Back in the days, spa treatments revolved around using expensive body creams from Europe, or treatments which made use of exotic ingredients from faraway places.
This trend, however, is changing as spa owners realise that there are equally refreshing spa treatments they can offer their customers. Spas are now integrating farm-to-spa fruits into treatments and massages so that you can get the relaxation that you deserve, while supporting local farmers.
Face dessert
Take a newly-opened skin spa, for instance, which provides natural beauty fixes made with fresh fruit and veggies. All the ingredients are sourced from reliable local markets.
Each therapy room is designed for a different part of your body. Women undergo skin treatments with spa products good enough to eat - for instance, papaya cleanser, mango mousse cream, honey and oat scrub and avocado face pack. Apart from these 'face desserts', clay treatments and acupressure massages are also available.
Out of the bottle
"With the growing pollution we are inevitably exposed to, in a city like Chennai, our skin is becoming more and more sensitied. So I thought, 'why feed our skin with more synthetics in a bottle on a daily basis?'" says Diya Dembla, the mind behind the service. Qualified from an international dermal institute in Boston, Dembla recently returned from Hong Kong where she was certified as a masseuse for pregnant women and babies.
Indigenous versus insta-beauty
If you live in the city, and don't want to invest in unnecessary time driving and dealing with traffic snarls, a spa experience is only a phone call away. There are several doorstep services that bring the spa home. Trained therapists visit you with a spa kit, including a portable massage bed, fresh linen and towels, indigenous products, disposable spa attire, candle diffuser and essential oils. They collect fresh and natural ayurvedic ingredients from the remotest corners of India in the right season to provide the best Ayurvedic herbal spa. For instance, the apricots for some apricot body scrubs are sourced directly from the farmers in Uttarakhand.