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by Piph

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Manicures I did a little research on manicures for those of you interested in providing this service or adding to your repertoire. I have to admit, I had a lot of fun with this one, and it was a nice refresher course for me. 

More info: How to Give a Manicure

When I spoke with Cyanne about this, she mentioned that going to a professional manicurist and getting a manicure was a good idea and also provided the opportunity to observe their techniques. A great idea and thanks, Cyanne!
Baths Baths are a spoiling thing, no matter who you are, and there are as many different ways to give (and receive) them as there are people participating. I decided to do a little research on it and I'll take you along on my journey...

I got to wondering about baths throughout history. Roman Baths, such a luxury they were at the time; what were they like? What I found was rather interesting and in case you'd like to read along: 

http://www.dl.ket.org/latin2/mores/baths/history/page01.htm

http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/baths.html

http://www.cyberbohemia.com/Pages/EarlyGreek.htm

Of course you may have a fetish for all things Roman after this, so let me provide you with a helpful link to feed it: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostempires/roman/resources.html

The next thing that stuck out in my mind were the Japanese Baths, so I looked up some information on the history, philosophy and practice for my reference.


Well, I'm a girl through and through, and no bath would be right without bubbles or smell-good stuff and you can buy that anywhere, right? But... what if you wanted to make it? How involved would that be? I do certain low-maintenance and pleasing things, but I decided to find more ideas o the web:
I found bath teas
 
soaps
  
Victorian body and bath recipes
 
how to make your own oils

I make bath sachets. I buy the little pouches at herb stores and fill them with good things like oatmeal (to soften and soothe) and dry milk. I use dried herbs like lavender, rose or sandalwood for scent. I test them on myself (I have sensitive skin) before using on anyone else. I like peppermint as opposed to eucalyptus as the latter cam be strong and irritating to some skin types. I also like green tea baths, milk baths, Mister Bubble Bubblebaths, or whatever the one you serve may enjoy the most.

Baths are creative to set up and prepare for. The right music,. Candles or no? Towels to lay out.  Nothing like an immaculate bathroom and a servant to spoil and pamper you if that's something you'd enjoy on a stray Tuesday. Baths have a way, in mere preparation, of putting one in the right mindset for service. Your focus is about another. All your preparing is for another. Baths are wonderful for creating an intimate atmosphere that can but doesn't need to be sexual. It literally puts you in touch with the one you serve, having almost a hypnotic effect at times. I can't speak highly enough about it, I encourage anyone to try it for themselves.

If anyone else has anything they'd like to add to this information, please do. The little things in life can really matter sometimes, and bathing can be a wonderful experience indeed.

For more info, please consult: Herbs by John Lust

piph
Massage We all know how powerful touch can be, but in massage it may be at its peak effectiveness. There are as many schools of thought and practical tangents as their are people who engage, but don't let that put you off: Massage is underrated, a transferable skill, and has many benefits from teh health of the body to the spirit.

Massage Free offers an easy to use site outlining different techniques and provides everything from an introduction and visual guides to shopping at home for any supplies you made need. This is massage at its most basic, an easy course for beginners and a nice refresher for those who are a bit out of practice. http://www.massagefree.com/

The Basics of Massage 

Massage on the Web is a list of resources from practitioners to supplies http://www.lucifer.com/~sasha/massage.html

Japanese massage (Shiatsu) has its own philosophies and practices. http://www.rianvisser.nl/shiatsu/e_index.htm For information on Meridians, often used in eastern techniques, this page offers a starting point http://healing.about.com/library/weekly/aa000114a.htm and for more information on Reflexology (somewhat related) this page provides online resources http://healing.about.com/cs/reflexologygal/index.htm?terms=Reflexology  
Reiki fans can also find what they might need at http://healing.about.com/cs/reiki/

Let's get to the really good stuff now... This article is a nice overview on sensual massage http://sensualmassagetechniques.org/ but The Society for Human Sexuality provides information in Giving and Receiving Erotic Massage http://www.sexuality.org/erotmass.html that you might want to consider as it is almost its own online course.

For those of you who do nothing halfway, I would advise consulting Human Anatomy Online for its interactive page on the Muscular System http://www.innerbody.com/htm/body.html and I wish you the best in your service pursuits!

Salud,

piph