Beauty’s only skin deep – naturally
Spa treatments are offering a new spin on ‘spa cuisine.’ Yes, you might want to mash up an avocado and spread it lavishly all over your face. According to Toronto cosmetic dermatologist, John Goldhar, “The natural acids from fruits help to revitalize the cellular layers of the skin, tightening it and making it look more youthful.”
By Anne Dimon
A willing recipient of numerous treatments using stuff right out of the pantry - oatmeal, cornmeal, coconut, honey, avocado, apple pulp and fresh herbs, for starters - this spa connoisseur knows a good (or tasty) thing when it’s slathered all over the body. Take papaya, for example. Attired in colourful traditional South Seas, Clair, my therapist at the Elizabeth Milan Spa in the concourse of the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, is giving this body a rubdown with brown sugar mixed with oil. “It’s not as abrasive as salt,” she says.
Following this body buffing, there’s a slathering of cool, fresh, enzyme-rich, papaya pulp mashed with coconut and aloe vera gel. Once drenched in papaya, neck to ankles, I’m covered in large, flat banana leaves purchased at a nearby Philipino market. “They help keep the heat in,” Clair explains as she wraps my papaya-and-banana-leaf-embraced body in plastic sheets and heated blankets for 15 minutes of marinating.
No, I have not missed the treatment room and ended up in the spa kitchen, and Clair is not an accidental chef. Spa products made with fresh fruit, herbs and other edibles is the hot (or cold, as the case may be) new trend in body treatments. It’s a new take on the ‘champagne wishes and caviar dreams’ of Robin Leech’s popular 1980s TV show, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.
Of course, these days, you don’t have to be rich or famous to enjoy the champagne and caviar lifestyle. In this age of ‘new luxury’ and changing social trends, affordable, accessible spas are available to anyone with even a little discretionary income and, in the name of health and wellness, organics are playing an increasingly significant role.
Enter a buffet of edibles.“Customers like the connection with nature, and feel more comfortable with ingredients that aren’t chemical,” says Anne McCall, general manager of Willow Stream, the Spas at Fairmont Resorts. When therapists are actually tasting spa products, (yes, I’ve tried it, too!) to prove that they are 100 per cent organic, you know that something is changing in the spa/cosmetics industry. With products one would normally find in one’s kitchen beginning to pepper the booming spa/wellness scene, spa cuisine takes on a whole new meaning.
But is there really a health benefit of having yourself drenched in citrus fruits, slathered with mashed-up avocado, or bathed with apple juice? “Because fresh fruit doesn’t have essential oil, it cannot be absorbed into the system,” says Elizabeth Milan, owner of Elizabeth Milan Spa. “However, depending on the fruit, it does have an effect on the epidermis.” For instance, she explains, papaya and pineapple are good exfoliants, mango is a skin softener, citrus fruits benefit oily skin. At Highfields Inn & Spa, Norma Daniels says her Honey Bee Pat is very moisturizing and calming.
Kalee Kline, owner of Health Winds Health & Wellness Spa in Toronto, says, “Anything works temporarily, but it’s more quick fix than long term benefit.” Along with a full menu of health and holistic treatments, Health Winds offers a 60-minute Fruit Facial. They purchase fruit fresh each morning - orange and grapefruit for oily skin, peaches and bananas for dry skin, and watermelon for dehydrated skin - prepare them and apply to the face with galvanic current to promote deeper penetration of nutrients into the skin. The treatment follows with a full cleansing, facial massage, mask and moisturizer. Kline says it feels great and makes the face look great, but it’s no substitute for healthy eating, balanced lifestyle and good genetics.
According to Toronto cosmetic dermatologist, John Goldhar, even ancient tradition speaks to the curative powers of fruits and vegetables. “The natural acids from fruits helps to revitalize the cellular layers of the skin,” he says, “tightening it and making it look more youthful.” But is it concentrated enough to do a whole lot? “Probably not,” he says.
Then there’s caviar. Scrumptious on soda biscuits with a little chopped onion, for sure, but even better, apparently, spread on aging skin. Willow Stream spas offer an indulgent, protein-rich caviar facial designed to firm, tone, refine and deeply hydrate skin. Mixed with a little caffeine (to stimulate circulation), green tea extract (an antioxidant to protect skin from free radicals), and Chinese herbs, the Sevruga caviar facial is said to provide instant and visible results. McCall says, “Chemists have known for some time that marine-based proteins can be easily absorbed into the skin, but processing hasn’t been cost-effective until recently”. It’s not the fountain of youth, she says, but she uses the products personally and likes the results.
Now when it comes to the French bubbly, there are Champagne facials, pedicures and soaks. Colour me a traditionalist, but I still prefer my Mumms in a glass.
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