So who says it's a sin to pamper yourself?

"Can we have a relaxing facial before a date?"

As newspaper reporters covering the police, environment, agriculture, courts and City Hall beats, we rarely get to ask a question like this. But the two of us, along with our friend Agnes D., were having such a good chat with the owners of Urban Oasis (after getting our nails done, which incidentally took two hours–thanks to the excellent hand and feet massage that goes with the service) that the rather ditzy question just popped out.

"Of course! You can even have one, two hours before your date. You’ll definitely be blooming," Marita Arceo, one Urban Oasis’ owners, replied with a laugh.

We are not exactly counting on it, judging by our practically non-existent love, or dating, lives. But just in case fate catches us off-guard, we would know where to run when we’d like to look good for a dinner date – that is, after filing a story about a man who was found dead in a vacant lot with 50 stab wounds.

The first time we went to Urban Oasis, aptly located along Maginhawa Street in Quezon City, we arrived five minutes before 5 p.m.–closing time– desperately wanting to get a facial and dreading being turned away. To our surprise, however, the staff didn’t show any irritation at the prospect of having to work overtime because of a couple of haggard latecomers. Instead, they simply smiled, offered us iced tea, and told us to wait until they finished with the other clients. That included our friend, Data T., who introduced us to the place with these three words: "Facial for P250." It was enough sales pitch for women in their mid-twenties constantly exposed to the pollution in EDSA, not to mention politicians, government officials, militants, PR people/lobbyists, cops and criminals.

It turned out that we did need to have our faces, and eventually our whole bodies, seriously cleaned and massaged. The lady who did the purifying facial on one of us did not mince words:

"Ano po ba ang trabaho niyo?"

"Reporter sa diyaryo."

"Ah, kaya pala ang dami ninyong pimples. Exposed nga kayo sa germs."

Instead of being offended, we appreciated their honesty at Urban Oasis. It made us realize that it’s not a crime for a woman to indulge in beauty maintenance. Some people may think of it as plain vanity. But right then and there–much as we believe in the potency of inner beauty–we realized that it’s okay to pay attention to one’s appearance, too, from head to toe. We do want to get up in the morning, look in the mirror, and say "Not bad." That would certainly make us feel good and confident about ourselves the rest of the day.

And so several visits to Urban Oasis followed. We found out that before Urban Oasis became a "health, beauty, and relaxation center," the duplex that it occupied was the headquarters of two militant women’s groups. Talk about irony.

Surely, the owners (all 10 of them with Marita, Eliza Tolentino and Bobbie Calumpang running the place) took advantage of the "back-to-basics" trend, using all-natural products such as flowers, herbs, and fresh fruits in "healing tired bodies and souls." After more than a year of research and study, they settled on a combination of Asian procedures for its various treatments.

As in most spas, the center has an Asian motif: bamboo walls in the shower room, bamboo blinds in the massage rooms, pandan mats on the floor, and colorful Divisoria sarongs clients can use after taking a shower. However, unlike most spas, it has a warm, homey atmosphere–a sanctuary right in the middle of a crazy city.

Unlike most spas, the place is not at all commercialized.

Consider: the treatments are never rushed. You won’t find a timer at the corner table that would indicate that your one-hour massage is up. Nor will any of the attendants wake you up if you fall asleep after a treatment, Marita said. (Just be sure you inform them of any other appointments you have so they know if they should wake you up). "We just want you to enjoy every moment of the treatment because that is what we would want if we were the clients," she explained.

We have tried quite a few treatments available at Urban Oasis. Its long list of services includes facial care, hair and scalp care, body scrub and massages, hand and foot care, and salon services.

Aside from the purifying facial (where blackheads, white heads, etc. are extracted from your face), one of our favorites is the Floral Foot Spa (P350). Instead of the usual electric foot massagers used in most salons, at Urban Oasis, your feet are soaked in a basin of small Boracay stones filled with warm water with drops of softener and yes, sprinkled with pink and white petals. It’s an hour-long treatment that includes scrubbing the hard and dry skin off your feet, a pedicure, and a soothing massage that starts from the tip of your toes and goes all the way up to your knees. We ended up dozing off in our seats throughout the treatment.

We have also tried the kia-ora herbal heat full body massage (P400) with Agnes, and did so after a particularly tiring day.

"This is one-of-a-kind body massage that does not only mend stress points or muscle fatigue but also prevents the development of a cold, cough and fever," Eliza said.

We felt a bit hoarse after the two-hour massage. Eliza explained that this was because, through the combined aroma and healing contents of the local and Thai herbs used in the massage, our body released toxins that have been trapped in our bodies.

As soon as we get our next bonus, we promised ourselves, we’d treat ourselves to a milk bath (P1,500), which already includes a body scrub and massage. This is only one of the three "natural body pampering with aromatic bath and massages" available at Urban Oasis. The other two are the Coconut body glow and Sea salt scrub (each for P1,000). If you still want luscious milk to be poured all over you but you want to save P500, you can opt for the traditional milk body scrub with massage (P1,000).

Other body massages include therapeutic and aromatherapy for anti-stress, relaxing, and anti-cellulite (This, we definitely need.). There is also the Oriental Hand and Foot Massage (Reflexology) for P200 that we are just dying to get.

Of course, what we also want to have soon is that "date-facial." Marita said that milk is, again, used as the base for the skin care. Then fruit extracts are applied on the face and the massage begins.

Marita added that once, a whole bridal entourage had the relaxing facial and body scrub in the morning of the wedding. "Yes, you can put on makeup after having a relaxing facial. I tell you, they all looked wonderful," Marita said.

(We also pray that while getting a facial, our editors won’t ring us in our cell phones. You see, we’re on-call nearly 24 hours a day. Once, a friend, Aurea Calica, decided to have a facial after filing her story and calling it a day. Just as the mud pack dried on her face and practically sealed her mouth shut, an editor called her up to ask something about her story).

The affordable rates at Urban Oasis are certainly a big come-on. Eliza assured us that the prices wouldn’t shoot up once the venture breaks even.

"We cater to the B-C market, and a little of A, considering our location. we are offering ordinary people like us the kind of pampering what is usually conceived as just, you know, for the rich," she said.

That’s wonderful assurance for ordinary young women like us. It’s nice to know that we don’t have to envy Gretchen Barretto’s beauty regimen–which we read about in a magazine–anymore. All we have to do is drop by Urban Oasis, close our eyes, then dream that our date picks us up in a Jaguar.

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(The authors are police reporters of The Philippine STAR)