The Romans set up Kur towns around curative waters all over the German countryside. In Germany holistic medicine includes regular trips to Spa Kur (Cure). Today’s international spa holistic body treatments come from the centuries old German traditional Kur System. The German Kur is based on the use of natural therapies used in spa treatments. 
Typically, a doctor in Germany sends their client to a Spa Village with the right climate, altitude, and treatments to benefit the overall condition of their patient. In America, destination spas can include the climate, altitude, and treatments as part of the curative value of their location. In America we are lucky to convince our fast paced culture to slow down for the day; therefore time that your client has with you is precious so it is critical to make the most out of it.
As your clients’ holistic body therapist, you have the opportunity to revive your client’s immune system, satisfy their need for human touch, and bring about deep relaxation inside their potentially chaotic world. Holistic body treatments include the use of facials, massage, hydrotherapy, body wraps, hot packs, aromatherapy, herbal therapy, body scrubs, sauna, steam room, thalassotherapy, and baths in order to revitalize, detoxify, and boost the immune system while relaxing the client. Your client is in your hands to achieve a personal metamorphosis.

First and foremost the products used for treatment must be addressed. During body treatments, the pores and respiratory system are wide open and absorbing the products used during the treatment. It is vital that as your clients’ advocate and caretaker you go the extra mile to insure that all of the products you use for treatment are good for your client. Not all spa products are of the same quality. Don’t fall for the marketing fluff; read your ingredient lists, do your research, and get outside advice on the products you are using. Without knowing the truth behind what you’re using, your day in and day out exposure to the products will cause you to suffer from the new phenomenon, Chemical Body Burden, which is ailing massage therapists and aestheticians worldwide.
Your salesperson will likely tell you that their aromatherapy based products are totally natural and scented solely on essential oils, but you need to do your own research. So many spa lines are full of chemicals, fragrance oils, and fluffery. You are responsible to your client for their health and wellness. If you are applying fragrance oils and heavy chemicals, you are doing more harm than good. As a therapist, you should abide by the doctor’s creed of “first do no harm.”
Once you have found the right product, determining the features for your facility is the next step. Steam rooms, saunas, and spa hot tubs are all bonus features of your spa that can make your spa stand out among your competitors. Encourage your clients to use the added features of your spa before their treatment to enhance the aromatherapy benefits of their stay. Warm skin allows for faster absorption of essential oils and opens and prepares the respiratory system for their healing properties. Encourage your clients to come a little early to take advantage of those extra tranquil moments so that when they reach your table they are already on the journey of relaxation.
Choosing the right treatments that will sell your services and your product lines are vital to the financial health of your spa. You want your client to repeatedly come back and you want them to provide the best advertising of all: word of mouth. Cellulite treatments are a fabulous example of programs that will cause your clients to purchase and use package deals. The use of herbal reduction and/or detox wraps, along with essential oils combined with massage oil in a take home kit will offer great results and loyal customers.

Wraps
Body wrapping is a therapeutic body treatment using detoxifying natural ingredients to tighten, tone, and stimulate the body to rid itself of toxins and excess fat. It is an excellent addition to any weight loss and exercise program. Selecting an herbal reduction detox wrap that uses herbs, minerals, clay, and even coffee, to cause lipids to be broken down and released into the lymphatic system will give your clients verifiable results. Since the skin is the largest eliminative organ of our body, a wrap, along with directions to drink a lot of water can create significant results.
The lymphatic system needs to keep moving for optimum health. A body wrap causes the system to kick into gear and release the garbage stored in the body’s cells, moving it into the lymphatic stream and expelling it through normal elimination processes by the body. A body wrap made with clays, herbs, minerals, and salts that draw toxins out of the body is the optimal choice. As the toxins are drawn out, the soft tissue is compressed and compacted as the skin regains elasticity by being detoxified, leaving a smoother and firmer muscle base over which the soft tissue lies.
Body wraps are most effective when they are done in a series of two to six wraps at least five days apart from each other. An exercise and healthy eating program will aid making inches lost permanent. A healthy regime will promote thorough cleansing, detoxifying, and toning. An herbal body wrap program as a series or in combination with aromatherapy based massage treatments will provide the best results for the client both in appearance and health. In Robert Tisserand’s book, Aromatherapy, he relates a case study of a 29 year old client with heavy cellulite on her thighs, hips, and buttocks that was treated with massage and the essential oils of rosemary, fennel, geranium, juniper, lavender, bergamot, and chamomile. During a three week period, the client came in for twice weekly aromatherapy based massage of her problem areas. After three weeks, she had only a small patch of cellulite left, which was remedied by changing her sitting position at the piano to allow adequate circulation.

Scrubs
Full body scrubs remove toxins, increase circulation, rehydrate the skin, and release a natural radiance. There are so many ingredient options when it comes to body scrubs. Some of the typical exfoliating ingredients include: coffee, walnut shell powder, jojoba beads, and various grades of salt and sugar. Additional ingredients that add to the detoxifying effect of scrubs are: mustard, sea kelp, herbs, cayenne pepper, turmeric, and essential oils. There are a handful of companies that are making foaming scrubs with exfoliants. These are perfect for clients who are concerned about using oily products.
It is realistic and economical for a spa to mix their own special scrubs or buy an unscented natural bulk scrub base to which they add herbs, essential oils, and additives for each treatment. This flexibility allows for customized treatments and also the ability to treat customers with allergies and sensitivities. At my last two spa experiences I had to change my treatments because they did not have unscented or pure essential oil based body scrubs. Surprisingly, neither large facility had the ability to customize their scrubs to accommodate my allergy to fragrance oils. Fragrances are the number one cause of allergic reactions to cosmetic products (Marks, Elsner, & DeLeo, 2002a). It is no longer an option to not have fragrance oil-free options. Many potential consumers are staying away from spas because they can’t count on a fragrance oil free treatment.
A great example of a customized body scrub treatment could be accomplished with a natural bulk butter body scrub base or a bulk salt scrub base with a choice of three different additive packages. One variation could be an immune boosting scrub in which the spa adds mustard powder and laurel leaf essential oil to the base for the treatment. A second option could be a detox scrub in which the spa adds sea kelp and the essential oils of cedarwood and grapefruit. The third option with the same base could be a cellulite scrub in which the spa adds ground coffee beans, cayenne pepper, and the essential oils of rosemary, fennel, geranium, juniper, lavender, and bergamot. This would allow three separate treatments using one base with a few bulk ingredients to your back bar.

Subtle Aromatherapy
The use of hot aromatherapy towel packs and cold distillate water towels during treatments offer a fabulous finishing touch to the spa experience for your client. A hot towel soaked in herbs and/or essential oils put on the table just before your client lies down is a fabulous vehicle for subtle therapy. A hot towel with a few drops of eucalyptus, lavender, or geranium can each bring a different subtle aromatherapy experience to any treatment. Eucalyptus would make your stuffy client more comfortable during the treatment by easing congestion; lavender would make an uptight or uncomfortable client relax easier, and geranium would have valuable hormonal properties that could bring your female client into balance during her stay with you.
The options are limitless with cold water packs applied to the face to cool a client after a hot treatment, bath, or sauna. Cold teas offer soothing effects while having great antioxidant properties. Brewing a pot of chamomile, rooibos, or green tea and refrigerating it for the day will give a cool treat to your clients having a variety of treatments. Distillate waters are a wonderful option because they can be purchased in bulk and used over several months. There are a wide variety of distillate waters available on the market including: lavender, chamomile, witch hazel, cucumber, rose, and orange blossom.

Thalassotherapy
Thalassotherapy is the medicinal use of seawater. It was developed in the seaside towns of Brittany, France in the 19th century. There are trace elements of magnesium, potassium, calcium sulfates, and sodium found in seawater. Treatments include baths or showers in warm sea water, sea salts added to soaks, marine mud used in baths or wraps, algae or seaweed added in wraps, soaks, or scrubs, and the inhalation of steamed sea water. The main objective of thalassotherapy is to increase blood circulation by replenishing the mineral content of the body with the minerals from the sea. Vital minerals are depleted from our body daily from stress, pollution, and poor diets. Warm sea salt water is absorbed readily by the skin. Good health, mental wellness, and healthy skin are dependent on the correct balance of sodium, potassium, and fluids in the body.
Different salts from various regions of the world have unique minerals available in them. The mineral content of the Dead Sea is significantly different than ocean water. Most salts from seas or oceans are about 97 to 99 percent sodium chloride. A study of the concentration of minerals in the Dead Sea salt found it to be 30.4 percent sodium chloride, 14.4 percent calcium chloride, 4.4 percent potassium chloride, and 50.8 percent magnesium chloride. Brittany Sea salt contains 95 percent sodium chloride with unique trace minerals. Hawaiian Sea salt has the added mineral alaea from volcanic baked red clay added to enrich the salt with iron oxide. These salts as well as Celtic salt, flake salt, grey salt, Italian salt, and sea salt are all good salts for any thalassotherapy treatment.

Lotions and Massage Oils
Fractionated coconut and jojoba oil are the best oils for massage because neither oil ever goes rancid nor will it leave your sheets smelling musty. Fractionated coconut has a fabulous slip and good staying power to last for a full body massage. Jojoba oil has the same chemical makeup as the skin’s sebum, which makes it the perfect oil for all skin types. Jojoba oil is a must have for any facial massage.
Almost all treatments end with miniaturization from either a massage oil or body lotion. At the end of a treatment, the body will readily absorb whatever you apply. It is vital that you apply a lotion that isn’t full of chemicals. It would be like going for a great run and then smoking a cigarette. It just doesn’t make sense to pollute the body with unnecessary cosmetic chemicals after any holistic body treatment. Look for lotions that achieve their properties and body from natural oils and butters and avoid fillers like Carbomer and TEA. Those ingredients allow the cosmetic formulator to use less active ingredients. They create thickness and body instead of allowing the texture of the formula to come from natural oils.
Remember that your client is in your hands to achieve their personal metamorphosis and they trust you as their holistic body therapist. Whether your client is spending one hour or an entire day with you, their time is precious. It is your responsibility to do your homework to provide the safest and most effective treatments to every client that walks through your doors. Spa directors have added responsibility to insure a safe work environment that will avoid Chemical Body Burden for the staff exposed day in and day out to spa treatment products.

Kayla Fioravanti, RA is the Chief Formulator, registered aromatherapist, and co-founder of Essential Wholesale, Essential Labs, and von Natur. Through Essential Wholesale they provide wholesale bulk cosmetic bases, raw ingredients, and essential oils to the spa industry and all sizes of businesses. Essential Labs private label contract packages and custom formulates for companies big and small internationally. von Natur is a finished retail spa line that is organically preserved, naturally formulated, and aromatherapy based. For more information, visit www.essentialwholesale.com, www.essentiallabs.com, or www.vonnatur.com. To speak directly to Fioravanti, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..