I spent 2 hours at a luxury wellness center in NYC getting a vitamin IV drip and testing out an infrared sauna, and now I see what the hype is all about
Clean Market is a holistic wellness center in New York City that offers services including cryotherapy, vitamin IV drips, infrared saunas, and smoothies infused with boosters such as collagen and CBD.
It also sells an array of wellness and skincare products, as well as dietary supplements.
Source: Clean Market
"We want [Clean Market] to be a one-stop shop for all things wellness," owner Lily Kunin told me. "Wellness should be accessible and easy to reach and there should be one place that you can go to fill a lot of your needs around feeling well."
!["We want [Clean Market] to be a one-stop shop for all things wellness," owner Lily Kunin told me. "Wellness should be accessible and easy to reach and there should be one place that you can go to fill a lot of your needs around feeling well."](https://staticbiassets.in/thumb/msid-67463384,width-700,height-525,imgsize-1017192/we-want-clean-market-to-be-a-one-stop-shop-for-all-things-wellness-owner-lily-kunin-told-me-wellness-should-be-accessible-and-easy-to-reach-and-there-should-be-one-place-that-you-can-go-to-fill-a-lot-of-your-needs-around-feeling-well-.jpg)
Clean Market's neighbors include the upscale cycling studio SoulCycle, and Skin Laundry, which offers laser facials.
Source: Racked, Skin Laundry
I visited Clean Market on a recent afternoon for a tour and to try some of their services. Sidewalk signs out front encourage customers to "CBD and Chill" by adding CBD to any of their lattes, smoothies, or tonic drinks.
They also tout their CBD coffee and nutrient IV drip treatments.
Inside, I found Clean Market to be an open and bright space.
I was greeted by a neon blue sign at the cash register expressing some of the core ideas behind Clean Market.
People were hanging out in a small café area. The customers I saw throughout the course of my visit were all female; the only males I saw were the barista and the nurse who did my IV drip (more on that later).
The front of the space is the retail area, where hundreds of nutritional supplements and skincare, beauty, and wellness products are neatly displayed on metallic-rimmed white shelves. I was surprised by just how many products the store had for sale.
Some of the items that jumped out to me were CBD products ...
... collagen protein bars ...
... the trendy "Sex Dust" and "Brain Dust" products from Moon Juice ($38 online), which are meant to be sprinkled into coffee, tea, water, or smoothies in order to improve vitality and enhance mental stamina, respectively ...
Source: Moon Juice
... and jade and rose quartz face rollers, which some say can help reduce puffiness and wrinkles.
Source: Real Simple
"All of our supplements have clinical testing," Kunin said. "All of the products on our shelves have been thoroughly vetted. You can trust every ingredient of every product on the shelf."
Kunin said they carry products from around 50 different brands. "Our specialty item that we carry is our medical-grade supplements since they aren't traditionally sold in retail," she told me.
Toward the back of the space, Clean Market has its very own café, where you can get a regular latté or a cappuccino ...
... but you can also get power shots of aloe water and ginger, avocado toast, smoothies ($10) and smoothie bowls ($12), and regular espresso drinks in addition to "functional lattés" ($6-$8) that include Brain Coffee, Golden Immunity, Glow Matcha, CBD Dream.
The café also sells gluten-free baked goods, kombucha on tap, and bone broth.
You can also get bottled juices and smoothies and other drinks such as kombucha and coconut water.
Healthy snack options include "Good for me Pizza" with vegetables and cashew cheese ...
... and colorful jars of probiotic coconut yogurt in an 8-ounce size ($16.50) or 16-ounce size ($28).
Toward the back of the space is a small seating area, one of the places customers can choose to sit while they get an IV drip ...
... and the entrance to the sauna and cryotherapy area, called Thermostat.
To the left is the "Sweat" area, where you'll find the infrared saunas ...
... and to the right is "Chill," where you'll find the cryotherapy room.
One of Clean Market's services is full-body cryotherapy, where you step into a human-sized cryochamber that's filled with liquid nitrogen-cooled air and cooled to -202° F for two to three minutes.
Source: Clean Market
The treatment is meant to speed up muscle healing and recovery, boost metabolism, and increase energy. One two- to three-minute session costs $85, and packages can be bought for three, six, and nine sessions, or unlimited sessions for $999 per month.
Source: Clean Market
Each cryotherapy client wears underwear, thick fuzzy socks, a headband for the ears, gloves, a breathing mask to cover the nose and mouth for comfort purposes ...
Source: Clean Market
... and slippers to add an extra layer of protection for the feet because the air comes from the bottom of the chamber.
Source: Clean Market
In the same room is a massage chair where clients can sit while getting a cryofacial. The cryofacial machine is portable and can, alternatively, be moved into a private room.
My next stop was one of the private infrared saunas. An infrared sauna differs from a traditional sauna in that it heats your body directly rather than using heat to warm the hair, which in turns warms your body, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Source: Mayo Clinic, Clean Market
I opted for one 60-minute session to see what all the fuss was about. I immediately liked the small, private room — the stone walls and dim lighting made me feel like I was in a cave. At Clean Market, a 60-minute sauna session costs $59. You can also buy various package options, including an unlimited membership for $499 per month.
Source: Clean Market
On the table just inside the door was a jug of water, a face wipe to remove makeup and moisturizer, and some guidelines for using the sauna and choosing which color you want for the infrared lighting.
The red light, for example, is supposed to bring a sense of vitality and grounding, while green is meant to promote healing, harmony, and regeneration. I chose indigo, which is meant to offer a calming and revitalizing effect.
I was provided with towels, cozy slippers ...
... and a Parachute bathrobe, which I inexplicably and regretfully never wore.
Apart from pure relaxation, one benefit of saunas in general is that they cause similar reactions in the body as moderate exercise, including sweating and an increased heart rate. An infrared sauna does this at a lower temperature than a traditional sauna.
Source: Mayo Clinic
I spent an hour in the infrared sauna. I was definitely relaxed and I was definitely sweaty. I stepped out several times to drink water and give my body a quick break from the heat.
The temperature on the display read 155 degrees, but that's not the temperature of the air itself. A touchpad inside the sauna pod let me adjust the lighting and temperature, although I didn't adjust the heat level.
Source: Clean Market
The infrared indigo light warmed me from directly over my head. To me, the infrared sauna didn't feel much different from a regular sauna, but it was still incredibly relaxing.
While it was nice to be in my own private sauna by myself, I did wish there was space to lie down.
After toweling myself off and finishing the entire jug of water, I went back out into the common area to find out where to get my IV drip and cryofacial. I spotted someone else lounging on the couch in one of the gray Parachute robes and regretted not wearing mine. I felt a little gross putting my clothes back on after sweating profusely in the sauna, but there are no showers at Clean Market.
I stopped in the bathroom and found that it was stocked with Q-tips, a body oil, mouth wash, and even floss. Naturally, I used everything.
I was led to a private room to get my IV drip, and to my delight I discovered I got to sit in a massage chair that massages not only your back, but your legs, too. I wasn't particularly excited about the IV drip (is anyone excited to get a tube stuck in their arm?), but this chair made me confident it would all be fine.
A licensed nurse attached the IV to my arm, which was quick and painless.
The IV drips at Clean Market are overseen by NutriDrip, which has additional locations in New York City. The IV I got was called NutriGlow and contains Glutathione, which is supposed to even out skin tone and give you "luminous glowing skin," according to NutriDrip. Clean Market clients can get an IV drip included in one of the packages that range from $109 to $359.
Source: NutriDrip, Clean Market
The drip only took about 10 to 12 minutes. I didn't really expect to feel anything, but about halfway through, I started feeling extremely relaxed. And toward the end, I got a bit of a head rush and felt a little bit loopy. The nurse assured me it was normal to feel "kind of like you're high."
After a few minutes of unwinding from the IV drip, during which I sat in the massage chair and felt amazing, I was up for my cryofacial. One of the spa technicians wheeled in the machine.
The cryofacial entailed a technician blowing -154 degree nitrogen gas on my face for about 12 minutes. It's supposed to decrease inflammation and stimulate collagen production for reduced puffiness and glowing skin. I was expecting it to feel uncomfortable, but for the most part it was surprisingly soothing. Only in the last few minutes did it start to feel uncomfortably cold, but then it was over.
Source: Clean Market
I was told the cryofacial is supposed to give you that "post-ski glow," and it certainly did that. At the end, my face looked rosy and rejuvenated. I couldn't stop touching my skin on the train ride home. It felt noticeably smoother. A one-time cryofacial at Clean Market costs $55.
Source: Clean Market
After my cryofacial, I ordered a "Glow" smoothie ($10) upon the recommendation of the nurse who administered my IV drip. It included strawberries, bananas, grassfed collagen, "Beauty Dust," coconut milk, tocos (a non-dairy creamer that's supposed to work wonders on your skin), and pink salt. It was delicious and I felt smugly healthy as I sipped it on my commute home.
Source: Bon Appetit
I left Clean Market feeling extremely pampered, relaxed, and healthy. Of my three services, the one I wouldn't hesitate to get again is the cryofacial. It was the most unusual spa treatment I've ever gotten and it had the most noticeable effect on my skin, making it worth the money for a fun indulgence. I can certainly see why those who have the means and the time would choose to make it a part of their routine.
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