Last week, I was invited to the Beauty Therapy Institute in Woodstock for some pregnancy spoils and to celebrate the academy’s 21st birthday! You can only imagine the excitement of such adventures when an inflated beach ball seems to be your standard daily look for the last  8 months! A time to relax and be pampered could not have sounded better at the time! My pamper package included a back, neck and shoulder pregnancy massage, and a deluxe paraffin dip for both manicure and pedicure treatments.

BTI (Beauty Therapy Institute) is an actual college situated in the up and coming area of Woodstock, Cape Town. This college is in the Upper East Side building (fancy shmancy) and collaborates with Sorbet – one of the biggest beauty and wellness salons in South Africa. The BTI college actually trades under the name of Sorbet Cape Town – FYI! My favourite part is that the college has a beautiful mountain view from the practical training room where all of their delectable treatments take place – and everyone is SO FRIENDLY!

The first treatment that we started off with was the Back, Neck and Shoulder Massage – I mean, could this have been any more of a magical moment? Obviously when you are pregnant, lying on your not so deflateable tummy is totally off limits, so off to the side we rolled, lying on my left part of my body, and being covered by a blanket (because towels just don’t quite cover the proximity of a pregnant person’s circumference!).

Nicole, who gave me the most amazing massage was a total pampering goddess! I absolutely love deep tissue massages, but because there happened to be a growing human in my tummy, we had to lay off a bit of the pressure. Medium pressing was perfect and the relaxation mode was set. I totally had to remind myself that I had a student massaging me, even though it felt otherwise. My massage lasted just over an hour, and I completely almost fell asleep! I guess that is what happens when you’re pregnant and very relaxed! I loved hearing all of Nicole’s stories about her kids, and it was great to have something in common to chat about, which made me feel so comfortable – winning!

Once my massage came to an end, I had a Deluxe manicure with a paraffin dip and pedicure at the same time! Talk about multitasking! Paige gave me a super divine pedicure. She completely transformed my swollen piggy feet and made my hooves look way more presentable!

She used the BTI foot scrub, to remove dead skin cells and polish my trotters. The foot scrub smelt amazing – like fresh bubbles! I could also choose from an array of Sorbet nail colours for both my hands and feet. I went for a neutral selection of “Blush” for my feet and “Melting Moment” for my hands.

While Paige looked worked her magic on my feet, Chelsea gave me a manicure and paraffin dip treatment which I had never had before. Basically, your paws get dipped into hot paraffin wax which creates a waxy coating. Your hands are then put into their own individual plastic coverings and then put into little mittens for a few minutes. Paraffin dips have so many benefits that I actually had no idea about. They increase blood flow, relaxes muscles and helps with joint stiffness AND can also be used to help treat arthritis!

After a few minutes, the dip was peeled off and Chelsea gave me a little hand massage using the BTI Massage Cream, which smells AMAZING – like candy! Once that was finished, she painted my nails with my chosen colour.

All in all, I had such a lovely time, spending the morning with these ladies. I absolutely love how friendly the students are and I have no doubt that they will make wonderful beauty and wellness therapists.

If you would like to find out more about the Beauty Therapy Institute, click here or view their Facebook page for more info. They have the highest standard of education in the health, beauty and skincare industry and are currently running a fantastic deal of 10% off all massage and holistic courses.

Until next time,

Mycaila – Jade

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