Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!sdsu!ucsd!ucsdhub!hp-sdd!hplabs!hpda!hpcupt1!hprnd!dbs From: dbs@hprnd.HP.COM (Dave Sheehy) Newsgroups: alt.sex Subject: Re: What to use for a Good Body Massage? Message-ID: <970013@hprnd.HP.COM> Date: 16 Jan 90 20:53:59 GMT References: <3909@quanta.eng.ohio-state.edu> Organization: HP Roseville Networks Division Lines: 46 >Unless you later plan to include your girlfriend in a salad, olive oil >would be aesthetically suboptimal. Not true! The oil blend I use for massage uses olive oil as a base. It is not unaesthetic in the least. >Almond oil is traditionally used for massage. It is a light, ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Traditionally? Try predominantly. Escelan Swedish is the prodominant massage style in the U.S. and they predominantly use almond oil. I know some Swedish stylists that use grape seed oil. On the other hand, the Japanese massage style that I practice uses an oil blend with Olive oil as the base. Olive oil has the unique(?) property of penetrating the skin and diffusing in the muscles. Olive oil also binds other oils to itself and 'carries' them with it as it penetrates. This is desirable as some of the other oils in the blend have medicinal properties according to eastern medical theory. >... In the >worst case, baby oil has the right viscosity even if it has an >unmistakeable odor. I have been told that baby oil will clog your pores as it is not absorbed by your skin. Any good massage oil should have that property. At least that was the guideline I was given for choosing a massage oil. >If you use any of these oils with proper restraint, you should find that >your hands move more smoothly and more sensitively than when dry, but Most definitely! I find it much more difficult to work on a knotted muscle without oil simply because there is so much friction that I can't move around the area without sticking. >there will be some residual friction producing a slight warmth. The >effect should be relaxing and slightly invigorating, which is a nice >place to start. How much friction you get is relative to how much oil you apply to an area. Many swedish stylists like to cruise around the body in long sweeping curves so they use alot of oil. Deep tissue people use just enough oil so they move around (with pressure) and not stick or slip. Dave Sheehy > .^.^. Dan Razzell ----------