Overose Spa — Attraction in Los Angeles

I’d had a pretty terrible year, and really needed something to relax and feel better. I passed by this massage place in my neighborhood and decided to make an appointment to pamper myself for once; I chose an hour-long appt.

When asked, I let the massage therapist know that my middle back was bothering me the most. I assumed this meant that she’d actually work on my middle back. Not so: during the entire hour, she barely even touched anywhere near that area. The massage overall was underwhelming and ineffective, but what I remember most - crystal-clear in fact - is how she spent ten minutes of the appointment obsessively “massaging” the cartilage on a spot on top of my right shoulder, on the upper edge of the shoulder blade. There was literally no muscle/flesh in that spot; just cartilage over bone, and mashing the cartilage into the bone quickly went from uncomfortable to outright painful. I admit that I hadn’t had many massages in my life, and naively assumed that a massage therapist must know what she’s doing. I made some signs of being uncomfortable and tried to eel my shoulder away a bit a number of times, but to no avail. During this entire painful episode I kept assuming that surely she’d stop soon and move on to some other part of my back. Nope; she just got more insistent with the mashing of cartilage into bone. And more. And more. And more. Just that one spot on top of my shoulder. Mashing. Cartilage. Into. Bone. She was just obsessed with that small area of cartilage and had to mash it into submission. Grinding and grinding it right into the bone. Ten entire minutes. I’ve rarely been so physically uncomfortable and stressed in my life. After ten minutes of that misery, she halfheartedly and ineffectually went over the rest of my back on the right, then moved over to the left. And proceeded straight to mashing the cartilage on top of my left shoulder. The rest of the appointment went no better.

Unsurprisingly, I was not the slightest bit more relaxed after this “massage”, my back pain was not even momentarily improved, and my mood was markedly worse. I was forced to conclude that some massage therapists really have very little idea of what they’re doing, and that for my own physical well-being I had better never set foot in this place again. To any potential customers; don’t go to a place you’re not familiar with, with random massage “therapists” you don’t know and didn’t even have recommended to you by anyone. This kind of experience isn’t worth spending any of your hard earned money, not even “only” $40, and certainly not worth a waste of an hour of your life and all your pain and...

I found this spa on ClassPass because I had to use a bunch of points before the billing cycle renews and glad I did!! The spa is no frills, clean, and Whitney the receptionist is very friendly and warm.

I loved my classic Swedish massage with Sandy. She was sweet, attentive, and incorporated suggestions immediately. I left feeling cared for and super relaxed. I liked her technique.

The only downside of the space was that there are no doors, just curtains, so you can hear everything! There was a man having a long convo at regular volume with his massage therapist which was distracting and took me away from my blissful flow state. I’m glad they were connecting and catching up but it’s an open space so minimal convo is necessary so everyone can have a peaceful session :) After a few minutes I asked Sandy to say something to her co worker and the issue was resolved.

I would return for sure but consider coming at an...

This place is totally a hidden gem. I’ve had dozens of massages over the years including ones at spas which charged 4 to 5x as much, yet Cartoon provided a better massage than any. Facility is simple and clean- very minimalist place. I agree with others the head rest was a little uncomfortable at moments and I had to readjust myself- once I scooted up some it was better. The oil used was warm and smelled like roses- was not too powerful or sweet smelling at all. Cartoon did a great job of putting my limbs in end range and working the muscle from there which I REALLY appreciated. She used great pressure in good amounts and reacted instantly and modified after she felt my jump after hitting an unexpected tender spot (though she apologized even though she has nothing to apologize for!). Booking process was easy online, check in was also easy. I will absolutely be a repeat customer here and will be...