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Brewski massage debuts at Philly Beer Week

Penny Ordway says her beer massage puts folks in an ‘otherworldly state’

Penny Ordway’s therapeutic brewski massage debuting for Philly Beer Week takes full-bodied beers to a literal level. (EVIAMA LIFE GREEN SPA)
Penny Ordway’s therapeutic brewski massage debuting for Philly Beer Week takes full-bodied beers to a literal level. (EVIAMA LIFE GREEN SPA)Read more

FAR FROM THE pub-crawling pandemonium of Philly Beer Week, Penny Ordway, whose Eviama Life Green Spa has long been a Center City holistic health haven, is debuting her therapeutic beer massage this weekend for a long summer run.

"OK, it is a gimmick," the seriously organic Ordway admitted, "but there is an incredible amount of phytonutrient benefit to a beer massage."

Consumer warning: No, you don't stick your feet in a warm "Mud and Suds Pedicure" infused with Dogfish Head's Hellhound On My Ale. You'd have to drive to the Lodge at Woodloch in the Poconos for that.

"We don't pop the lid off a bottle of beer, pour it in a bowl and slather it all over you," Ordway said. "That's not what's happening."

What's happening is a neck-to-toes, beer-infused aromatherapy and exfoliation massage (85 minutes, $175) at Eviama, on 13th Street near Sansom, that is all about the barley malt, Ordway said.

"Enzymes break down the barley grain sugars into maltose, and that's where the magic begins," she said.

"Within barley, you find selenium, which makes your skin more supple, toning it, giving it a younger appearance. You've got this amazing grain that combats signs of aging with powerful antioxidants that slow down the rate of oxidated damage."

Before and after the beer-infused scrub is applied, Ordway said, the skin is swathed with warm towels of "Dr. Hauschka's Soothing Bath Essence" - almond or lavender for the ladies; lemongrass or sage for the men.

Then comes the massage with botanical essences.

"We're pressing in, moving the compresses," Ordway said. "There's a real rhythmical flow to the treatment. It's like a dance.

"This is a lot of stimulation," she said. "You're getting the towels, the scrub, more towels, the massage, and when we're done, you're pretty much in an otherworldly state."

Ordway, who has spent more than a decade creating treatments ranging from "Mothers-in-Waiting Pre-Natal Massage" to "Hot Stone Surrender" to the two-therapist "Four Hand Massage," got her latest idea from reading about beer shampoo.

"When I first started, I was grounding up hops to see if that would make a difference," she said. "But hops just don't smell that good."

With help from the beer experts at Home Sweet Homebrew on Sansom Street near 20th, she discovered the better-smelling joys of barley malt, and became Philadelphia's beer-massage pioneer.

Ordway is as serious about the benefits of beer massage as she was years ago about leaving the nonorganic beauty salon business forever because, she said, "I didn't want to be selling crap.

"We're going for transformation in everything we do," Ordway said. "We're not a fluff massage."