THINGS are looking pretty for spas here as more self-pampering consumers splash out on spa treatments.

A MasterCard report released on Tuesday showed that Singaporean MasterCard holders spent 39 per cent more on massage services and 32 per cent more on health and beauty spa treatments last month, compared to June last year.

And it is not just the Great Singapore Sale that is keeping tills ringing, even though it is traditionally a high season for spa sales.

Spa owners say they have seen strong growth, month on month, in the past year.

Seven major chains and boutique spas The Straits Times spoke to, including Body Contours, Spa Esprit and Aspara, have seen increases of between 12 and 50 per cent.

At Aramsa - The Garden Spa at Bishan Park, business has been so brisk that some customers had to be turned away until the spa recruited more staff to cope.

The key group driving sales are Singaporean women between the ages of 20 and 40, spa owners say.

Arts administrator Esther Lee, 30, for example, is a self-confessed 'spa addict'.

In the last two years, she has spent more than $5,000 on six spa packages for massages, facials, manicures and pedicures. She goes for a luxurious timeout three times a month.

She said it was worth it, adding: 'It really helps when I'm frazzled and want to pamper myself. All it takes is one phone call.'

Many spa-goers are also buying into more exotic - and more expensive - treatments or multiple-treatment packages, which can cost thousands of dollars.

On spa menus these days are offerings like white chocolate Brazilian waxes, radio-frequency wave facials and even fish reflexology treatments where tiny fish nibble away dead skin on hands and feet.

And it is not just women who buy into such treatments - more men are indulging these days too, a trend mirrored in other parts of the world where waxing, manicures and pedicures are no longer women-only luxuries.

According to a 2007 trend report by the International Spa Association, 31 per cent of American spa-goers are male.

Tourists are also a growing group, not least because the Singapore Tourism Board has in recent years been promoting the island as a spa destination for regional travellers.

In 2006, an $8 million, 60-room hotel and spa at the Labrador Park nature reserve opened its doors.

Spas are also popping up in other non-traditional areas, instead of just in hotels and malls.

In the last two years, fish reflexology spas have opened at both Sentosa's Underwater World and the Singapore Flyer.

There is even a spa in Arab Street - Spa Sauvignon - which offers 'vinotherapy'. The signature treatment starts with a wine-infused bath soak, with a free flow of the wine - to drink.

Spas have also surfaced in the heartland, with boutique spas setting up shop in Bishan and Bukit Batok.

According to research company Intelligent Spas, the number of spas has gone up by 63 per cent since 2003, hitting 173 last year, not including beauty salons and massage parlours.

The same report speculates that the figure will grow by 11 per cent before year-end.

The growing number of new entrants is a bid to cash in on an industry that sees revenues of about $130 million a year, according to Mr Peter Sng of Aspara Spas, who was president of the Spa Association of Singapore for more than a decade before he stepped down last month.

Industry players also say that upcoming spas are likely to position themselves at the higher end, catering to customers who are more sophisticated and well travelled.

Said Ms Janet Lim, public relations manager of the Spa Esprit Group: 'Our customers are young, affluent executives who are more willing to spend on pampering themselves, and their expectations are much higher these days.'