‘Tis the season to indulge yourself a bit and what better way than with a relaxing spa day…for your vagina. You may be asking yourself, “why?” when you should  actually be asking yourself, “why not?” As women, we often treat ourselves to face and body treatments, neglecting the most essential part of our womanhood. “People need a skin-care regimen for down there,” says Ashley Guisao, of Up Spa in Upper Eastside, NYC which she co-owns with music exec Brooklyn Johnny.  

“There are so many popular skincare treatment for the face. People talk about the issues that they with the skin on their face but people don’t really  talk about the issues they have with skin in their Brazilian area. A lot of us have the same issues but you wouldn’t know cause nobody talks about it, and you can’t use the same stuff you use on your face on your vagina. You need a different type of skincare.”

I’m guilty of this, too. I have a whole skincare regimen for my face and lineup of creams, body butters and oils waiting for me when I step out the shower, but nothing specifically for “down there.” There’s a few trendy treatments that have become popular, like the vag-acial, thanks to shows like Insecure (remember Molly’s “broken p***y” Season 1?) and Khloe Kardashian has a whole eight-step beauty routine for her vagina that she discussed on her app. There’s certainly been an increase in waxing for your Brazilian area, but instead of running in and out for a quickie appointment I decided to do the works. An afternoon entirely dedicated to giving my vagina the TLC she deserves and I wanted the same relaxing atmosphere you are accustomed to when enjoying a conventional spa day. 

Basically, I was looking for the perfect mix of aesthetics and education which is exactly what I got when I got invited to Up Spa for my “Vagina Spa Day.” Fans of Up include songstress Sevyn Streeter, Angela Yee of Power 105.1’s The Breakfast Club and Cardi B's little sis, Henessey Carolina. While you can get the full body spa experience here, they offer a range of “Re-vagination” treatments that cater to your lady parts. I was ready for the works — a wax, steam and vag-acial topped by a 24K gold collagen mask! But before I disrobed on anyone’s table I needed to know what I was in for. Ashley was happy to explain over champagne and macaroons (aesthetics, check!) as to why women just waxing isn’t enough, “Some women have discoloration, some have dark spots, some get ingrown hairs. Women think just because they wax, or they shave or they laser, that’s going to get rid of their ingrowns but it doesn’t. It really has to do with how you’re taking care of your skin. “

“Skin is skin no matter where it is. You can have dry skin on your leg, your butt, your face or your vagina. You can even get acne on your vagina and a lot of people don’t even know that — depending on what you’re eating, your stress levels, hormones from medications your taking. There are so many different things that effect your body and in that you have lymph nodes underneath the pelvic area so you can get swelling down-there sometimes and other reactions.” She then tells me soy milk is major culprit of this, and I’m all like “WHAAAT?” because I’m vegan and occasionally resort to the dairy-substitute when almond milk is out of reach. Apparently, the increased levels of estrogen in soy products can cause vaginal irritation or inflammation (education, check!). But I digress…

First things first, I needed a wax. The colder months usually has me slacking on my monthly Brazilian. Up Spa uses the hard wax that regular waxers are probably familiar with. It’s 100 percent beeswax in its purest form — raw, no additives and stripless, meaning it doesn’t adhere to your skin, only hair. For someone who freaks out at the mere thought of pain, this is super important especially when it comes to my bikini-area. After my wax, I slipped into a fluffy white robe and led to a separate treatment room where I was given my very own personal skin consultation with Ashley, who is New York State licensed esthetician, as are all her employees. 

Here’s where she schooled me on how to prevent some discoloration and ingrowns I had on my own at home and how she was going to treat my specific issues. She started me off with the Yoni-Steam, similar to facial steam but for your vajajay. The purpose of the steam is to open the pores even more and get them ready for all the products about to applied during the vagacial, as well as nourish your vaginal tissues, cervix and uterus. I laid back for 15 or 20 minutes under some mood lights with a hot towel around my neck while the steam did its thing (relaxation, check!).

If you’ve ever experienced an extraction during a facial, you’re familiar with this next step that kicked off my Heal Her Up vagacial. Ashley used her fingers to literally squeeze any clogged pores she saw. While you can do this yourself, she recommends not to “pick at an ingrown if it doesn’t come out right away, just leave it.” This was the only mildly-unpleasant part of my session, but totally worth it. When I saw Ashley whip out an electric wand that looked straight up out of a sci-fi film though, I had questions. This tool is called High Frequency, and essentially sends an electric current through your skin help to produce collagen and increase circulation, but specifically helps battles the sebum buildup our pores down-there are susceptible to. “Any oils that are in your skin that create acne, it helps dissolve that oil into a gas. So let’s say there’s any buildup in your pores that we couldn’t get to during the vag-acial, it will help turn those into a gas over the next few days by starting the process of breaking it down.” FYI, this didn’t hurt one bit.

Then came the creams and exfoliating, all before the big finish — the 24 Gold Collagen Mask. The name says it all, it infuses skin with collagen and nutrients leaving skin supple, clean and glowing! The big reveal met all my expectations and more. The smooth feeling I’m left with after a simple wax was increased x10 and every bit worth the $225 price tag (including wax).

Here’s a few other tips for achieving a gorgeous vagina:

• EXFOLIATE, EXFOLIATE, EXFOLIATE! Exfoliate as much as you can, ladies.


• Be wary of the ingredients in the products your using in the Brazilian-area. Stay away from products containing fragrances and/or alcohol.


• Do NOT use facial products on your vagina. Up Spa currently offers a great exfoliator, and plans to launch a whole Vagina-specific skin care line by the summer.


• Don’t have sex right after a wax. “If your pores are open and someone else’s sweat gets in there  it can create a skin infection which can result in a boil or abscess”


• Again, don’t pick at ingrown hairs. If it doesn’t come out right away...Let. It. Go.

Needless to say, I’m completely sold on Vagina Spa Days. So how often should you be treating yourself to one? As often as you wax if you’d like. “Some people will come for a series of sessions until their skin is where they need it to be. Then once they’ve learned how to take care of their skin, because of course we’re going  to teach you how to take of your own skin, they can maintain it on their own and can come in on a case by case basis,” Ashley advises.

“However, I do recommend every time the weather changes your skincare regimen should change, and that goes for the skin on your vagina as well. The weather effects how your skin reacts. In the summertime you sweat more so you probably shouldn’t use any heavy creams and in the wintertime you notice your skin gets very dry, so you should be careful how often your exfoliating cause that will also dry you out.” So there you have it. No excuse, is a good excuse to indulge in a “Vagina Spa Day.” But if you’re looking for one, the transition to winter is the perfect time to get your fix. 

To see the complete list of services that Up Spa has to offer click here.