Hair Care

• Organix Nourishing Coconut Milk Styling Mousse, Shampoo & Conditioner
  I love the way my hair looks, feels, behaves and smells with these products. They have organic coconut milk, whipped egg white proteins and coconut oil to hydrate and nourish hair. They are sulfate- and paraben-free. The bottles are manufactured from materials containing recycled post-consumer resin. Labels are printed with environmental inks and compostable label film made from corn (not from petrochemicals). The icing on the cake...they are very reasonably priced!

Face - Skincare

I've tried dozens of brands and these two stand out for me for efficacy and ease of use:

• Somme Institute's 5-step regimen for all skin types contains their proprietary technology MDT5, a protein/vitamin (A, B3, B5, C and E) delivery system which improves tone, texture and clarity while reducing the signs of aging:
  Step 1 - Nourishing Cleanser (non-foaming/non-irritating)
  Step 2 - Transport (gentle exfoliant)
  Step 3 - Serum (with Vitamin C)
  Step 4 - A-Bomb (moisturizer with Vitamins A and E)
  Step 5 - Double Defense (SPF 30+)

• Astara Natural Skin care was founded on the premise that superior nutrition and support of your body's own healing mechanisms are key to healthier, younger-looking skin. Astara formulas are derived from only the finest botanical ingredients in the world, and designed to feed your skin at the cellular level with the purest, cleanest, most highly effective natural foods, for deepest rejuvenation, repair, and protection. Astara formulas begin with the most powerful antioxidant, detoxification, hydration, nutrition, and balancing ingredients from the plant kingdom. The products are minimally processed and are never exposed to temperatures above 105º F ( 40.6º C) during the manufacturing process in order to ensure fresh, live, active biocultures for the maximum benefit of your skin.

• I also like what I've tried of the Naturopathica, Eminence Organics, DDF Skincare and Murad lines. However, I think it's important to use all the products in a line over a period of time - i.e. cleanser, exfoliant, toner, moisturizer, eye cream, night cream, etc. I haven't tried these product lines as a whole system, but I think they are worth a more thorough evaluation.

Face - Makeup and More

Mascara - I like blinc mascara because it forms tiny "tubes" around my lashes and doesn't run, smudge, clump, or flake. It does come off in water, however, so it's not good if you're going to swim. It will also break your lashes if you're not careful removing it.

I felt that my eyelashes had gotten thinner either with age or the use of blinc. Enter Revitalash Eyelash Conditioner. I apply this like eyeliner every night, and my eyelashes have definitely gotten thicker.

Lips - I use LaNatura's CocoVanilla Shea Butter Lip Balm every day. I keep one in my purse, one in my one in my medicine cabinet and one in my travel case .

I don't like wearing makeup in the summer mainly because I perspire easily, and I feel like my makeup literally melts off my face. I had to travel to NYC for meetings a few times this hot summer and, of course, had to wear makeup. I found a product that helped keep everything in place - Cool Flash Makeup Finish from Skindinävia. I sprayed it on, and it worked like a charm.

Body - Scrubs

• ESPA's Relaxing Salt Scrub has been my absolute, unwavering favorite body scrub since I purchased my first jar at The Spa at Turnberry in Scotland almost nine years ago. It is a moisturizing salt scrub that contains the wonderful combination of rosemary, bay and cinnamon essential oils. The aroma is heavenly. Mineral rich sea salts of various sizes and shapes are suspended in sweet almond, sunflower and coconut oils. The salts exfoliate and leave the skin smooth, the oils leave the skin soft and the scent lingers on my skin for hours. Before ESPA was available in the US (and airlines charged extra for luggage), I would buy jars of it for myself and friends who also loved it every time I went to Europe. They were heavy to lug around but well worth it. When the products became available in the US, I would pick up jars of the scrub at a particular high-end spa each time I went to New York City. Sadly, this spa recently stopped carrying it, so I will be ordering it online exclusively from now on. Note: The prices on the website are in pounds (£), but you can still order the products for delivery in the US.

Body - Lotions and Body Butters

There are three body lotions that I love. They feel great and have wonderful, long-lasting aromas.

• From Lake Austin Spa Resort - Relaxing Lavender Lotion and Bamboo Lemongrass Lotion
• Epicuren After Bath Wake-Up Rosemary Moisturizer

I also love Pure Fiji's body butters. I've tried Coconut, Mango and Island Bliss aromas and like them all.

Body - Bath Oils

I love to soak in the tub, and bath oils make the experience even more relaxing. Here are my two favorite brands:

• ESPA Bath Oils - I've tried all six varieties and love them all. In my opinion, no one blends aromas as well as ESPA. I just wish they would make a bath oil and a body oil in the same fragrance as the Relaxing Body Scrub.
• Kneipp Good Health Herbal Bath Oils - I've tried seven out of the 11 varieties and liked them all.

Body - Skin Repair

This is not really "spa" but worth mentioning...From time to time I get a crack in the skin of my heel, a bothersome callous on my toe, chapped lips, or scrapes on my hands from cooking or gardening. I find the best products to use to relieve these issues is a balm or ointment that contains Comfrey (Symphytum officinale L.). I currently have Christopher's Comphrey Ointment but have also used Burt's Bees Res-Q Ointment and other homeopathic brands. It works remarkably quickly - often overnight.

For burns in the kitchen and sunburns, I use Boiron's Calendula Cream or Ointment. It's also very effective.

Hands

I've mentioned before that I like Shellac nails by CND, so I won't go into detail again here. I will just add four updates. 1) Getting a Shellac manicure every two weeks at the salon was a budget breaker for me, so I invested in the equipment and do them myself now. It paid for itself after 5 uses. However, I'm still working on my technique. I haven't been able to get it to last 2 weeks. The best I've done is 10 days. I still really like it, though. 2) New colors are coming in March according to the people in the CND booth the ISPA Expo in Washington, D.C. in November. Hooray! 3) Don't want to wait until March for new colors? Try layering. 4) CND is still working off a backorder. When they initially released Shellac as a new product, they thought they had enough stock to last 3 months. It was sold out in 10 days. Wow!

2011 Update: Using Shellac (or perhaps the acetone to remove it) is really hard on my nails. They have developed ridges that they never had before and seem to be thinner. I find if I give them a rest for a week or so with no polish and apply Vitamin E to them, they do much better. I still like the product.

Feet

My favorite spa sandal is OKA b. They are light, really comfortable and come in lots of cute styles. I've purchased a number of them over the years from various spas.

While I haven't seen them carried in spas, I have to mention FitFlops. I haven't been kind to my feet, and my feet have always hurt. As a child and teenager, I remember my feet just killing me when I put on ice skates or ski boots (and many styles were tried). Did that stop me? No! When I was in my teens, 20s and 30s, I loved the style of shoes and wore them regardless of how they felt or what damage they were doing to my feet - high heels, bad fit, lack of support. My feet rebelled in my 30s and 40s with bunions, a stress fracture and plantar fasciitis. It's only gotten worse with age. However, I bought a pair of FitFlops last May and, like magic, all my foot pain has disappeared completely! I wore them every day all summer. I have also purchased them in a clog and rather ugly sneaker for this fall. That's six months so far of painfree feet - possibly a lifetime record. My feet have never been happier! FitFlops also come in boots. Hopefully, FitFlops will work on creating stylish shoes to go along with the sandals, clogs, sneakers and boots.

~Julie

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