Summer in the UAE is when we dream of snow, ice or a refreshing breeze – any way to keep cool. Fortunately, spas, malls and other businesses offer respite from soaring temperatures. Panna Munyal looks at some of the coolest ways to beat the heat.
Cold comfort
Puffy fingers and tired feet are hard to avoid in the sticky heat of summer, but Kozma and Kozma Salon provides the perfect relief – a snowman manicure and pedicure. The Dubai salon introduced the service this year, a process during which your hands and feet are soaked in a gel that resembles snow, followed by a cleansing treatment using cooling crystals and cute, Christmas-themed nail-art designs. You can even build your own snowman-in-a-bowl.
• Manicure costs Dh150, pedicure Dh175. Mention The National for a 20 per cent discount on the two treatments throughout the summer. Visit www.kozmaandkozma.com; email info@kozmaandkozma.com; call 056 554 4534 or 056 554 4535
Ice, ice baby
Gulf Ice Factory and Modern Ice Factory has been providing its Pure Ice party packs since 1976, but now the UAE company is also offering ice blocks for outdoor swimming pools. Most villas in the UAE have a standard 10-metre by 2-metre outdoor pool, which needs between 10 and 14 blocks of ice to lower the temperature by 12 degrees. The effect lasts for about two hours and the company delivers across the UAE, with 24 hours’ notice. But the company offers much more than just ice blocks. From enormous sculptures to intricate carvings, a party is so much more interesting when ice is involved, and they have a team of experts who can create vases, centrepieces, plates and glasses crafted from ice, as well as carvings and sculptures suited to your party theme.
• One ice block for your pool costs Dh20. A delivery charge of Dh100 applies to orders of fewer than 100 ice blocks. Prices for other items upon request. Call 800-ICE or visit www.gmice.com
Skate in the snow
The ice-skating rink is a favourite fixture at The Dubai Mall, and this year skaters can add snowflakes to their experience. Every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday the arena is transformed as a snow machine dispenses icy flakes for two hours. Don’t forget your woolies.
• Dh100 for a two-hour session; Dh15 for spectators. Visit www.dubaiicerink.com for timings
Cool cocoon
Body soaks and treatments take a turn for the better at this time of year. In Chinese mythology, the olive is a “yin” food that helps to cool the body and mind. Accordingly, Atarmia Spa at Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi has introduced a cooling olive body-wrap treatment using products from Natura Bissé and Kerstin Florian that help to hydrate the skin, reverse sun damage and leave your body feeling light, bright and refreshed.
At Nysa Spa, in the Hyatt Regency Dubai Creek Heights hotel, the Water Temple (pictured) combines mineral salts and fluctuating temperatures proven to soothe the joints and brighten the skin. While it’s more common to lower yourself into the steam bath, summer treatments include the equally rejuvenating Ice Fountain, for which crushed ice is piled on the body to stimulate circulation; the Kneipp Walk, a stroll through cold water that helps to boost the immune system; and Sensory Showers, which offer a chance to enjoy an icy-cool mist with a fresh, minty scent under cool blue lights.
• The olive body wrap at Atarmia Spa, Abu Dhabi, costs Dh560 for 60 minutes. Access to the Water Temple at Nysa Spa, Dubai, starts from Dh275. Call 02 407 1170 (Atarmia Spa) or 04 553 1259 (Nysa Spa)
Just chillin’
Post-massage steam rooms and saunas can be daunting during the summer months. Just as therapeutic, and a lot cooler, are the Snow Room – which is kept at 4°C – at Talise Ottoman Spa at Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, Dubai, and the invigorating Ice Cave at the Emirates Palace Spa in Abu Dhabi. The chilly air helps to close the pores after a facial or body treatment and there is nothing like sipping a piping hot camomile tea in such icy surroundings.
• Treatments start from Dh495. Entry to the Snow Room is included with each service, while the Ice Cave is open to guests who opt for a hammam treatment. Call 04 453 0000 (Talise Ottoman Spa) or 02 690 9000 (Emirates Palace Spa)
Let it snow
Oxymoronic as it may sound, Desert Snow has lived up to its name. The company, which is based in Al Quoz, , Dubai, instals snow machines for private parties across the country and, more importantly perhaps, cleans up after. Not only do the machines dispense chemical-free flakes, they can be customised to create different types of snowfall, from a light flurry to a raging blizzard. The team can also create other wintry effects and decor, including cellulose snow and paper snow, plastic frost and props such as snowflakes, snowmen, frost-coated fir trees and giant inflatable snow globes. But if it’s real snow you’re after, Desert Snow offers a 700-litre box of the white stuff made from water and air in its cryogenic snow-making factory in Dubai.
• Dh2,400 for a 700-litre box of snow. Prices on request for other props. Visit www.desertsnow.ae; email info@desertsnow.ae; or call 04 338 5578
Best face forward
While heat is the main exfoliating catalyst in most facials, a burst of steam in the middle of summer can be off-putting even in an air-conditioned spa. Fortunately, cold facials are now an option on spa menus. In addition to cryotherapy, cold-stone facials, such as the one available at The Address Montgomerie Dubai, is a popular summer choice. A combination of cooled stones and lymphatic drainage massage helps to oxygenate and hydrate the skin, while the chilled gels and serums helps close the pores for an instant tightening and lifting effect.
• Dh240; call 04 363 1274
Beat the heat
For a quick, cool boost, a session in a cryotherapy chamber is just the trick. It’s impossible to stay longer than 10 minutes in the upright aluminium “cryosauna”, which is frozen to -140°C using liquid nitrogen. It is claimed that the benefits can include: aiding weight loss, improved metabolism, skin rejuvenation, collagen production and muscle recovery.
• From Dh300 for a single session. Cryotherapy body sessions and facials are available at several centres across the UAE, including: Cryo Health, which has branches in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Dubai and Sharjah (ae.cryo.com); Icequeen Spa in Dubai (www.facebook.com/icequeen.ae); Elixir Clinic in Dubai and Abu Dhabi (www.theelixirclinic.com)
Snow escape
Ski Dubai at Mall of the Emirates recently launched its Camp Outs – overnight camping sessions on its ski slope. Visitors are provided with warm clothes and tents with thermal mats and sleeping bags. Breakfast and activities within Ski Dubai – including the zip line, snowboarding and skiing – are included in the price.
• Dh750, call 800 386 or 04 409 4242