Swedish treatment and sinking into the bliss of an herbal mud bath after a good hour of deep tissue kneading? Moreover, the spa experience is about wellness and the synergistic mystery of relaxation and their effects on the beleaguered body More » | |  | Creative Ways to Move This Summer With the subtle sting of almost-summer in San Francisco, there's a new buzz in the air. It's the kind of feeling that makes me thirsty for movement, that makes me desire the 2-3-4-lift of salsa dancing and bored with the uncoordinated languor of club land. Most people plan vacations to fairer climes around this time of year; I, on the other hand, pursue my obsession with dance classes. People haven't figured out why this takes place in seasonal spates; admittedly, it has more than a little to do with being painfully conscious of the unveiling of washboard abs and bikini legs... More » | |  | Allow Yourself to be Seduced Camille Saint-Saens’ "Samson and Delilah" is perhaps one of the most violently erotic operas in all of history. Far be it from the frivolous coquettishness of librettos like "Don Giovanni" or "La Traviata" -- which despite their illustriousness, border on inconsequential melodrama -- the love story of "Samson and Delilah" is nicely tempered by stuff like religious oppression, psychic torment, and the poignancy of heartbreak, made all the more glorious given the bleak Old Testament mise en scene. More » | |  | An Exotic Oil Showcased Certainly, proper pampering has its price but if you’re tired of all the superfluous amenities and exorbitant fees that are part and parcel of the typical day spa experience, don’t fret -- classic indulgence can still be yours. Tucked away on a quiet, tree-lined corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Berkeley is Argania Salon de Beauté, the perfect one-stop place to address all your beauty needs…at the fraction of the cost and fuss. More » | |
Nirmala Nataraj's Articles
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