Issue link: https://www.ascpskindeepdigital.com/i/86330
Winter Holiday Hideout Create simple spa pleasures with herbs and spices by Linda Bertaut Winter is the time to create a warm and cozy environment—a den of quiet solitude in your spa where clients can experience a hibernation getaway. It's a time for woody and spicy aromas, hot tea made with root herbs and honey, and sitting in front of a crackling fire, warming yourself inside and out. This is the season of slowing down, going beneath the surface and deep within your soul to find inspiration and answers. It's a time to reflect and restore, so you can birth new inspiration in the spring. So add an extra sheepskin liner to the facial bed, dim the lights, play meditative music, and create a sanctuary. Call it the Holiday Hideout, Winter Escape, or Delightful Den experience. And most of all, let the scent of aromatic herbs ground your clients and take them to a safe inner haven. Following are some warm winter scents and flavors you can bring to your clients as enticing homemade extras in your waiting room before or after a treatment, or by sharing a recipe as a winter wellness tip in your spa's newsletter and other marketing materials. Aromatic Honey Honey has antibacterial properties, helps to prevent infection and inflammation, and soothes sore throats. By combining honey with aromatherapy in the form of scented herbs or fruits, you can create different herbal honeys and do many wonderful things with them in the wintertime. For optimal immune system support, purchase raw honey (honey that comes straight from the hive, without the heating and filtering that is used to make commercial brands of honey look smoother) from a local beekeeper or farmer's market. Make sure it is fresh and not starting to crystallize. Experiment with adding any edible herb for aroma or flavor. Pureed fruit, such as pears or raspberries, can be mixed with honey in a 1:3 ratio to create a honey fruit drizzle you can spread on toast and other baked goods, or use to sweeten hot beverages—providing a selection of honey in a variety of flavors is an easy way to add a unique touch to commercial teas you provide in your spa. 12 ASCP Skin Deep November/December 2012 Place all ingredients at the bottom of a 4–8 cup French press. Fill with hot water and steep for 5 minutes. Press, pour, and enjoy! Add almond milk or rice milk if desired. Herbal Chai Tea ¼ cup mullein leaf 2 cinnamon sticks 6–8 rosehip berries 4–6 cloves 2–3 cardamom pods 1 teaspoon stevia leaf Image courtesy of Bertaut Beauty