Leisure Management - Product innovation

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From Spa Business 2016 issue 1

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Product innovation

Industry suppliers tell Spa Business about their latest spa design, product, treatment and equipment launches

Somadome meditation pods rollout globally

Somadome, the company behind a colour therapy meditation pod, has announced plans for international growth with new worldwide distribution.

The pods are designed to use colour, binaural beats and special tiles (often used by acupuncturists) to alter disruptive EMF frequencies to achieve peacefulness of mind and body.

Six Somadomes were installed in US spas last year including at the Ojai Valley Inn, California and the Surrey Hotel, New York.

Adobe has installed the pod at its HQ in Silicon Valley and Richard Branson also showcased it at Virgin Disruptor’s roundtable discussion on corporate wellness.
Founder and Somadome CEO Sarah Attia says: “The vision for Somadome is for it to be a way to quiet the mental clutter.”

Guests pay an average of US$50 (€46, £34) per 20-minute session and Attia says most spas book between five to seven sessions a day. She adds: “The business value proposition is in selling time – not selling the dome.”

Purchase options include an outright cost of US$35,000 (€32,080, £24,630), rent at US$2,000 (€1,830, £1,410) a month or an ongoing finance scheme.

Spa-kit.net keyword: Somadome

Attia says the 5x5ft dome takes up little space

Richard Branson tries the pod at a Virgin event

Voya on a roll with its brand evolution

Irish organic skincare company Voya continues its global growth campaign with the launch of a facial range and treatment for dehydrated skin.

The Dry Skin Facial range and prescriptive facial, follows its Oily Skin Facial range launch in mid 2015 and precedes Voya’s Sensitive Skin Facial line that will complete the collection when it arrives in March.

Kira Walton, Voya co-founder, says the range “not only epitomises Voya’s branding evolution with beautiful new packaging, but it also reflects Voya’s status as a leading organic force within the industry.”

She says that both dry range products are “pioneering due to their deeply nourishing and organic ingredients which work to actively increase hydration levels for those with dry skin.”

The new Hydra Veil hydrating mask and Pearlesque facial moisturiser sit alongside four other items which have updated formulas and all are presented in Voya’s new-look, eco-friendly packaging.

The range for dry skin combines laminaria digitata seaweed with natural active ingredients and essential oils to help repair the skin’s functional barrier, increase moisture, decrease sensitivity and increase hydration levels. Rose of Jericho, a desert plant which retains moisture, is also used.

Spa-kit keyword: Voya

Voya co-founder Kira Walton calls the hydrating products ‘pioneering’

The two new products complete the Dry Skin range (left);

laminaria digitata seaweed is a key ingredient

The organic seaweed Voya uses is hand-harvested

Now you can sell your branded music on iTunes

Spas can now make branded albums that will be sold in the iTunes store and other digital platforms – and enjoy a US$2 royalty for each one sold.

“It’s the next evolution in streaming music and downloads with niche genres,” says Brad Pressman, president and chief of music programming at Private Label Music, which provides the service. “It brings worldwide attention to spas and lets users discover new music and spas they might never have been to – all online.”

Spas can make up an album of 12 tracks from Private Label Music’s catalogue of more than 27,000 songs in styles ranging from Instrumental Spa to New Age, Asian, Hawaiian, Nature & Water, Light Jazz.

Spas may choose to have their album live in the iTunes store, or may opt for a more exclusive download of their music on the privately-hosted site spamusicdownloads.com.

Spa-kit.net keywords: Private Label Music

Pressman says spas can make up an album of 12 tracks

Four Seasons and Spa Montage are fans

Ultimate breast comfort thanks to Oakworks

“People are amazed that even a slight adjustment makes a substantial difference in increasing their comfort,” says Rich Elsen, Oakworks senior VP of sales, about the company’s new Adjustable Breast Comfort (ABC) System. He believes there’s nothing else like it in the market.

The patent-pending system consists of a panel built into a treatment bed which can be quietly adjusted to offer the latest breast comfort for clients in a prone position without them needing to leave the bed. The panel moves up and down, as required, creating a balance of support and space while also taking pressure off the breasts and tension out of the back.

“We’re not just thinking of new things, we’re creating new things,” says Elsen.

Suitable for all clients, male or female, regardless of shape or size, the ABC System works especially well for clients with breast sensitivity due to augmentation, mastectomy or post-surgical tenderness.

When clients are on their backs, the panel can be raised above the table surface to be used as a head support or for pectoral muscle stretch.

Spa-kit.net keyword: Oakworks

There’s nothing else like it on the market says Elsen

The panel is built into the bed and can be quietly adjusted

Thalion creates post-flight recovery treatment

“We wanted to offer more than just another spa facial treatment, that’s why we created Anti-jet Lag Illuminator,” says Thailon sales and marketing director Ulla-Pia Dyrlund-Lagadec about the marine spa brand’s latest therapy.

The 45-minute US$48 (€45, £33) facial, is designed to help clients rejuvenate after a long flight and incorporates two new products. The regenerating Energy Boost Mask contains vitamin E, F and B5, plus brown seaweed and sea fennel for activating micro-circulation within the skin. The Revitalizing Face Oil combines sea fennel with the intention of improving the skin’s firmness, along with vegetable oils with anti-radical and anti-oxidant properties.

“We gathered all the key elements of our spa professional treatment concept – named Thalisens – as well as our laboratories know-how in marine active ingredients and transposed them into this unique protocol,” explains Dyrlund-Lagadec. “Anti-jet Lag Illuminator is the perfect combination between sensorial and visible results, providing the skin with an immediate healthy glow.

“It can also be combined with one of our five Thalisens body rituals for a comprehensive package as well as infinite relaxation and emotions from head to toe.”

Spa-kit keyword: Thalion

Dyrlund-Lagadec says the facial can be combined with a Thalisens body ritual

The 45-minute facial features a new mask and oil which incorporate seaweed and sea fennel

Comfort Zone turns to ancient natural healing

Comfort Zone has incorporated Himalayan salt into a new 60-minute massage and scrub to provide year-round detoxification and revitalisation.

Antonella Latilla, Comfort Zone’s international spa treatment development and education master, designed the treatment in collaboration with cardiologist Dr Massimo Gualerzi and Dr Mariuccia Bucci, a nutridermatologist.

Antonella Latilla says: “Himalayan Salt has been known since ancient times as a symbol of life, happiness, health and wealth and for its therapeutic benefits – it protects, purifies and heals.”

The salt comes from Khewra, one of Pakistan’s oldest and largest salt mines, where toxin-free salt fossils are harvested by hand and then washed, dried and stone ground.

Latilla adds: “This extraordinary ritual begins with a body massage using warm Himalayan salt stones, which immediately bestow relaxation, alleviating tension, stress and anxiety. It then proceeds with an exhilarating salt scrub, with a combination of pink Himalayan salt and a nourishing aromatic oil to detoxify the body, ease aches and pains, stimulate the metabolism and restore vitality and balance.”

The treatment kit includes 16 salt stones, as well as 950g of salt crystals.

The massage, which has a recommended price of US$87 (€75 to 85, £60), can be used alongside the Comfort Zone Body Strategist firming, detox-slimming and anti-cellulite treatments.

Spa-kit keywords: Comfort Zone

Latilla says the salt comes from one of Pakistan’s oldest and largest salt mines near Kashmir

Warm salt stones massage the body before an exfoliation

In 1989, Rocco Bruno entered the then little known field of colon irrigation. After 10 years of perfecting the device, he formed Lifestream Purification Systems to produce The Angel of Water – which is now being marketed to the medi-spa world.

The device, which has FDA clearance, is designed to hydrate, activate and evacuate the contents of the bowel.

“People bathe and brush their teeth,” says Gary Russ, director of sales and marketing. “Similarly, cleansing of the bowel allows the innate wisdom of the body to do what it does best.”

The Angel of Water features a comfortable, reclining chair and understated lighting, and patients will relax to the sound of falling water. Russ says the unit is sanitary, odourless, easy to clean and maintain and requires only a small room for installation. Lifestream provides a two-day training course for staff.

“Colon Irrigation is quickly becoming a popular modality and is in high demand in medi-spa settings,” he says. “The Angel of Water is not only a profit center for the spa, but also provides clients with an unprecedented state-of-the-art colon-cleansing experience.”

Spa-kit.net keyword: Lifestream

Sales director Gary Russ

The unit is said to provide a comfortable, cleansing experience

Saltability offers healthy alternative to hot stone massages

Saltability’s new salt reflexology bowl includes warmed Himalayan salt balls that can be held in hands for grounding, used for arthritis or other pains, or rolled on feet for a reflexology treatment.

“So many clients are looking for multiple ways to get healthy in one treatment, and Himalayan salt stone is a great way to do that,” says Ann Brown, founder of Saltability and 20-year veteran of the spa industry.

The bowl can be used professionally or sold to clients. It doubles as a salt lamp with an emotionally uplifting, earthy glow that releases anti-microbial negative ions, which purify the air and skin while providing a sense of wellbeing.

Saltability started in 2014 with the debut of its Himalayan Salt Stone Massage, which uses warm, hand-carved salt stones from the Himalayan mountains to stimulate specific meridians on the body. “The stones can be used with any good oil and when they glide over the skin, their rich mineral content is left to be absorbed,” says Brown.

Spa-kit.net keyword: Saltability

The rich mineral content of the stones is absorbed by the skin says Brown

The bowl doubles up as a lamp which releases purifying ions

New Kodobio therapy combines light and aroma

A device which uses light and scent stimuli to boost mood is to be used by European spa group Aspria in Brussels.

Launching in February, Kodobio Sensory Therapy, created by cell physiologist Tim Jacob of Cardiff University, UK, uses a device placed in front of the face for 15 to 30 minutes. It emits bright white light (similar to sunshine) up and down during a 60-second cycle. At the same time, pleasant essential oil aromas such as lemon, are emitted.

Jacob claims that as well as enhancing mood, the machine has a relaxing effect on blood pressure and can lower the heart rate.

He says: “I’ve spent many years researching light and smell and their effect on human psychophysiology. Combining the two sensory stimuli, each of which on their own induce positive benefits, has synergistic and profound effects.”

Jacob adds: “We immediately saw that the benefits were too good to ignore and so we set about designing equipment that could deliver the therapy commercially, in a professional environment such as a high quality health spa. We feel that Kodobio is ideal for a spa environment because it has such a short treatment duration and does not require lengthy therapist training, yet it still delivers measurable results.”

Spa-kit.net keyword: Kodobio

Founder Tim Jacobs is a cell physiologist

The 15-30 minute treatment is already being offered at Aspria in Brussels

The machine is designed to enhance mood and to relax people

Originally published in Spa Business 2016 issue 1