Bella Sante

Newbury Street probably gives you the most spas/salons per square foot than anywhere else in the country. You can't walk more than a few doors without seeing one. So after hearing about Bella Sante from various sources, and thier touting of being voted Best of Boston over the years for various services, I thought I should venture that way and try them out.
I made a last minute appointment for a cranberry enzyme facial. The spa seems large for being on the 2nd floor, and the seating area was comfortable, had lots of magazines, 2 kinds of tea and 3 kinds of water (plain, with lemon slices, and my favorite with orange slices). The seating area only had single chairs however, no benches or couches, so it was a bit austere.
My esthetician came out exactly on time and took me back to a candlelit room. I disrobed and crawled under the sheet and down blanket. She explained all the steps as she was working on me and had a gentle touch. However, I was a bit turned off with the constant mention of products that would be good for me. The facial consisted of a cleansing (cleanser wiped off with warm towel), the enzyme treatment, steam, and a mask. During the steam there was a hand massage, and during the mask a scalp massage. That was a nice touch, as I am not a fan of them putting the steam or mask on and then walking out of the room.
As I was getting dressed, she waited for me at the water bar with a fresh glass of water.
The locker room is under remodeling, but a few comments on its current state. Lots of lockers, but only 3 stalls, one shower, and one sink which is inside one of the stalls. This seems to be the regular configuration, so I hope they are fixing it. Three stalls is not nearly enough for how busy thier locker room gets (I was in there at 7 pm on a Monday with 5 other girls, I would hate to see it on a weekend). There are signs everywhere stating best as I remember "we offer you lockers to keep your items secure, please do the same by returning your robes, towels, and sandals, or bring them to the front desk for purchase". Do they really have that large a contingent of clients stealing thier robes and towels? It was a bit weird to see the signage everywhere in the locker room.
Looking in the mirror I noticed the cleansing wasn't very thorough. I don't have skin that requires extractions, and when I wash my face at home with cleanser, I don't have any clogged pores. But looking in the mirror I could see my pores still clogged. I'd like to feel my face is clean after a facial, it wasn't.
When I went up to pay, the esthetician had left some products up front for me. Not surprised given the product mentions during the treatment, clearly they earn commission on sales, and perhaps that blatent in your face "buy this" works on some of thier clientele. But given that the products cost more than my facial (a toner and a moisturizer) it was annoying. I opted to just pay for my facial.
Will I be back? Probably not. There are more spas on Newbury for me to explore.