trends

When we predicted this trend last year we decided to draw attention to the scary and silly spa stories to make the case for ‘evidenced based medicine’ (EBM) to begin being associated with spa modalities.  We considered using the term ‘evidenced based medicine’ in the title of the trend but then decided that it was likely […]

What cosmetic treatments do you think Courteney Cox has gotten done? Dr. Bruce Katz of the JUVA Skin & Laser Center in New York shared his thoughts on how he suspects she has managed to defy the hands of time.

Introducing the “Naked Table Project,” coming to a getaway spa resort near you. No, it’s not how it sounds. It’s actually a hands-on team-building activity where a group constructs an entire table from scratch and then shares a meal together. Vermont-based spa properties such as Stoweflake Mountain Resort & Spa and Woodstock Inn and Resort have implemented The Naked Table Project into their itinerary of group/corporate recreational activities in an effort to encourage social responsibility, sustainable environment, and community camaraderie.

Reviewing this trend prediction for 2010 makes me smile.  That’s because I think we were right on; in fact, this trend exceeded our expectations!  That has some very important implications for the future of our spa industry. Go ahead and reread what we wrote about Wellness Tourism a year ago and then at the end I will […]

Far from the red carpet (though not from the paparazzi), Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt recently embarked on a family spa outing in Budapest, taking their brood to a thermal spa originating from the 12th century. The celebrity couple and two of their little ones, Zahara, age five, and Pax, age six, made a splash […]

Since ancient times, aromatherapy has been known for its therapeutic powers, celebrated as a natural aid that’s integrated into spa treatments and beauty products. How it works, what it’s used for, how to get the benefits – the vast offerings of aromatherapy can all be a bit overwhelming. But just calm down – our friends at NewBeauty make sense of it all:

We reviewed June Jacobs Perfect Pumpkin Peeling Enzyme Masque. Naturally rich in nutrients and antioxidants, pumpkin treatments are great for the skin.

Grading our prior year’s predictions.

So let’s take a look at our 5th spa trend prediction for 2010 called “The Hybrid Spa” and see how we did. (Hint, my grade is lower than the first four trends on this one.) Last year at this time we were noticing a movement toward fusing several concepts together.  For many years we had seen […]

  Wind down, slow down, and live in the present moment. That’s what I did earlier this week when I went to check out the Yoga for Foodies event at The Culinary Loft, located in the heart of Soho, New York City. Yes, you heard right – yoga and food. The brainchild of Yahoo! wellness […]

Reviewing our spa trend prediction for 2010, “The Online Spa,” I think it is pretty clear that this did in fact happen during an unprecidented year of advancements and adoption of everything virtual.  If anything, I would say there have been some things that became big news in the tech world this year that we didn’t mention.  More on that in a bit. […]

Continuing on with my review of SpaFinder’s 2010 Top 10 Spa Trends (and then evaluating how the trend actually developed), let’s looks at #3: Not “Going to” But “Belonging to” a Spa.  This trend has been huge for 2010 and, in some ways, even exceeded our expectations; there has been a significant effort to create this “belonging” aspect […]

Continuing on with my review of SpaFinder’s 2010 Top 10 Spa Trends (and then evaluating how the trend actually developed), we predicted an increasing popularity of hammams. Admittedly this trend took many people by surprise, in fact, I don’t think anyone really saw this one coming!  (I love it when that happens!)  Our research, however, put this one on our radar.  Having the chance […]

I am busy doing research for our annual SpaFinder Top 10 Spa Trends for 2011 that I will announce this year in November.  As always, I get very excited about what is on the horizon and I think you will agree that there are some interesting developments! However, before we turn to 2011, I thought it might be fun to review each […]

Autumn’s arrival means making way for your fall wardrobe, brilliant foliage, and Halloween festivities galore. This season, trick your skin into squashing wrinkles and other skin ailments with a treat of nutrient-rich pumpkin. RealAge® has the facts on how consuming pumpkin can give you a glowing complexion:

Disappointing.  Informative.  Those are the two words I would use to describe my experience earlier this week at the Spa and Resort Expo and Conference here in NY City at the Javitz Center.  The show room floor was less than inspiring due to the fact that few spa product or service companies were exhibiting. I […]

‘Spas’ and ‘Medical Tourism’ Two Booming Industries With Strikingly Parallel Paths and Issues By Susie Ellis, President of SpaFinder Inc. – the world’s largest spa media, marketing and gifting company Am currently attending the 3rd annual Medical Tourism Conference in LA.  While I will summarize the very latest information  in an upcoming blog, I thought […]

With allergy season under way, we could all use a little help with clearing our sinuses and keeping our skin hydrated. Enter HaloAir Salt Rooms, which opened in NYC earlier this year as one of the only private and personalized salt room therapy facilities in the U.S.

It was Sallie – colleague and fellow camper – who dragged me into the arts and crafts center my first day at Camp Reveille – Joan Lunden’s spa camp. (Joan hosts her 4 day Reveille retreat for women near the end of August each year.) Trust me, when there are spa activities available, the last […]

Deemed one of the hottest spa trends for 2010 (SpaFinder’s Susie Ellis even dubbed it the “Year of the Hammam”), this ancient ritual of cleansing is rising in popularity within the modern spa world.

The age-old ritual of hammams has been a centuries-old fixture on the spa circuit in places like Eastern Europe and the Mideast, and is now emerging across North America— from Winnipeg to Manhattan to Miami—even aboard cruise ship spas!