Reporter Deborah Vankin gets a massage by an “Aescape” robot at Pause Wellness Studio.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
My favorite massages for the head, feet, face, eyes, ears and butt (you’re welcome)
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I am a massage junkie and particularly enjoy a specialized treatment targeting one specific body part — it’s often more interesting, and more effective in terms of ailment relief, than a full body rubdown (though I do enjoy that, too). So I’ve made it my business — quite literally, as a wellness reporter — to seek out the most unique and indulgent massages in Los Angeles for every inch of the body.
Head massages, I learned while investigating the trend in 2024, can detoxify and hydrate the scalp while aiding circulation and bringing blood flow and nutrients to the area. That, in turn, strengthens hair follicles and can help prevent dandruff, itchiness, inflammation and, possibly, hair loss.
Foot massages, I learned last year during a week crisscrossing the city to search out the best ones, aid circulation and joint mobility while stretching muscles and tendons to help prevent injuries.
Recently, I ventured to City of Industry to investigate an “eyeball care” massage that I’d heard about. It’s intended to ease digital eye strain and dry eye syndrome.
Doctors generally tell me, however, that the most pronounced benefit of a specialized massage is the relaxation it promotes. Bring it on.
I haven’t unearthed treatments for every region of the body yet — I’m still looking for a decent, dedicated hand massage and there’s a tongue massage I intend to check out. But in the meantime, here’s a list of some of my favorite massages thus far for the head, feet, face, eyes, ears and, yes, the butt.
Showing Place Places
Head massage
San Gabriel Valley Day Spa
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
Cai Xiang Ge opened in San Gabriel in mid-2021 and, says owner Ning Chen, helped kick off the head spa trend in Los Angeles.
The 90-minute Royal Treatment at CXG is aptly named. As I settled into my spa bed, traditional Chinese harp music played on the sound system. I nestled my head into a shampoo basin on one end, my bare feet into a foot bath filled with warm water steeped with Chinese herbs on the other. I haven’t seen a foot bath at a head spa since — it was a beautiful touch.
As part of the six-step process, my practitioner repeatedly washed my hair and scrubbed my scalp. There was an aromatherapy head massage with tingly-feeling tea tree oil, as well as a scalp steaming and a slow, indulgent head and neck massage. Then I spent 10 minutes with the arc-shaped waterfall ring bathing my head in herb-treated water, my face immersed in billowy steam. The treatment also included a hydrating, collagen-boosting facial, an herbal hair steam and a conditioning hair mask.
If I didn’t already feel like a princess, CXG then dried and styled my hair while I sipped herbal tea and nibbled on sweets. The process included an “anti-hair-loss treatment” as well as a high-frequency scalp therapy device said to disinfect my pores and fortify my hair follicles.
Climbing into my car, I understood why, on social media, one towel-clad influencer had claimed that CXG’s head spa can “change your life.” An overstatement, perhaps; but my state of mind had been greatly altered — I was truly zen — at least for the rest of the day.
Scalp Spa Standard, 60 minutes: $95. Scalp Spa Royal Treatment, 90 minutes: $135. Scalp Spa Royal Deluxe, 90 minutes: $135.
The 90-minute Royal Treatment at CXG is aptly named. As I settled into my spa bed, traditional Chinese harp music played on the sound system. I nestled my head into a shampoo basin on one end, my bare feet into a foot bath filled with warm water steeped with Chinese herbs on the other. I haven’t seen a foot bath at a head spa since — it was a beautiful touch.
As part of the six-step process, my practitioner repeatedly washed my hair and scrubbed my scalp. There was an aromatherapy head massage with tingly-feeling tea tree oil, as well as a scalp steaming and a slow, indulgent head and neck massage. Then I spent 10 minutes with the arc-shaped waterfall ring bathing my head in herb-treated water, my face immersed in billowy steam. The treatment also included a hydrating, collagen-boosting facial, an herbal hair steam and a conditioning hair mask.
If I didn’t already feel like a princess, CXG then dried and styled my hair while I sipped herbal tea and nibbled on sweets. The process included an “anti-hair-loss treatment” as well as a high-frequency scalp therapy device said to disinfect my pores and fortify my hair follicles.
Climbing into my car, I understood why, on social media, one towel-clad influencer had claimed that CXG’s head spa can “change your life.” An overstatement, perhaps; but my state of mind had been greatly altered — I was truly zen — at least for the rest of the day.
Scalp Spa Standard, 60 minutes: $95. Scalp Spa Royal Treatment, 90 minutes: $135. Scalp Spa Royal Deluxe, 90 minutes: $135.
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Foot massage
San Gabriel Valley Day Spa
(Maggie Shannon / For The Times)
Forty dollars. Seventy minutes of massage. Need we say more?
Tibetan Herbal Feet Soak is a self-care gem in the city of San Gabriel. It opened in 2004 in a shopping mall adjacent to the Hilton Los Angeles San Gabriel and has remained there since. Owner Lily Chen prides herself on an extensive knowledge of Chinese foot reflexology and herbal therapy. There are no private rooms here; instead, guests receive their treatments in rows of plush armchairs that recall a living room. But the experience is no less outstanding.
The 70-minute reflexology begins with a 10-minute foot-steaming. Chen placed my feet on a small stool inside a deep wooden bucket filled partially with boiling water and more than 40 dried and powdered herbs, including ginseng, mugwort and saffron. As they brewed, creating a brownish tea, my feet steamed on the stool above the water. It felt incredible. Afterward, Chen added two gallons of cold water, bringing the temperature down. She then soaked my feet for an additional 10 minutes. The steaming and soaking, she claims, aids circulation and is detoxifying to the body.
Chen then nestled a warm, buckwheat-filled compress under my neck and my practitioner, Tony, gave me a wonderful 50-minute foot and leg massage, repeatedly referring to a reflexology map of the feet and asking me questions about my lifestyle whenever he encountered tightness. (Apparently, I sit too much.)
The massage was such a deal, I treated myself afterward to Tsujita L.A. Artisan Noodle in the same shopping mall. There’s a Shanghai Dumpling House a few doors down and, across the street, the popular Shanghai No. 1 Seafood Village for dim sum. Stay a while: Underground parking at the Hilton is free 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Treatment name: 70-minute reflexology
Price: $40
Tibetan Herbal Feet Soak is a self-care gem in the city of San Gabriel. It opened in 2004 in a shopping mall adjacent to the Hilton Los Angeles San Gabriel and has remained there since. Owner Lily Chen prides herself on an extensive knowledge of Chinese foot reflexology and herbal therapy. There are no private rooms here; instead, guests receive their treatments in rows of plush armchairs that recall a living room. But the experience is no less outstanding.
The 70-minute reflexology begins with a 10-minute foot-steaming. Chen placed my feet on a small stool inside a deep wooden bucket filled partially with boiling water and more than 40 dried and powdered herbs, including ginseng, mugwort and saffron. As they brewed, creating a brownish tea, my feet steamed on the stool above the water. It felt incredible. Afterward, Chen added two gallons of cold water, bringing the temperature down. She then soaked my feet for an additional 10 minutes. The steaming and soaking, she claims, aids circulation and is detoxifying to the body.
Chen then nestled a warm, buckwheat-filled compress under my neck and my practitioner, Tony, gave me a wonderful 50-minute foot and leg massage, repeatedly referring to a reflexology map of the feet and asking me questions about my lifestyle whenever he encountered tightness. (Apparently, I sit too much.)
The massage was such a deal, I treated myself afterward to Tsujita L.A. Artisan Noodle in the same shopping mall. There’s a Shanghai Dumpling House a few doors down and, across the street, the popular Shanghai No. 1 Seafood Village for dim sum. Stay a while: Underground parking at the Hilton is free 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Treatment name: 70-minute reflexology
Price: $40
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Eye massage
Industry Day Spa
(Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)
More than half of the U.S. population lives with digital eyestrain from computer work. And 16.4 million Americans suffer from dry eye syndrome.
New Vogue Spa, in City of Industry, is here to help.
The Asian-style spa offers a range of massages and body scrubs in addition to soaking tubs, a Himalayan salt sauna and a red clay room sauna. One of its spa treatments is called “eyeball care” — and it’s intended to help soothe tired, strained eyes.
The 60-minute treatment includes a 10-minute head massage followed by a longer eye socket massage. For the uninitiated, that means gentle pressure on the outer corners of the eyes as well as under the brow bones and on the temples. It’s incredibly relaxing.
The highlight is “cooling steam therapy” delivered via an oversize diving mask filled with aromatic, hydrating mist treated with essential oils. The “eye spa” machine uses a cold mist atomization process and it’s quite refreshing.
In addition to aiding eye fatigue and dry eye syndrome, practitioners say the treatment hydrates and stimulates blood circulation in the eye area and decreases puffiness and dark circles. As a bonus: guests are treated to a cup of homemade snow fungus tea (made from tremella mushrooms) afterward.
Treatment name: 60-minute “Eyeball Care” (includes access to soaking tubs and saunas)
Price: $125
New Vogue Spa, in City of Industry, is here to help.
The Asian-style spa offers a range of massages and body scrubs in addition to soaking tubs, a Himalayan salt sauna and a red clay room sauna. One of its spa treatments is called “eyeball care” — and it’s intended to help soothe tired, strained eyes.
The 60-minute treatment includes a 10-minute head massage followed by a longer eye socket massage. For the uninitiated, that means gentle pressure on the outer corners of the eyes as well as under the brow bones and on the temples. It’s incredibly relaxing.
The highlight is “cooling steam therapy” delivered via an oversize diving mask filled with aromatic, hydrating mist treated with essential oils. The “eye spa” machine uses a cold mist atomization process and it’s quite refreshing.
In addition to aiding eye fatigue and dry eye syndrome, practitioners say the treatment hydrates and stimulates blood circulation in the eye area and decreases puffiness and dark circles. As a bonus: guests are treated to a cup of homemade snow fungus tea (made from tremella mushrooms) afterward.
Treatment name: 60-minute “Eyeball Care” (includes access to soaking tubs and saunas)
Price: $125
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Ear massage
Costa Mesa Day Spa
(Ariana Drehsler/For The Times)
This hour-long ASMR session, at Kas Wellness in Costa Mesa, is a feast for the ears. And it’s supremely relaxing.
ASMR, or autonomous sensory meridian response, is the pleasurable tingling feeling brought on by gentle auditory, visual or tactile stimuli, but sound is the predominant sense typically being stimulated. Participants — during in-person ASMR sessions or when watching videos online — take in the pronounced sound of cellophane wrap crinkling, for example, or oil droplets sizzling or fingernails rhythmically tapping a desktop to elicit the calming response.
Only about 20% of the population experiences “the tingles,” as the sensation is often referred to. But for those who do, the feeling is sometimes called a “head orgasm” because ASMR can not only calm the central nervous system, but may bring on a sense of euphoria, giddiness or acute alertness.
At Kas Wellness, guests lay on a heated massage bed, wrapped in a soft, weighted blanket, while their practitioner stimulates their senses with different tools. They may caress their cheeks or neck with billowy, pink goose feathers while whispering narration into their ears to add an auditory element; or they might massage their scalp with green jade combs, which make a hollow click-clacking sound; or they might drag long, prickly iron nail tips up their arm, filling their ears with a raspy scraping sound.
Owner Kayla Faraji says the treatment is “deeply relaxing and restorative,” adding that in-person ASMR sessions, a relatively new trend, are “the future of wellness, the new massage.”
Treatment name: Kas Signature Sessions
Price: 60 minutes, $130; 90 minutes, $170; 100 minutes, $210
ASMR, or autonomous sensory meridian response, is the pleasurable tingling feeling brought on by gentle auditory, visual or tactile stimuli, but sound is the predominant sense typically being stimulated. Participants — during in-person ASMR sessions or when watching videos online — take in the pronounced sound of cellophane wrap crinkling, for example, or oil droplets sizzling or fingernails rhythmically tapping a desktop to elicit the calming response.
Only about 20% of the population experiences “the tingles,” as the sensation is often referred to. But for those who do, the feeling is sometimes called a “head orgasm” because ASMR can not only calm the central nervous system, but may bring on a sense of euphoria, giddiness or acute alertness.
At Kas Wellness, guests lay on a heated massage bed, wrapped in a soft, weighted blanket, while their practitioner stimulates their senses with different tools. They may caress their cheeks or neck with billowy, pink goose feathers while whispering narration into their ears to add an auditory element; or they might massage their scalp with green jade combs, which make a hollow click-clacking sound; or they might drag long, prickly iron nail tips up their arm, filling their ears with a raspy scraping sound.
Owner Kayla Faraji says the treatment is “deeply relaxing and restorative,” adding that in-person ASMR sessions, a relatively new trend, are “the future of wellness, the new massage.”
Treatment name: Kas Signature Sessions
Price: 60 minutes, $130; 90 minutes, $170; 100 minutes, $210
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Face massage
Sherman Oaks Day Spa
(Deborah Vankin)
Kosha is a boutique spa in Sherman Oaks offering skincare and massages. One of its signature offerings is the “buccal facial,” which is actually more of a face and jaw area massage as opposed to a facial involving exfoliating, steaming and pore extraction.
The 55-minute treatment promises to improve circulation and relax muscles, helping to plump the skin while lifting and firming, “giving it a more contoured appearance,” Kosha owner Anastasia Talan told me.
It starts with a short grounding meditation before a cleansing of the skin and a light scalp massage. It then transitions into a wonderfully relaxing neck, shoulder and face massage, with an emphasis on the face. (The actual “buccal massage” part comes later.) Talan said the overall treatment blends multiple types of massage, including European “contouring and lifting massage,” lymphatic drainage, acupressure and myofascial release as well as light stretching.
As she worked on my face, Talan applied pressure while stroking under my cheek bones, along my sinuses and up, down and around my cheeks and jaw area.
The “buccal massage” portion was about 15 minutes. It’s also called “intraoral massage” because it takes place inside of the mouth. Talan donned blue plastic gloves and then pulled my lips apart, massaging the inside of my cheeks, lips and around my jawbone and temporomandibular joint. Relieving tension there is helpful in aiding TMJ and other temporomandibular joint disorders. Another benefit, says Talan: clenching the jaw, a stress reaction, can enlarge the masseter muscles on the jaw, leading to the lower part of the face looking heavy. Relaxing those muscles could preserve slimness of the face.
But go for the sheer relaxation of it. Once the (admittedly awkward) intraoral massage part was over, Talan spent a few more minutes massaging the outside of my face and neck. The treatment was so dreamy, I nearly drooled while fighting off sleep.
Treatment name: The Buccal Facial
Price: 55 minutes, $195
The 55-minute treatment promises to improve circulation and relax muscles, helping to plump the skin while lifting and firming, “giving it a more contoured appearance,” Kosha owner Anastasia Talan told me.
It starts with a short grounding meditation before a cleansing of the skin and a light scalp massage. It then transitions into a wonderfully relaxing neck, shoulder and face massage, with an emphasis on the face. (The actual “buccal massage” part comes later.) Talan said the overall treatment blends multiple types of massage, including European “contouring and lifting massage,” lymphatic drainage, acupressure and myofascial release as well as light stretching.
As she worked on my face, Talan applied pressure while stroking under my cheek bones, along my sinuses and up, down and around my cheeks and jaw area.
The “buccal massage” portion was about 15 minutes. It’s also called “intraoral massage” because it takes place inside of the mouth. Talan donned blue plastic gloves and then pulled my lips apart, massaging the inside of my cheeks, lips and around my jawbone and temporomandibular joint. Relieving tension there is helpful in aiding TMJ and other temporomandibular joint disorders. Another benefit, says Talan: clenching the jaw, a stress reaction, can enlarge the masseter muscles on the jaw, leading to the lower part of the face looking heavy. Relaxing those muscles could preserve slimness of the face.
But go for the sheer relaxation of it. Once the (admittedly awkward) intraoral massage part was over, Talan spent a few more minutes massaging the outside of my face and neck. The treatment was so dreamy, I nearly drooled while fighting off sleep.
Treatment name: The Buccal Facial
Price: 55 minutes, $195
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Butt massage
Studio City Day Spa
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
“Aescape” is an AI-powered massage robot who lives at the wellness studio Pause (with locations in Studio City, West Hollywood and Brentwood). It looks benign enough: a sturdy, deep blue massage table but with enormous, sculpted robot arms on each side of it and glowing LED lights lining its base.
Guests don specialized compression wear provided for optimal friction, as no oil is required for the massage. Then the machine does a 3D scan of the body, with high-resolution infrared sensors mapping 1.2 million data points — every curve and bulge, so that Aescape can better target specific body parts. Then Aescape’s hulking robot arms reach up and its heated hands begin massaging.
Guests can select the massage intensity they desire as well as the region of the body they’d like Aescape to focus on. They can also choose their music playlist.
When I visited the Studio City location, I chose a “total back and glutes” massage with a focus on the butt. (Hey, I had run stairs the day prior for exercise and my glutes were sore.)
The robot masseuse kneaded my butt in just the right spots. And as a bonus, it didn’t interrupt my massage with chitchat.
Treatment name: Aescape Massage
Price: 30 minutes, $49; 60 minutes, $95
Guests don specialized compression wear provided for optimal friction, as no oil is required for the massage. Then the machine does a 3D scan of the body, with high-resolution infrared sensors mapping 1.2 million data points — every curve and bulge, so that Aescape can better target specific body parts. Then Aescape’s hulking robot arms reach up and its heated hands begin massaging.
Guests can select the massage intensity they desire as well as the region of the body they’d like Aescape to focus on. They can also choose their music playlist.
When I visited the Studio City location, I chose a “total back and glutes” massage with a focus on the butt. (Hey, I had run stairs the day prior for exercise and my glutes were sore.)
The robot masseuse kneaded my butt in just the right spots. And as a bonus, it didn’t interrupt my massage with chitchat.
Treatment name: Aescape Massage
Price: 30 minutes, $49; 60 minutes, $95
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