Spa Finders released their top 2009 Spa Trend Predictions

1. Energy Medicine
In 2009 the spa industry will follow suit, with high-voltage buzz around energy medicine and therapies like reiki, qi gong, chakra balancing, healing touch, and magnetic, light and sound therapy.

2. Casinos and Spas: A Good Bet
Placing a high-end spa in a casino hotel was once a long-shot idea, but today casino spas are the most profitable spas in the world. These world-class facilities cater to a free-spending clientele that sees the value both of high-octane indulgence and recharging, healthy pursuits.

3. The Medical and Spa Tourism Shuffle
Watch for the line between spas, medical spas and hospitals to become ever more creatively blurred as the phenomenon of medical or wellness travel evolves. Global consumers are increasingly journeying to access the services they want, need, and can afford.

4. Eco-Embedded Spas: A Deeper Shade of Green
The eco-embedded spa embraces environmental processes that are quietly and meaningfully enmeshed throughout the entire spa, so there’s no demanding efforts required by the spa guest, who is, after all, there to relax.

5. Trains, Boats and Planes: In-Transit Spa-Going
Spa-ing while traveling is reaching a whole new level: trains with fully equipped gyms and spas, planes with spa showers and massage treatments in-flight, health and wellness-oriented cruises, and more. What began as a novelty has turned into big business that uniquely targets today’s captive, over-stressed traveler.

6. Brain Health and Mind Gyms
Brain health is on spa-goers’ minds today, with a vast, aging Baby Boomer population, an Alzheimer’s pandemic, and medical reports touting the need to

keep the brain active to avoid decline. As a result, brain workouts are popping up on both the day and stay spa menu, with activities, education, technologies and therapies that function like gyms for the mind.

7. Learning Labs for Stress Reduction
Spas, out of necessity, will increasingly become learning labs for stress reduction, as consumers realize it takes less than an hour or a ton of expensive treatments to elicit the relaxation response. Look for spa staff to become teachers of take-home, DIY relaxation techniques, as well as a shift from trendy spa rituals-of-the-month to effective stress therapies like breath work, hot baths, meditation, exercise, massage, and even an emphasis on psychological support and the sharing of feelings.

8. Mindful Spending
In a challenging economic year, spa-goers will be looking closely for value and tangible results. Spas will be experimenting with creative ways to attract the consumer, earn their trust and exceed their expectations.

9. Move Over Baby Boomers: Gen X & Y Are Spa-ing Their Way
The core spa clientele is rapidly shifting from Baby Boomers to Gen X and Gen Y, and it’s more than a simple demographic switch: younger generations are now hitting the spa in record numbers, and they’re shaping the experience to meet their unique desires. Spas will need to continue to attract aging Boomers, with their considerable spending power, while catering to new generations who typically reject pampering, embrace wellness, and consider spa-going a natural right.

10. Brands, Brands, Brands
With almost 72,000 spas around the world, spas that establish and broadcast a truly unique brand identity will attract more visitors at a time when consumer budgets are under pressure.

Spa Finder, Spa Trends

Probiotic Professional Skincare Line Leads the Hottest Beauty Trend of ‘09

The world’s first professional skincare company to formulate a complete line based on probiotics, SK1N Probiotic Systems has developed a line of groundbreaking skincare formulations that are appropriate for consumers of any age, race or skin type. Many people find it difficult to dedicate time in today’s busy lifestyle to a regular skincare routine

Probiotics are a shield against the daily effects of environmental stress our skin is exposed to, and we have developed a straightforward system which offers users measurable results for all skin types.

When the skin is out of balance there is a destruction of the skin barrier which leads to greater dispersion of foreign substances such as harmful bacteria

Probiotics have been shown to have a significant effect short term by reducing inflammation and infections; and, long term, have been shown to deter premature formation of wrinkles.

Food and beauty will become increasingly intertwined, as more good-for-you food ingredients–think green tea and probiotics–are incorporated into skin care and cosmetic products

Probiotics is not a fad. It’s a new scientific concept about how the body works.

Building upon recent breakthroughs in scientific research, Dr. Lisa Hynes, one of the country’s leading dermatologists, led a team of chemists and researchers in developing SK1N Probiotic Systems’ unprecedented skincare line to highlight the benefits of probiotics, prebiotics and other natural ingredients known to fight against most common skin disorders.

“Many people find it difficult to dedicate time in today’s busy lifestyle to a regular skincare routine,” Dr. Hynes said. “Probiotics are a shield against the daily effects of environmental stress our skin is exposed to, and we have developed a straightforward system which offers users measurable results for all skin types.”

Consumers, more aware of science-based formulations, today evaluate and purchase products based on quality with a strong expectation of functional benefits from those products, not just a pleasing fragrance or attractive packaging. Probiotics used topically on the skin have been found to provide competitive protection against harmful bacteria which creates skin conditions such as acne, psoriasis, rosacea, millia, rashes and dermatitis.

“When the skin is out of balance there is a destruction of the skin barrier which leads to greater dispersion of foreign substances such as harmful bacteria,” Dr. Hynes said. “Probiotics have been shown to have a significant effect short term by reducing inflammation and infections; and, long term, have been shown to deter premature formation of wrinkles.”

While they have been used for thousands of years, recent discoveries have led to a deeper understanding of the possibilities probiotics hold. It is no surprise they have become all the rage in foods and drinks, but only today are the dramatic benefits of topical applications being fully uncovered.

In fact, probiotics are so effective that many hospitals have gone from relying on antiseptic soap-scrubbing to washing with probiotic products and studies have suggested using probiotics on patients’ wounds prior to surgery. The safety of probiotics–essentially good bacteria that every person’s body needs both internally and externally–is so convincing that they are being used in everything from baby food to pizza crust to toothpaste, not just in yogurt.

The increasing importance of probiotics in skincare has been confirmed by Mintel Cosmetic Research, which has identified probiotics as among the hottest beauty ingredient trends for 2009. “Food and beauty will become increasingly intertwined, as more good-for-you food ingredients–think green tea and probiotics–are incorporated into skin care and cosmetic products,” the research organization found.

Similarly, probiotics this week made Pierce Mattie PR’s list of Top 10 Ingredient Trends, with the organization saying they have gone from buzz to branded as another “‘clinical-like’ line of products.”

Many of the major beauty product manufacturers are now jumping on the probiotics bandwagon, while SK1N has been at the forefront of this new emergence in skincare. With its simple, easy-to-use line of products that focuses on the essentials, encouraging people to make time to take care of the

As Gary Huffnagle, immunologist at the University of Michigan and author of The Probiotics Revolution, said, ” Probiotics is not a fad. It’s a new scientific concept about how the body works.”

Anti Aging, Skin Care, Spa Trends 2009

Before you have a Dr Fish or Garra Rufa pedicure, be sure you read a Spavelous Exclusive article.  If you are a spa director you should read this before spending 10,000 – 40,000 in non-refundable dollars.  Six states have banned Dr fish, and more will probably follow.  What you should know before you go.

Doctor Fish Pedicure Experience

Have you wanted to enjoy baby smooth soles, free of dry skin and rough cuticles?   Did the thought of tiny fish tickling your feet filling you with laughter make you want to take off your shoes and dive right in?  The answer to this for many was an astounding yes as the first Dr. Fish pedicure spa opened in Virginia.  Quickly, over five thousand happy feet had spa owners throughout the United States were looking to acquire the Garra Rufa fish and introduce this new exfoliation and skin healing treatment.  The fish used by the spa are tiny toothless fresh water fish which have been used and studied for many years for the treatment of psoriasis. The procedure involves allowing the fish to nibble off the dead skin initially, followed by the standard procedure of pedicure.

 State Regulation for Doctor Fish 

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Arizona Spas, Day Spa, Garra Rufa, Spa Industry, Spa Legal Issues, Spa Treatments, Spa Trends

Forget jewelry, gems are for the spa!

Traditional hot stone massages are now being reinvented. Semi-precious stones can indeed be put to magnificent use.

Fascinated with gemstones? Now, it is simply not enough to string them together and wear them on your person. Instead, spas in India are increasingly expressing their own love for these colored stones in myriad ways and you can be part of the story too!

If you are a massage junkie, you’d probably be acquainted with LaStone therapy — where hot and smooth basalt stones are usually placed on key points on the body to relax your muscles. The stones are black in color and rich in iron so that they retain heat, and the therapy has been popular all over the world ever since the enterprising Mary Nelson introduced it in Arizona decades ago.

More recently, however, spas have been further tweaking the therapy Read more…

Hot Stones, Spa, Spa Treatments, Spa Trends

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Hawaiian Lomi Lomi Massage

A healing massage used by the ancient Polynesians, the Hawaiian lomi lomi begins with stillness and a blessing, followed by a rub-down and stretching of the body that’s meant to flow in waves over you. Practitioners, who often work in pairs, may hum or dance the hula to enhance the experience and help you re-energize. Try it at the Anara Spa, part of the Grand Hyatt Kaui Resort & Spa.

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 Indonesian Lulur Treatment

Said to have its origins in the royal palaces of Central Java, Indonesia, the lulur massage was given to brides for 40 days before their weddings to soften their skin. Today, it’s a spa treatment that can last up to a few hours and involves a massage with infused oils followed by an exfoliating rub with ground spices and sometimes yogurt. Next comes an aromatic bath, during which you can sip a tonic made with a mix of healing herbs. Try the mandi lulur at the Zen Bali Spa in Ubud, Bali.

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Austrian Hay Treatment

Lots of spa treatments aim to cleanse and stimulate the immune system. Austria’s version is the hay bath, a traditional treatment that involves being wrapped neck-to-toe in a mix of specially chosen fermenting hay and mountain flowers and placed in a warm bath. Believed to have restorative powers, the hay bath is used to treat arthritis, among other ailments. Ebner’s Waldhof, a spa dedicated to “alpine wellness” near Salzburg, is one of many Austrian, German and Italian spas that offer the treatment.

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Thai Yoga Massage In Thailand

If you’ve had one Thai yoga massage, it turns out, you haven’t had them all. While the basic technique may be the same no matter where you go, in Thailand, you are more likely to encounter a masseuse who has been performing it most of his or her life. The result is a Thai massage performed with more fluid movements that nearly mimic a dance.

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Temascal In Mexico

A native steam bath, the temascal dates back to the ancient Aztecs. The tradition is still in practice in Mexico today, used for both curative and religious purposes. Some spas offer the steam bath in combination with a meditative ceremony in a hut on the beach. Look for the temascal on the menu at resorts such as the intimate Hacienda Los Laureles Spa in Oaxaca.

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