This post is the last in a series of six related posts about spa products and the powerful potential they have for enabling sustainable spa culture. Spa is built on service through treatments and experiences many of which involve body products. Commercialization of products can remove us from their purpose and safety.
This post looks at:
- the basics of making your own
- finding good local sources
- supporting local enterprise and conservation
A spa product that is also edible is likely to be safe to use on someone's skin. Basic products can be made from cold-pressed and unrefined oils, freshly prepared certified organic vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds etc., therapeutic grade herb and flower extracts, and pure water.
Making a product directly before use in the spa or in the treatment room can give it a further potent quality. And you don't need to worry about product shelf-life which can involve all manner of less desirable ingredients in manufactured products.
Some non-organic and synthetic body care products can cause allergic reactions and dermatitis, and many have included substances that are known to be toxic or carcinogenic. Some natural substances can also be harmful and knowledge of this is extremely important if you plan to make up your own products.
People with certain food allergies or reactions (they usually know about them) should avoid the same ingredients in externally applied products. For example: seaweed (popular in wraps) contains iodine to which some are allergic; certain essential oils cause skin rashes when exposed to sunlight. And so on.
Making your own food-based spa treatments, including sourcing local materials for these, will require either:
- establishing your own on-site organic garden, perhaps with bee hives for honey and wax, or
- researching and networking to find good and reliable local suppliers
Also:
- training of staff and set-up of a space/ facility for the making of products
- creative design of a range of services involving these products
All or some of these tasks could be provided or coordinated by a local spa design and consultancy service creating yet another form of local employment. The products may also be of interest to those who do not want to partake of the spa's services but might like to order fresh supplies of body care products.
If you do choose to sell, you'll need to look into local and state regulations regards retail of 'home-made' beauty products. There are many websites and blogs on the internet promoting this kind of business for individuals that will also give you ideas.
Some sample recipes, involving easily obtainable foods, can be seen on the website Homemade Beauty and also found in the books The Incredible Edible Spa by Noreen Finneran and Pure Skin: Organic Beauty Basics by Barbara Close. Nicolay Kreidlers's Spa College offers E-books and training courses that include these themes:
For an example of a method for making a product (in this case Rose which is my favorite indulgence) here is something from the website Homemade Beauty above. Note the equipment needed and the knowledge that lies behind the product use.
Night-time Rose Creamy Lotion by Jeanne Rose
20 fl. oz. Almond oil
16 fl. oz. Rosewater to which have been added 1 oz. dried red Rose petals, this soaked for 3 days, then strained out and removed
3 oz. Beeswax Essence of Rose, if desired
To make: Into a water bath or the top of a double boiler put the oil and the wax. Heat until the wax is dissolved and then remove pot from the fire. Add the Rosewater slowly, beating all the while, and beat until it is cool. At this point add the essence of Rose a drop at a time, if you like. Beat the creamy lotion until cold, pour into a bottle and store away for use.
To use: This lotion makes an excellent Rose Cold Cream to remove old grimy dirt or makeup. Simply apply with clean fingertips and remove with fine tissue. Then you might take a teaspoonful of cornmeal in each palm and rub the hands and face well with it. Rinse with warm water and then cold. Pat the remaining fine film of cream into the skin for night-time smoothing.
Why: Almond oil and Rosewater as we know is an excellent moisturizing lubricant for normal to dry to sensitive skin; cornmeal is a gentle tonic stimulating to the tissues and acts as a "beauty grain".
Tip: Whenever making fine cosmetics always use a porcelain or glass pot. Some beauty experts recommend stainless steel cooking pots but these often leach poisonous heavy metals into the enclosed liquids. Nonmetal is best for herbs.
To use: This lotion makes an excellent Rose Cold Cream to remove old grimy dirt or makeup. Simply apply with clean fingertips and remove with fine tissue. Then you might take a teaspoonful of cornmeal in each palm and rub the hands and face well with it. Rinse with warm water and then cold. Pat the remaining fine film of cream into the skin for night-time smoothing.
Why: Almond oil and Rosewater as we know is an excellent moisturizing lubricant for normal to dry to sensitive skin; cornmeal is a gentle tonic stimulating to the tissues and acts as a "beauty grain".
Tip: Whenever making fine cosmetics always use a porcelain or glass pot. Some beauty experts recommend stainless steel cooking pots but these often leach poisonous heavy metals into the enclosed liquids. Nonmetal is best for herbs.
Apart from fresh food items, other ingredients such as organic soaps, oils (e.g. rosehip seed oil, jojoba, almond), unrefined beeswax, sugarcane ethanol (a natural solvent for herbs), and herbal extracts (e.g. lavender, calendula, chamomile, marshmallow, St Johns Wort) may be sourced from bulk suppliers.
As discussed in a previous post, the final products will be far more interesting and compelling if they contain locally grown and seasonal ingredients, are sourced from local suppliers, and contribute a local flavor to your spa offerings.
The entire ritual of making them is a sensory process that can enhance the sensuality of the treatments themselves, and engage the practitioner and the client in a creative way that can't be so easily achieved with something out of a bottle.
Finding good local sources
As mentioned in the previous post, the Organic Trade Association (OTA) has a directory of organic resources for North America. Some of the other organizations mentioned in that post also provide this kind of information.
For an impressive example of a supplier of botanical ingredients, many of which are organic, see Mountain Rose Herbs of Eugene, Oregon. Their publicity material is informative enough to make a very good study project for anyone wanting to understand what being truly sustainable means and how to set about it.
Regards organic ingredients, Mountain Rose Herbs states that:
- they never use a non-organic item if an organic one is available
- in the event that certified organic material is not available, they opt for material which was cultivated without chemicals or harvested (sustainably) in the wild
- all materials are analyzed in the lab for both chemical and pesticide residues.
- when material is not available in the US, they negotiate with reliable organic farmers abroad
They extend their environmental stewardship to all aspects of their business by:
- following principles and protocols that ensure fair treatment and compensation for the people involved with the production of products; both domestically and overseas
- monitoring the environment, business practices and labor conditions associated with products origination and supporting organizations that assist in that endeavor
- requiring vendors to sign a thorough affidavit which guarantees fair wages for all of the people involved with the production of the materials, along with a guarantee that safe and clean working conditions are in place.
Supporting local enterprise and conservation
As I write, in response to the recession, Transition groups are forming throughout the US, part of a grassroots movement of people who seek local-scale and green-oriented implementation of the Transition model for communities first developed in the UK.
I'd like to end with an example of local enterprise in my area, the Missouri Ozarks. There are people like this everywhere and they are ready to work and thrive with the support of their local communities. Spa culture could be part of this counter-globalization action.
Together with other small farmers they created 'A Wildcrafter's Growers Group' to explore growing and adding value to native plants. I went to one of their hands-on events a few years ago and was impressed by the interest it drew from locals.
Their company creates botanical products from certified wild/ organic native plants. They then grow the plants organically or work with small farm generally accepted practices in wild harvesting native plants. Part of the profits support restoration and community development to enhance Ozark biodiversity.
All plants are hand harvested and hand processed. Goods from the Woods are now certified by Oregon Tilth as producers of witch hazel distillate, chosen because of the global demand, absence of certified production land, market demand and the ease of documenting the value of it's wild harvest.
Penny emphasizes that certification of wild crops is important as a means of conserving native plants. She notes that over 400 000 tonnes of medicinal and aromatic plants (about 70 000 species) are traded annually, with around 80% of species harvested from the wild. Many are subject to over-collection and habitat loss.
Unfortunately, the USDA NOP expansion of certification into health and beauty products may be inadvertently exacerbating organic fraud, partly because certifiers are unfamiliar with auditing for wild harvests or botanical production yields. Goods from the Woods is now working to improve education on this issue.
I hope this series has given you a sense of the issues surrounding sustainability and spa products and the potential for positive change in that. Necessarily, I have mentioned only a few of the many involved in this industry or movement. Please feel free to reference others by commenting on the posts as appropriate.
'The frog does not drink up the pond in which it lives'
Mountain Rose Herbs
This post is the last in a series of six related posts about spa products and the powerful potential they have for enabling sustainable spa culture:
- Spa treatment menus: authenticity and audacity
- Eco-spa-chefs: cooking up a better future for organic spa products
- Savvy and creative spas who grow their own spa products
- The value of growing and making your own spa products
- Natural, organic? Spa products under scrutiny
- How to make your own 'soulful and sustainable' spa products on site
