Champagne Dreams & Caviar Spa Treatments!

[caption id="attachment_4959" align="alignleft" width="200"] Caviar Fish Eggs are becoming a popular hor d'eouvres for skin & hair[/caption]

The use of caviar (or really expensive fish eggs) as a beauty aid is apparently on the rise on a global scale in skin and hair treatments and is reminicent to that of Botox treatments when they were first discovered.

Caviar, which is rich in Omega 3 fatty acids, contributes to tightening the skin by providing cohesion, nutrition, and vitamins while developing the skin's natural defense antioxidant and improving the skin's moisture barrier.

The La Prairie spa at the Ritz-Carlton on Central Park South, in fact, just started offering a $1,000  caviar-and-crushed-diamond facial that also includes hand and foot massage and steam-machine treatment. One reviewer said the results left her able to skip makeup for a week!  To justify that price, however, I think it would have to leave me skipping makeup for a year though!;)

Friday Feature - Hot New Trends in Wellness & Spa World

The International Spa Association (ISPA) recently held their annual convention in New York. At the convention, several new spa trends and services were spotted including parties at the spa, treatments for stressed and time-pressed consumers, cross-cultural traditions, and a whole lot of purple – from lavender-scented treatments to mauve colored nail polish! Here's a recap of some of the latest and greatest:

Sparty - Growing in popularity are events called 'spartys' that are booked in the spa space – for weddings, corporate events, etc. At a Sparty, invited guests get spa services either in groups or individually, then gathered back for lunch, cocktails, or hor d'ouvres. Definetely a fun and relaxing way to spend time with friends, family, or collegues!

Cross Cultural Techniques - In order to turn off the stress reponse, many massage therapists are turning to techniques acquired from other cultures including Thai Naga Massage, Middle Eastern Bathing & Exfoliating, and Aboriginal Massage that incorporates listening to didgeridoo music while the therapist shakes a rain stick and applies smooth, hot black basalt stones to the body.

Speed Spa - In a hurry? A new facial treatment called Hydra- Facial, available in 2,000 spas nationwide, offers five procedures in 15 minutes. There's also a quick-dry and waterproof nail polish mani and treatment and a experience that teaches insomniacs to relearn how to fall asleep through relaxation, aromatherapy, a soak and massage.

The Power of Purple - Purple is popular not only for color but as a concept. New trends include violet clay masks, massage with violet-infused oil, lavender aromatherapy and "chromatherapy" (color therapy with purple tones), elderberry facial, lavender foot scrub, and mauve colored nail polish with glitter.

All in all, The International Spa Association's annual look at the industry by the numbers found a slight uptick in 2011, with $13.4 billion in revenue and 156 million spa visits, a more than 4 percent increase from 2010, according to an analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers of information provided by 1,000 destination and day spas in the United States.

The number of full-time employees in the industry is up, as well, by 9 percent, though part-time and contract employees declined slightly, as did the number of spa locations.

Good news for all of us in the wellness, massage, spa, industries!:)

*Source "Trends Swirl Up in the Spa World" Beth Harpaz AP

Freaky Friday Spa Treatment - Detoxification with Leeches

Well here's a unique spa treatment that really "SUCKS"!:) Today's featured Scandle Freaky Friday Spa Treatment is a leech treatment where for a mere $600 you can get whatever ails you sucked out.

Who would pay to have something like this done to them?  Well, how about actress Demi Moore who in an interview with David Letterman in 2008 said that her beauty regimen included going to an Austrian spa where she had leeches applied to her body as a detoxification measure.  Moore said, "You watch it swell up on your blood, watching it get fatter and fatter -- then when it's super drunk on your blood it just kind of rolls over like it's stumbling out of the bar."

So, what do you say...yay or nay to this medival method of detoxification?