A slap from a beautiful woman usually means "how dare you"—except at a Thai face-slapping parlor in San Francisco, where it costs $350, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. The therapist, Bangkok-born Tata, says it removes wrinkles and firms up skin without the cost of surgery or a single injection. But a reporter who experienced a free session—and likened it to torture in a James Bond movie—says his face looked the same afterwards, and "not for lack of effort."
"After you get your face slapped a few times, you get used to it," says Tata's husband, who also plans to learn the art. They brought the business to America after Tata became something of a face-slapping celeb back in Thailand for smacking a talk show host on live television. Next she plans to learn the Thai art of butt-pinching, if she can afford it. And she scolds those who misunderstand her therapy: "Face slapping is not hitting," she says. "If you want someone to hit you, go on Craigslist." (More massage stories.)