Find Your Tranquility at Trilogy Spa

A nice, muscle-melting massage. A facial that gives your face a glow. A mani/pedi that leaves you feeling poised and polished. Visiting your favorite spa is transformative no matter what the treatment you get, but for Chandra Shaw, it ushered in a new career.

On the heels of a family illness that forced Shaw to take leave of her corporate job and move home to spend time with her parents, she took a time-out at a local spa and found it inspired her -- not just to feel better about her life's turn of events, but focus on creating the kind of spa experience she wanted as a customer.

"I figured I would build my own spa, give it a year, and then go back to the fast-paced and hectic corporate world, but things turned out a little differently than I planned," Shaw recalls. "It's incredibly fulfilling to work with caring people and make 99.9 percent of the people your business touches... feel better than when they arrived."

Shaw's spa, Trilogy, has been making people feel better since 1999. Trilogy has been so good at executing its mandate that the company has expanded to three locations. Each location features treatments using native Hawaiian ingredients such as coconut, macadamia nut, bamboo, cane sugar, Lehua honey, seaweed and many other goodies that are excellent for the body, but also sound good enough to eat.

A Macadamia Nut Body Scrub is the perfect way to start your session, sloughing off any dead skin while moisturizing what's left behind with jojoba oil and honey makes for an amazing finish - not to mention the childlike bliss you'll feel being scrubbed down and bathed. Follow your exfoliation with an incredibly relaxing Lomi Pohaku massage -- which uses heated stones to help melt knotted muscles -- to truly experience a state of blissful nirvana, courtesy of skilled hands and tropical-smelling oils. If a facial is your thing, you can't go wrong with the Trilogy Spa Facial which is customized for your skin's specific needs. And that's just the tip of the iceberg -- with an incredible collection of wraps, baths and various other signature treatments, you'll never want to get out of your spa robe.

Of course, this attention to detail is no surprise, as Shaw is dedicated to hiring only the best technicians with top-notch customer skills.

"We understand that people today have many choices about where they can go for their massages, bodywork and facials," she notes. "When people come to Trilogy for the first time, we know that they'll only return if we exceed their expectations and give them a truly personal experience. So we focus on addressing their requests and making them feel special, without leaving them with the feeling that they're just another number on a list of customers."

Trilogy's customers are so valued that their input helped shape the spa that it is today. Having initially launched with only a few Hawaiian treatments, customer demand became so great that the spa chose to expand their menu to focus specifically on the island's specialties. And those specialties have in turn become Trilogy's, including the Maile Floral Melt and Lehua Honey Drench. Trilogy is so dedicated to customer input that they've implemented a system to evaluate how clients experience their treatments. There are even plans in place to allow clients to test out seasonal treatments before formally adding them to their menu, starting with this summer's offerings of fresh new facials, massages and cellulite treatments.

If the past is any indication, Trilogy's future is bright and varied, including a much awaited signature skincare line and further perks for longtime customers.

Says Shaw, "We've worked on our skincare line for the past two years and have tested, revised, tested, and revised it again and again. And after an incredible amount of patient client input, we've finalized a simple, natural line that we are incredibly proud of. In addition to the skincare launch, we've had a busy year of expansion and growth, so we intend to spend time creating client appreciation programs for our loyal customers."

There's no question that Trilogy's loyal customer base is not only here to stay, but will continue to expand just as the spa does. If you can't afford the plane ticket, a visit to Trilogy Spa is the perfect way to escape your every day and make you feel like you've fled your daily rigors for Hawaii. And who doesn't need that on a semi-regular basis?

Trilogy Spa has three locations: Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Squaw Valley. To find the location nearest you, treatment options or more information, visit www.trilogyspa.com.