Two more spas!

As of March, we get to add two more spas to our list!  Four Seasons, Boston is now using Combray in a facial and  Topnotch Spa in Stowe, VT is using Combray in a treatment as well as offering it for retail.  Both Four Seasons, Boston and Topnotch are close to my heart since Topnotch is the first spa I had ever been to (back in my UVM, lots of skiing at Stowe days) and, little did I realize at the time, one of the best spa resorts in the US and one that I was extremely lucky to experience.   When I lived in Boston, The Bristol Lounge at Four Seasons was my favorite place to relax after work or on a Sunday afternoon to have one of the best cups of coffee ever.  I don't know how they do it, but it's tremendous.  The spa has a beautiful pool overlooking Boston Common and is a very intimate setting.  We are thrilled to be a part of these astounding spas!

New Spa!

We are thrilled to have Cranwell Resort in Lenox, MA using Combray in their treatments and selling it in their retail shop!  This picture was taken in January of 09 on a very cold windy day but I was so excited to be there!  

The Magic that is Sundance Resort

I have just returned from being in the US for almost 2 and a half months and in that time had the opportunity to visit the Sundance Resort with David and a reporter from Jackie, a fashion magazine in Holland, to experience our High Altitude Chemical-free Facial and it was FABULOUS! ...all of it was fabulous from the rooms and dining areas to their commitment to the environment and all of their employees who were incredibly welcoming, friendly and helpful... I truly can not say enough positive things about Sundance and hope you have the opportunity to go and experience it for yourself.

Now, back to the FABULOUS facial! The spa is small, intimate and blissfully cozy (by the way, the picture above is of another building at Sundance. My camera broke so I could not take a picture of the spa but you can view the spa website, which is in the process of being updated, here). I arrived at the spa in a beautiful snowstorm and was directed to a private room to change into my bathrobe and put on leather sandals. I was offered a drink (herbal tea or infused water) and directed to sit on a couch in front of the fire while a hot stone was placed in a large handmade clay bowl with salt and warm water to soak my feet. For me, nothing is more calming than watching the snow fall out of a window while sitting before a beautiful fire so, coupled with a nice foot soak, I was off to the best start I can dream of. Hailey, the esthetician, brought me into the dimly lit treatment room where I lay under a heated blanket and the facial began. The facial is centered around massage and oils, which are used to gently cleanse the skin, followed by an infusion of antioxidants via Combray. Combray is used twice in the facial; during the "mask phase" a few drops of Combray are applied under a very light volcanic ash mask and, after the mask is removed, the final part of the facial is a massage of Combray into the skin.

The facial begins with about 5 minutes of massaging the oil mixture (dependent on skin type) into the face and neck area and then removing the oils, dirt and other impurities with gentle sweeps of natural sponges. The process of massaging in the oils to cleanse and removing the oils with soft cloths and steamy towels is repeated until the skin is clean and the mind and body are calmed from the lengthy massages. A small amount of steam is used (your preference if you do not want the steam) to open the pores and a light facial scrub is applied to gently exfoliate before the Combray is massaged in. The mask is delicately brushed on and really helps the skin to absorb the antioxidants. As a side note, I tended to shy away from facials many times because the first facial I ever had the esthetician brushed the mask on and then left the room. Sitting alone, unable to see, in a chilly room while the mask started to tighten and slightly restrict my breathing was an experience that I have made sure to avoid. At Sundance, I am thrilled to report, I was warm, the mask was very light enough to not feel constricting, and Hailey stayed in the room massaging the arms, hands, shoulders and neck so the relaxation continued through the mask phase! After the mask was removed and my face was cleansed one final time, Combray was applied once more and massaged in. After the facial, I had absolutely no redness or oiliness or dryness... my skin just looked healthy and radiant and felt hydrated and silky. One final note, after the facial ColoreScience SPF 30 was applied which is a wonderful product for sun protection (which you should always use). ColoreScience is a mineral powder so it has no chemicals and is aligned nicely with our philosophy of natural skin care.

With the cold, wind, snow, altitude and dry air, everyone agreed that after The High Altitude Facial, their skin looked radiant and felt hydrated. Both Hailey and Tracy, the Spa Director, did an incredible amount of work to develop the facial and make it as relaxing and beneficial to the skin as possible and we are very proud to have Combray be a part of something and someplace so extraordinary.

Press

In other exciting news, we have taken on a PR agency in Amsterdam who have done a great job so far of helping us to introduce Combray to the Dutch media.  I was lucky enough to attend one of their "press days" where many of the editors from the likes of Dutch Elle, Dutch Glamour, Elegance, fashionscene.nl, Zoo Magazine, Dutch Cosmopolitan and others were all in attendance.  So far, the response has been very positive with fashionscene.nl wanting to write a piece along with Dutch Elle and Code.  Elegance will also be using Combray in a piece titled, "The Perfect Skincare Products".  

In other very exciting news, Jackie magazine (www.jackieonline.nl) will be doing a full page article about Combray and the Spa at Sundance so I will have some great updates as that progresses!  

I will make certain to post any press as it happens!

THE FACIAL

I haven't written in a while and need to do my updates!  With the wonderful help of Tracy Eldevick, spa director at Sundance Resort,  the "High Altitude Chemical Free" facial has arrived!  She, like me, was pleasantly surprised to experience how well the oil cleansing method works to clean the skin without making it dry.  What has been developed is an all natural gentle facial with no chemicals.  The general steps of the facial are as follows (spas can feel free to change or tweak any bits of the facial to their liking).

1) Massage the skin gently with either almond, grape seed or a blend of oils (castor oil works well as a base with various lighter scented or unscented oils added to it) for at least 5 minutes.  As the oil is worked into the skin it helps to penetrate the pores and release dirt and other impurities.

2) Gently wipe away the oil with muslin or soft cotton and then with a warm moist towel or natural sponge.

3) Apply an all natural mud or clay mask to help remove any additional impurities.

4) Remove mask and wipe away residue with a steamy towel (unless Rosacea is present, then just use a damp towel gently).

5) Gently "press" ice cold water onto the skin with the fingertips to help close the pores.

6) Apply 6 to 8 drops of Combray (1-2 on the forehead, 1-2 on each side of the face with an additional one around the nose, if needed, and 1-3 drops for chin, jaw line and neck).

The skin should feel refreshed and look healthy, radiant and moisturized with no redness or irritation.

Oil cleansing... morning routine...

In the throes of updating my posts concerning oil cleansing, I realized that I did not include my morning routine!  In the morning, the only thing I do is give my face a gentle scrub with warm water and a natural sponge and then massage in my six drops of Combray and that's it!

...to keep you in the loop... I started cleansing with almond oil last night so I will update again soon on how that is feeling/ progressing!!

Oil Cleansing... the Scoop so Far

It has been about a month since I first started the oil cleansing/ facial idea and thought it was about time for an update.  (I also have been on vacation or else I would have updated about 2 weeks earlier). 

I first tried using jojoba oil to cleanse and, admittedly, felt a little reluctant using just an oil as a cleanser.  With that being said, I warmed the jojoba oil between my hands and then massaged into my skin for about a minute.  Using cotton-balls, I gently wiped away the jojoba oil and was amazed at how much dirt came away with it... I was truly shocked at how well it worked (and a little disgusted about how much grime came off my skin!)  Afterwards, I used a couple drops of Combray and massaged it in (my skin was still somewhat oily from the jojoba so I did not use more Combray).  I tried this method for three nights and then made the switch to gently wiping with a damp warm face cloth after the cotton-ball to remove the rest of the oil before putting Combray on and was much happier with the overall feel.  The warm cloth was helping to exfoliate while removing the remaining oil and residue left behind.  

I used jojoba oil for 2 weeks and then switched to grape seed oil.  There are two reasons for my switch, the first was just to try another oil and the second is because I wasn't loving the feel of the jojoba oil.     I do have very dry skin, especially around my chin and jaw line which can feel slightly rough at times so with the jojoba oil, I didn't feel like it went on smoothly and was easy to massage in as it just felt too light.  I have now been using the grape seed oil for 2 weeks and am much happier with the feel of it and the results.  The weather here has just turned cold and rainy and windy so it is usually at this time of year that I get teeny rough patches and/ or very tiny bumps around my jaw line and, so far, my skin feels very fresh and smooth and is still glowing.  My regime consists of massaging the oil in for about 1 or 2 minutes, removing it with a cotton-ball, using a warm face cloth to wipe away any residue and then massaging in 6 drops of Combray.  As an aside, I have been using the oil as an eye make-up remover which it also works well as!

Today, my mission is to go pick out another oil so maybe almond or coconut.  Unfortunately, I do not have a sense of smell so any scent will be lost on me which is a bit of a nuisance as I would love to know if a scent is a positive or a negative.  Of course, I guess it all depends on the end user.  I can only go by feel and how it makes my skin look.  

As a side note, when creating Combray, we tried many oils including jojoba, almond and olive and the one that all testers voted for was grape seed oil which is why that is the oil we chose.  It just had the right texture and lack of smell so it was the all around winner for Combray!