Last month, Perspire Sauna Studio was offering a BOGO special where you could get two sessions for…read morethe price of one. With each session being quite pricey at $59, I wanted to make the most of it with such an up and down year that I've been having.
Although they recommend you download their app, I didn't bother to since I didn't see myself becoming a regular, though it did cross my mind a few times this year to counter the immense stress I had been undergoing. I scheduled my first appointment over text, and before I knew it, I was scheduled in for my requested time slot on a Sunday evening, though the start of the appointment wasn't until 15 minutes later, presumably for buffer time to allow for me to pay up front.
Perspire Sauna Studio opened about a couple of years ago at Long Beach Exchange (LBX) next to Mendocino Farms. For as long as the shopping center has been open, I don't think that particular spot was ever occupied by a business tenant until this infrared sauna studio opened its first location in the LBC.
I entered about 20 minutes before my appointment's official start time, and there wasn't anybody to greet me. I did hear a chime, and an employee, Avery, came out to assist me. After processing my payment, she told me my room was ready.
Uhh which room? Avery spoke so fast that either she didn't say it the first time, or I missed it.
I had been once before, though it was about a year and a half ago, so Avery didn't go through an introductory spiel that I had gone through the first time. However, I did have a few questions beforehand, and Avery was courteous enough to answer, though she still spoke too fast as if she needed to rush to get back to her duties at the front desk.
Well actually, maybe the reason she spoke too fast was because by the time she left the room, I saw the timer indicate 38 minutes left in my 40-minute session! Oh dear! I had to frantically get myself ready to sweat like there was no tomorrow! Luckily, she had the TV set to an ASMR video on YouTube per my request, but you can also watch Netflix, Hulu, or even live TV if you'd prefer that.
Without thinking about exact location, I had set my shoes aside on the shower floor while I was getting myself ready for the sauna, but forgot to bring them back on the floor. While I was inside, I had noticed water dripping nearby, which I initially thought was from the YouTube video until I realized the shower was dripping even though I never turned it on! As a result, my shoes got quite wet. I know I shouldn't have put my shoes in the shower to begin with, but why was the water dripping from the ceiling when it wasn't supposed to?!
Anyways, I set the temperature to a certain number, 149 F in my case, and I was ready to sweat.
And sweat.
And sweat.
And continue to sweat until it felt like I had come out of a swimming pool!
The session felt long in that I kept wondering how much longer I had to handle the heat for under the premise that I stayed inside the whole time and didn't adjust the temperature. But it also felt short in that half my session felt like 10 to 15 minutes instead!
I had to keep a close eye on the timer so I could pace myself with a 32 oz fountain drink I had brought with me. I still had some left over when the timer hit zero, but I easily could have consumed the entire 32 oz before my session ended. If you do forget to bring a drink, they have a refrigerator of drinks in the lobby, though I'm not sure how much they cost. Case in point, bring a drink!
When the timer hit zero, I thought the sauna would turn off, but it didn't. I feel that anyone could just stay in the sauna for longer than 40 minutes, but I wanted to keep my honesty. I did spend quite a lot of time drying myself with the three towels provided inside the sauna as well as a cooling eucalyptus towel that was so refreshing I was totally okay with forgoing a shower. Actually, I'm not sure if a shower would be part of the 40 minute session; if it is, I'd recommend not going through on it since you can always shower at home.
On my second visit, which was the free session, Prob was the employee who assisted me. I arrived about 15-20 minutes before my appointment, but the room was already ready for me. It took a while for me to set the TV to an ASMR YouTube video because the remote was quite faulty! Like the up and down buttons would work, but not the left and right buttons unless I held the remote at a certain angle.
After my session, Prob asked me how my session went, and I brought up how I felt like the remote control was haunted for me. She made a note of that and even went a step further to ask about my preferred maximum sauna temperature as well as my preference for TV channel during the sauna session; both of these would be added to my profile so that on my next session, they could have them set up for me.
Overall, I enjoyed my sessions here in spite of the room for improvement. I'll have to be on the lookout for the next sauna special!
