(Via Dayspa Magazine) Make visions of higher profits a reality with these products, aimed especially at the eye area.

Eyes—they’re the windows to the soul, the conduits that convey our emotions to the world. They’re also among the first places on the face to show age, stress and fatigue. The delicate skin around the eyes needs special care to keep wrinkles, fine lines, dark circles and puffiness at bay.

Specialized care for particular areas of the body is a blossoming trend in the spa industry, and this trend presents you with the opportunity to offer focused products and services to clients craving a little care for the delicate eye area. On the following pages, you’ll find a host of products designed specifically to soothe and care for eye contour skin, and to enhance the appearance of the eyes, lashes and brows. Offer your clients a wide selection, and you’ll be greeted by the sight of increased profits and client loyalty.

Read the full article here.

Spa and beauty treatments have long been targeted almost exclusively to women - making it seem that they’re the only ones who care about the way they look. While we all know this isn’t the case, it may still be the pervasive advertising paradigm that informs the way we spend money to attract new clients and retain the faithful.
It’s becoming more and more acceptable (and encouraged) for men to take a more open interest in treating their bodies and their spirits right. Routine massage, manicures, the occasional pedicure, and sometimes waxing and relaxing are all becoming a part of a busy man’s lifestyle. Dayspa Magazine’s article of the month sheds some light on how you can start to attract more men to your salon or spa.

Here’s a bit of the article by Liz Barrett:

How many men have walked into your spa today? Chances are it could have been a lot more. When it comes to selling beer, electronic gadgets or the newest sport utility vehicle, it isn’t too difficult to attract a man’s attention. The media have had a lot of practice in training their target audiences to respond subconsciously to the messages they’re receiving, and that seems especially true when the target is men. However, when you want those same beer-drinking, gadget-buying, Jeep-driving men to come into your spa to sample a massage or the latest facial cleanser, things can get a little tricky. The notion of men visiting spas is a fairly new concept in the grand scheme of things, and marketing to them is still going through a trial-and-error period. New tactics are being tested every day in an attempt to find the ones that are the most fruitful.

With the International Spa Association (ISPA) reporting that 31% of today’s spa-goers are male—up from just 24% four years ago—it’s obvious that men are showing more interest in taking care of themselves. What has happened in the past decade to make some men go from “no way!” to “OK!” when it comes to spas? Could it be the widespread acceptance of metrosexuality and well-kempt but masculine role models like Brad Pitt and George Clooney? Maybe it’s reality TV shows like Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Extreme Makeover and What Not to Wear telling guys that it’s now acceptable to spend more time on themselves.

For the full article, click here.

Many experts agree that instituting some sort of cultural theme to your spa offerings, you can invite a new breed of client, searching for an exotic brand of rest. Many indigenous cultures have rituals, scents, meditation practices, that find their way into popular western culture, and for the spa business it’s no different. Here’s a bit of Dayspa Magazine’s article by L. Brooks Baldwin:

Glistening mountaintops above and snowdrifts below encircled the rustic and cozy cottage where I, face softly planted in cradle, lay comfortably smothered under a sacred Pendleton story blanket, inhaling the fragrances of natural balancing oils as they were waved below my nose. Through the mellifluous tribal American Indian chant resonating in my ears, my therapist Kim softly asked which of the oils, dubbed “East,” “South,” “West,” and “North,” most appealed to my senses that evening. All four smelled divine, but one seemed to invite another sniff. “I’ll take East,” I murmured, already adrift in a vapor of calm that lent a perfect finish to my rigorous day of skiing.

“The Native Americans seek guidance from nature’s elements, what they call the Four Directions,” Kim explained as she applied warm basalt stones slick with oil to various body parts, each representing one of the Directions. “East is the element representing Spring, a time of rebirth, renewal and awakening. Its color is red and the red hawk is the animal that represents it. Your choice suggests that you’re entering a time of new beginnings … ”

Within every culture lies a wealth of wisdom, and no one knows this better than healers. Cultural healing manifests itself in modern theories and ancient rituals, botanical potions and physical practices, all with the common goal of bringing healthy balance to the human body, mind, soul and spirit.

It’s inevitable that today’s spa practitioners bring ideas developed within ancient and modern cultures around the world to their clients. Today’s growing global sensibilities practically demand this. Whether you’re looking to turn your spa into a sacred haven, or to just tweak your menu (and your clientele’s interest) with a few heavenly options, there are many ways to incorporate cultural fare.

For the full article click here.

In the spa world, one of the up and coming trends involves providing services for tired aching feet. It’s surprising this hasn’t taken off sooner, as most people I know have a complaint of some sort regarding their feet - come the end of the day. In most other parts of the world, especially in Asia, the feet are considered a gateway to the rest of the body and reflexologists and feet practitioners can work healing magic on internal organs by massaging specific parts of a client’s foot.

Beauty Launchpad magazine has a featured article all about feet this month, and how (if you’re a spa owner or feet owner) to take care of those critical appendages. Here’s a bit of the article by Karie L. Frost:

Forget bathing in the heart-shaped tub…This valentines day, run to your nearest spa and demand that they let you and your lover immerse in chocolate! Think we’re kidding? A Japanese spa is offering just that this lover’s day - as reported by REUTERS.

A Japanese spa is offering the perfect aphrodisiac for Valentine’s Day - chocolate baths.Those who just can’t get enough of the sweet stuff can immerse themselves in water mixed with cacao and fragrant bath powders. Twice a day, staff pour creamy chocolate over the bathers, who smear it over the bodies or lick it off.

“This bath is my Valentines Day gift for him this year,” said Mayumi Uekusa, who travelled more than two hours with her boyfriend to the Yunessun spa in Hakone, north of Tokyo, to soak in a mixture of warm water, cacao and aromatic bath powders.

“Life ain’t as sweet as this bath, darling,” quipped her boyfriend Yuichi Omata. Japanese women have long been the ones to give their guys gifts on Valentine’s Day.

While couples shared romance in the bath, families with grandmothers and babies in tow also spread chocolate over their faces and bodies. Everybody wore a bathing suit.

In Japan, as in many countries, chocolate and romance go hand in hand and for many lovers, Valentine’s Day just wouldn’t be the same without these sweet treats.

The Aztecs believed chocolate was an aphrodisiac that invigorated men and made women less inhibited, and when it came to Europe, it quickly became the perfect gift to inspire lust.

Modern research shows that chocolate helps release “feel good” hormones in the body, which trigger reactions that mimic the feelings associated with being in love.

The Japanese spa resort offers dozens of other “amusement” baths, including a wine bath, a coffee bath, and a sake bath.

In the past, it has even offered a curry dip. A ticket that allows access to all these baths costs about 3,500 yen ($US28).

REUTERS

A lot of industries are starting to recognize the buying power of the baby boomer generation, and the spa industry is one of them. Spas are now offering “aging” regimen’s and treatments to people of all ages. DaySpa Magazine’s featured article this month is all about aging gracefully, and retooling your spa’s offerings to cater to the needs of the 45+ generation. Here’s a snippet of the article by Kendra Kozen:

Since the baby boomers came of age in the 1960s, America has undeniably become a youth-obsessed culture. From Rodeo Drive to Madison Avenue and everywhere in between, for at least the last decade one of the most prevalent trends in the beauty industry has been the idea of complete antiaging—do whatever possible to fight any appearance of aging. Our society now happily spends billions of dollars each year on the latest creams, gels and serums to keep us looking as young as possible, and more invasive treatments like cosmetic surgery and injections are now commonplace.

All of this has been a blessing for the spa industry. By capitalizing on the desire to look younger, you’ve probably increased your bottom line and brought in more than one new client. But will this trend continue now that the baby boomer generation has entered its 60s? Inevitably, we’ll all continue to get older, but will members of this generation still want to try to look like they’re in their 30s when they reach 75?

Some in the industry believe we’re beginning to see a shift in the way that we look at aging. It appears that we may be moving away from the concept of “fight aging at any cost” to a more graceful, wellness-based approach of “look your best at any age.” “We’re beginning to see hints that people are recognizing that there’s beauty at any age,” says Pamela Mayberry, associate director of the Ithaca College Gerontology Institute in Ithaca, New York. She notes the Dove “Real Beauty” campaign as one example of this trend and says that even if only a small number of baby boomers embrace this notion, it’s still significant because of the size of the generation.

Get the full article here.

There are many religions, cultures and societies that have for millenia touted the great power of human energy fields. Often, these energy fields are disrupted by our daily activities and certainly by the myriad emotions and roller coaster that is life on this earth. Spa’s across North America are turning to energy therapies intended to heal, enliven, and restore the balance in each of us. Dayspa Magazine’s featured article of the month deals directly with this new type of treatment. Here’s an excerpt from their new November article by Linda Jacobson-Kossoff:

It’s one of those terms that some therapists and alternative medicine practitioners use to explain how their treatments work, but that also tends to leave a vague-at-best impression on the listener’s mind. It’s always difficult to crystallize a concept that can’t be tangibly seen, held, heard or smelt, but like so many therapies that have been embraced in the modern wellness community, energy work is gaining credibility as more people take the plunge and reap the rewards.

Download the full article pdf here.

The New York Times released yesterday their fall 2006 beauty issue of the New York Times Magazine. The issue is jam packed with stories not typically found within the pages of a “style” or “hair” magazine.

An interview with Evan Rachel Wood reveals the actress’s long history in glamorous roles and how she deals with celebrity off the red carpet. Another article examines spas and their architectural intent to help heal, while yet another article goes behind the scenes to uncover the fragrance industry’s “dirty little secret.”

And of course, we can’t forget to include the short list of hair and beauty “must have’s” included within the pages. We’re happy to report, that most of these items aren’t just intended for use by socialites and Manhattan’s uppercrust teenagers. Lipsticks, several bars of soap, and a silk number, all made the list.

There’s a lot more than Donna Bella Milan has listed in this article, so surf on over and check it out for yourself.

Bathing, or Spa-ing if you prefer, is not a modern invention that came along with the bathtub a couple hundred years ago. In fact, soaking in scented warm water has been a part of human culture for millenia. Because of this tradition, modern chic spas are more often than not offering ancient and ritualistic options for spa goers. DaySpa’s article for October goes into detail about the many disparate traditions that involve soaking in water for meditation, relaxation, and spiritual healing. The beauty industry has it’s roots in ancient egyptian culture, so it makes perfect sense to us at Donna Bella Milan Hair and Beauty Blog that the Spa industry would turn to it’s ancient roots to better learn how to best “soak up tradition.”

Here’s a blurb from the featured article by Heather Larson:

Day spa owners on the cutting edge recognize that incorporating ancient rituals developed from cultures throughout the globe into their spa menus pleases their clients, and nowhere is this more evident than with baths. Traditional bathing customs common to other countries have met with resounding success in North American spas. What follows is a closer look at the spa translations of these exotic bathing regimens, including their histories, their uses and even some of their pitfalls.

For the full article, click here.

This month’s featured beauty article in Medesthetics Magazine is all about the chemical facial peel. Chemical Peels have long been a staple of medical spa offerings, and Medesthetics Magazine author Inga Hansen explores the treatments in detail as well as recent developments in chemical peel technology. Here’s an excerpt of the article:

The ability of chemical peels to rejuvenate dull complexions and solve a variety of skin problems has made them a mainstay in medical aesthetics practices and skincare centers. They have also spawned a growing number of complementary acid-based home-care products. The latest trend is to use a chemical peel as an adjunct service to microdermabrasion and light-based therapies. We’ve talked with some experts in the field about today’s most popular peels and how medical spas are using them.

Get the full article from Medesthetics Magazine here.