What to Wear for a Nuru Massage, and What to Leave Off

The honest answer is nothing, eventually, since a nuru massage is performed on bare skin from the first pour to the final rinse. But the question people are really asking concerns the parts either side of that: what to be wearing when the knock comes, what to put on your skin beforehand, and what to reach for once it is over. Those choices are small, and a few of them make a noticeable difference.

When she knocks

Wear something you can take off easily and without ceremony. A hotel bathrobe is ideal, and most rooms have one hanging behind the bathroom door. Loose trousers and a soft shirt serve just as well. Avoid anything with a lot of fastenings, tight boots, or a belt you will need to find later in a dim room. The point is not to look any particular way. It is that the change from dressed to undressed should be quick and unfussy, because she will be laying the sheet and warming the gel, and the evening moves more gracefully when you are ready at the same moment she is.

If you have just come in from dinner in a suit, that is fine too. Hang it well away from the bed. The gel does not stain, but a good jacket draped over the footboard is one careless elbow away from a trip to the dry cleaner.

What she wears

She arrives in ordinary street clothes, the kind nobody in a hotel lobby would look at twice, and changes once the room is ready. For the technique itself both of you are on bare skin, since the whole method depends on full-length contact through the gel. Towels are there for modesty whenever you want them, and she will offer one without being asked. Nobody is expected to be at ease with everything in the first minute.

Nothing on your skin

This matters most and is most often missed. Skip body lotion, moisturiser, massage oil and sunscreen for a few hours before the session. The gel is water-based, and oil sitting on the skin breaks up the continuous film it needs to form, so it gathers in beads instead of spreading and the long slide that defines the technique turns patchy. If you have already applied something, the opening shower with a little soap takes care of it.

Go lightly with scent as well. The gel has no fragrance of its own, which is part of its character, and a heavy cologne or perfume warmed by a hot room and a hot body becomes very present very quickly. A trace is pleasant. A cloud is not, for either of you.

Hair, glasses and small things

Long hair should be tied up before the gel appears, ideally with a soft band rather than metal clips that press into the scalp when you lie down. Glasses go on the nightstand. Watches, rings and bracelets come off and go somewhere memorable, preferably not the edge of the bedside table, where a passing towel can sweep them onto the floor. Dangling earrings are better removed; small studs can stay.

After the shower

Your skin will stay warm for longer than you expect, often an hour or more, and anything tight or synthetic will feel wrong on it. Reach for the robe again, or a cotton T-shirt and loose trousers. If you are staying in, that is all you need. If you are heading out, give yourself ten minutes before dressing properly, since skin fresh from a long warm session tends to feel faintly damp even once it is dry, and a shirt put on too soon clings. Many guests simply get into bed, which is the most sensible outfit of all.

If you would rather keep something on

Say so, and choose the format accordingly. A body-to-body massage in oil or a slow sensual massage can be shaped around a guest who prefers underwear or a towel in place throughout, whereas nuru, by its nature, cannot really be done through fabric: the gel soaks into cloth and the glide is lost. That is less a rule than physics, and it is worth knowing before you decide. The nuru page describes what the technique asks of the room, and the booking page shows how to mention any preference in a single message.