The Wahanda Blog

While most of you will be gearing up for the festivities, fighting your way out of turkey and tinsel and worrying about how to deal with post-party hangovers, spare a thought for our Wahanda winners. November saw us giving away, not one, not two, but six Champneys spa prizes, which means that while you get stuck into seasonal preparations, six lucky Wahanda-ites will be pampering themselves to perfection.

With two top spa day prizes up for grabs and six product goodie bags on the cards, our Champneys champs were full of glee when we revealed their fate, especially seeing as though neither of our first prize winners have been to a Champneys spa before. Not that they’re spa virgins of course, Cierra – our very own jet-setter last visited the spa at The Ritz in Bali and is a regular at Kinesis pilates studio in Notting Hill, whilst fellow first-prize winner and sun-worshipper LizzieH also likes to spa when she’s on her hols. She’s already got a trip to Longleat’s Centre Parc’s spa in her diary for next year and this summer made the most of Madeira’s spa scene – jealous yet!?

But it’s not just our number one winners who like to indulge - all of our runners-up have a penchant for pampering too which is why they all have such superb pre-party preparation rituals. Billygilly (pictured) swears by a good exfoliation so her skin doesn’t become dull, followed by lashings of moisturiser to get her skin ready for the fake tan that follows and Nickintven loves nothing more than sweating it out in a sauna before the party starts. Sticking to their more regimented regime, neither visioneer nor Chris will leave the house without moisturising with the latter opting for a spritz of his favourite after-shave to finish.

It’s not all about the moisturisers and the massages though – it’s clear our Wahanda winners like to party as hard as they like to spa (both LizzieH and Kat40 (pictured) admit they’re suckers for a glass of wine), which is why all of their New Year’s Resolutions seem to centre around drinking less, eating better and exercising more – luckily for them, Wahanda has everything they need to become fitter, happier and healthier in 2009!

For detox deals and inspirational ideas look no further, and if you’re desperate to win more Wahanda prizes, make sure you visit our Wahanda Advent Calendar – we’re giving away fabulous spa prizes every day from now until Christmas!

Adding to our Wahanda wall of fame this month are six lucky ladies that came up trumps in October’s Sanctuary spa competition. With all of our competitions now receiving thousands of entries at a time, being announced as a Wahanda winner is no mean feat. Picked entirely at random, our latest Wahanda winners come from all over the UK, with one of the top prize winners residing in sunny Lancashire - but when there’s such a treat in store, show us someone who wouldn’t be willing to travel to the famous southern spa.

In case you missed what was on offer, we had two super-duper spa days up for grabs for two champs and their friends, whilst four runners-up received goodie bags overflowing with the coveted Sanctuary products. Already fans of the spa brand’s boutique range, they’re a welcome gift in winner Wilbur’s house, while Boonbetty is a lover of the Spa Essentials body lotion and foaming bath soak. IrisD (pictured) on the other hand has only heard of the product range in the past year so can’t wait to get her mitts on the goodies.

But Iris isn’t the only one that’s not had the chance to experience such spa delights, one of our first prize winners – LauraJ has never even been to a spa, or tried a treatment, so we’re hoping this will be the first of many. Treatments she’s keen to try out include a massage, facial and a session in a floatation tank, but most of all she’s hoping Wahanda will help her find a much-needed dose of relaxation. We couldn’t think of a better starting point than a spa day at The Sanctuary!

Someone else who could give her a few tips and pointers is runner-up Calliope who last visited Thermae Spa in Bath and The Hair Inn in Bangor, and is a sucker for a facial. Also no stranger to life in the spa lane is Wilbur who recently took a trip to Life Spa in Ealing, while Boonbetty even tries to get in a spot of spa-ing when she’s on her jollidays and last visited the Club Armonia Hotel in Turgutreis - all proof that Wahanda welcomes everyone from spa virgins to self-proclaimed wellness warriors.

If you want to be in with a chance of winning an indulgent Wahanda prize, make sure you keep checking back for our latest and greatest competitions. Right now we’ve got Champneys spa days and pamper packages up for the taking and you’ve got until the end of November to enter - miss it, miss out.

Everyone loves Elemis, so we weren’t surprised that entries kept flooding in for our fabulous SpaPod competition. All hopefuls had to do for a ticket in the draw was sign up to our monthly newsletter - featuring all the latest and greatest news and information and expert tips in health, beauty and wellness, delivered direct to your inbox each month, it was always a win-win situation.

But, there could only be one winner. Actually, who made up that rule? Wahanda said let there be two winners! And so there was, along with a couple of runners-up. We’re too generous for our own good here. Wahanda’s first prize winners won an unbelievable Elemis SpaPod experience in the location of their choice whilst the two runners-up bagged themselves an Elemis goodie bag each,  bursting with indulgent products.

First prize winner Lucie and runner-up Rockettine are already avid Elemis fans. Lucie uses their skin and body care range and Rockettine’s love stems from a birthday gift. “I was given the Elemis Maximum Moisture Day Cream for my birthday and I absolutely love it. It is the perfect finish for my facial procedure in the morning and it feels like getting a beauty treatment every day.”

You may have seen that last month our two Rose Ritual winners had a common link – they both had a penchant for headwear, and this month we’ve also noticed a common thread that links our winners – when asked what their ‘can’t-live-without’ beauty product was- ‘mascara and lipgloss’ came out on top!

With no plans to skimp on the pampering, these girls have the right idea and it seems the Elemis SpaPod is just the start of their relaxation rituals…

“My sister and I will be taking our mum to Spa 6 in the Cotswolds for a girly day out in October. We’ve booked the full package including an aroma massage, a facial treatment, manicure and pedicure.” Says Rockettine, whilst runner-up CazzaC is now planning a spa day with her best friend.

As for our first prize winners – once her SpaPod treatment is over, next on the list is full body massage, and as for poor SarahS – she’s currently studying for lots of exams, so next on her list is a nice relaxing massage to ‘de-stress’ her. We have a feeling our Elemis SpaPod giveaway may be able to help. It’s good to give.

To find your nearest Elemis destination,  click here.

If you’re suffering with back-to-work blues because the summer holiday season’s come to an end, an exotic treatment is just the ticket to transport you away from that dreary desk-job and into the lap of luxury. OK, we’re not suggesting you whisk yourself off to the Far East, let’s be sensible, no-one’s boss is going to be pleased about that. Instead, this is more of a gentle nudge in the direction of The Spa at the Four Seasons Hotel, Hampshire.

You may have already noticed our fabulous competition to win an overnight stay there, but if you just can’t wait until the winner’s announced to try out their spa packages, you should make a conscious effort to visit between Monday 22^nd September and Saturday 4^th October when they’ll be transforming two of their fifteen treatment rooms into a Balinese retreat. Complete with two therapists from the Four Seasons sister properties in Bali; you’ll be given the chance to try some traditional treatments using age-old techniques for an entire fortnight.

On offer is a 60 or 90 minute Balinese Massage using Balinese santi oil, as well as a synchronised version of the same treatment –similar to a Four Hands Massage . Then there’s the Lulur Jimbaran Ritual - a two hour treatment involving massage, exfoliation and bathing using an array of exotic spices, flavours and infusions. Or, if you’re feeling super adventurous, try the Papaya Passion Fruit Body Mask - a detoxifying body mask of clay full of fruit enzymes and natural fruit acids to rehydrate and regenerate the skin.

What’s more, just by booking in for a Balinese beauty treat, you’ll be automatically entered into their competition to win a three-night stay at either the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay or Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan.

For more information on the Four Seasons Resorts around the world click here , and to enter our competition to win a spa break at Four Seasons Hotel, Hampshire, click here .

And so they should. If you thought an indulgent Rose Ritual of body scrubs, wraps, massages and champagne at The Dorchester Spa was too good to be true, it looks like you missed out on July’s competition. Instead, the prizes were snapped up by Wahanda citizens - Faith and Achooww, who did as they were told and started penning their reviews so they could be in with a shot of winning our fantastic prize, and it looks like all their hard work paid off.

Seeing as these two lucky ladies are our first Wahanda winners EVER, we thought we’d introduce you to them so you can guide your green-eyed gazes directly at them.

Faith (left), a once-a-month treatment goer, submitted reviews on Gianni and Claudie , Pacifica Day Spa , earthspa and Ajune to win, with the latter coming out on top, while Achooww (right), a pain-before-gain believer, kept it this side of the Atlantic, and rated Middlethorpe Hall and Alquimia Spa , filling the Wahanda community in on her experiences. But we couldn’t let them get away with just writing a few reviews, so we decided to grill them a little more before we handed over their prize package…

How often do you have a treatment?

Faith: On average, once a month.

Achooww: If it’s a nice treatment that I enjoy, probably once every 6 months, but for a nasty waxing treatment, once every six weeks (although I don’t enjoy that as much)!

What’s the best spa you’ve ever been to?

Faith: Ajune in NYC, hands down.

Achooww: Middlethorpe Hall in York is pretty wicked, but I’m partial to a bit of abuse, so any of the spas in Thailand where the massages really hurt - you always feel better afterwards!

What’s the treatment you’d most like to try?

Faith: A pilates class. I don’t know if that technically counts as a treatment, but lots of spas offer them…

Achooww: One day I’ll pluck up the courage to have a colonic, but otherwise it’d be some sort of clingfilm bodywrap inch-loss, exfoliating-type treatment!

So there you have it, our winners in a nutshell. One surprising observation we made whilst we were writing this blog is that both our champs are wearing headgear in their profile shots. We’re wondering if there’s a link? Answers on the back of a postcard please…

If this spa prize has had you screaming for more, make sure you enter the current competition on our homepage. What are you waiting for?