Spa-tial Relationship

I've always had this weird love-hate relationship with spas and their offerings.  For awhile, from the age of maybe 12 to 15, I thought they were the bees knees, and would constantly pour over this old spa catalog we had picked up somewhere, reading the descriptions of the services, and deciding what I would get if I were ever lucky enough to go to one of these magical places.  They seemed sophisticated and relaxing and glamorous, and something about the Chinese-menu organization of the services appealed to my sense of organization.

Until I decided that spas were horrible.  Somewhere along the line, I made up my mind that spas were the female-primping palaces of the world, and promoted a bad view of what women should be and how they should achieve that ideal.  Super-maintenance hairstyles, makeup applied atom by atom, and body adornment that verged on the obsessive drove me crazy.  I held on to this notion for awhile, and it effectively quenched my desire to go spa-catalog shopping for a long while.

However, while on vacation on India, one day I had a spare afternoon to kill, and due to the price of labor (and pretty much everything else) in India, there were spa services offered at LOW prices.  Free time + affordability = I went for it.  I had a simple head and neck massage, and enjoyed it quite a bit.  Soon after that, in a similar time + price situation, I tried a facial, and enjoyed that as well.  But that all happened over a year ago at this point, and I have not returned to a spa since.

I am now torn which of my polarized positions to return to.  As my semester draws to a close, I considered doing something "fun" to celebrate, and the idea of going to a spa popped to mind.  I like spa services, have found a location with decent prices and good reviews, and I think self-care is quite important.  But I have a severe dislike of typically "female" and "frivolous" things, and I keep thinking "I'm going to spend HOW much for WHAT?  Does this make me a SELLOUT?"

Most likely, I will end up going, but not getting anything done that "shows" afterwards.  Meaning, no manicures, no pedicures, no makeup applications, etc.  I like doing things that are enjoyable, but not something that could be described as a "flashy display of wealth" (as some of the economics books I've been reading might describe it).  Certain types of "female maintenance" like nail painting, overly done hair, obvious makeup, and a general aura of "doneness" really freak me out.  I like people who look like they are just doing their thing, not that it took a whole pile of things to get ready to go do their thing.  So I'll go, but just for me, not to look a certain way.  Pampering is one thing, primping is an entirely different ball of wax.