Recreate Wellness Experiences From Around the World With At-Home Spa Secrets

A reinvigorating body scrub, soothing facial and meditative breathwork to the sound of bird song followed by a restorative yoga class washed down with an immune-boosting smoothie… this isn’t an itinerary at the world’s hottest new holistic retreat- these are all wellbeing experiences that you can recreate at home, so you can still get your healthy holiday glow without leaving your front door. Grifco & Ophir PR’s clients have shared the best tips and tricks to help you bring the magic of spa-like relaxation to the comfort of your own home. Get out your finest fluffy robe, light your best scented candle and let the pampering commence to banish any lockdown blues...

YTL Hotels’ Spa Village Shares Wellness Rituals to Try at Home

From harnessing the power of natural thermal waters at the Gainsborough Bath Spa, to creating unique floating therapies onboard a Floating Spa Barge at Monkey Island Estate and honouring age-old healing practices in Malaysia, Thailand, Bali and beyond, YTL Hotels’ Spa Village delivers award-winning results around the globe. While many of us are in lockdown, the award-winning spa brand shares three simple at-home spa secrets to enjoy until we can once again visit its luxury retreats of Spa Villages around the world.

The underdog super-oil that will do wonders for your nails

We are all familiar with the benefits of coconut, argan, and rosehip oils, but castor oil often gets overlooked as a power beauty oil! Hailing from the Ricinus communis plant, with its beauty roots reaching back to ancient Egypt, castor oil is thicker and stickier than most. It is far richer in vitamin E and is packed with Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids. Take this time at home for your nails to go polish-free. Dab some castor oil on and massage into toenails, fingernails and cuticles each morning and night. Just three days will make you a believer! Castor oil can be found at any pharmacy. Make sure it is cold pressed.

Make your own traditional Balinese body scrub 

Centuries-old, this spicy and warming body scrub will leave your skin glowing and bright. Boreh is traditionally used in Indonesia for a variety of applications from arthritis and muscle aches to pre-wedding beauty rituals. “Bo'' meaning ready and “Reh” meaning blood in Balinese, it is excellent for circulation, is an antioxidant and an anti-inflammatory. Place all the below ingredients in a blender to create a medium / fine texture. Add coconut or any nourishing oil like olive to reach the consistency you prefer. Scrub the entire body, and rinse in a warm shower. 

• 100g white rice 

• 50gm fresh grated ginger 

• 30g cloves 

• 2 Tbs cinnamon powder 

• 1 Tbs ground nutmeg 

• Soak the rice overnight and drain

A gut healthy bacteria booster smoothie

There are over 1,000 different species of bacteria in our gut. These microorganisms support our immune systems, aid in digestion and optimise nutrient assimilation. We can encourage a bountiful, live and thriving ecosystem of intestinal flora through the foods we eat and drink. Blitz all the below ingredients in the blender with a few cubes of ice and enjoy! 

• 1/2 cup pineapple chunks (or banana if you can't find pineapple) 

• 1/2 large cucumber 

• 1 inch skinned and chopped ginger 

• 1 handful fresh mint leaves 

• 1/2 juiced lime or lemon 

• 250ml unflavoured plain Kefir drink

For more information visit www.ytlhotels.com

Bring Hillside Beach Club’s Treetop Sanda Nature Spa Into Your Home With 8D Technology

Nothing is more soothing to the body and soul than nature. As we can’t currently immerse ourselves in the natural world as much as we might like, Hillside Beach Club’s Sanda Nature Spa has found a way to welcome nature into your home instead. Nestled in the trees above the resort's Silent Beach, with tree trunks twisting peacefully throughout the seven intimate therapy rooms, everything oozes serenity. The Hillside team have recorded nature’s beautiful sounds from the treetop spa in brand-new 8D technology, so all you need to do is sit back and relax, headphones on, to be transported into a deep state of relaxation. Listen here for a complete sensory experience not to be missed! www.hillsidebeachclub.com/en

At-Home Wellness for all the Family from Tivoli Hotels & Resorts 

With a portfolio of properties across Portugal, Brazil, Qatar and China, Tivoli Hotels & Resorts is a firm favourite family holiday choice for many. The Tivoli Spa team understands that now, more than ever, we need a balanced approach to relaxation and wellness that involves the whole family so they suggest getting little ones involved- host a spa day for everyone, with hairstyling, nail painting, family yoga and homemade lemonade or tea. Make family face masks by mixing honey and oatmeal or a body scrub using sugar and coconut oil. After busy days in lockdown, couples can treat each other to a head massage, using almond, argan or coconut oil. As well as easing you into a deep slumber, this will help keep your hair and scalp hydrated- just remember to rinse off the next morning! www.tivolihotels.com/en

Africa Albida Tourism Share At-Home Treatments Ahead Of Destination Spa Opening

Zimbabwe’s hospitality leader, Africa Albida Tourism, is excited to be launching the first destination spa in Victoria Falls later this year, offering treatments inspired by the culture and nature of the African bush. Ahead of the opening, Spa Manager Michele Vickery, shares her tips on the best ways to stay pampered in isolation, using simple home ingredients…

Body Exfoliation – A full body scrub in the shower is so rejuvenating, leaving your skin feeling shiny and new. Mix up your own nourishing sugar scrub with these simple ingredients and apply in the shower in circular motions, in the direction of your heart:

• Half a cup of brown sugar

• Three tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

•  Few drops of favourite essential oil, such as lavender (optional)

• Two tablespoons organic honey

Facial – After cleansing the face, a steam can increase the effectiveness of beauty creams applied afterwards, cleanse the pores, and boost collagen production:

• Fill a bowl with 500ml boiling water and add 10 drops of lemon juice

• Place towel over your head and face down over bowl of water for a few minutes

• Pat face dry and apply moisturiser as normal

Facial Mask – Post cleansing and steaming, apply this DIY mask to the skin:

• Mix one tablespoon of plain yoghurt and one teaspoon organic honey

• Apply for 10 minutes before rinsing and applying moisturiser as normal

The yoghurt contains lactic acid, which has a mild exfoliating effect, while the honey is hydrating and full of antioxidants, leaving the complexion glowing and bright.

Lip Scrub – Exfoliating and removing dead skin cells on the lips is just as important as the rest of the body. The cinnamon creates erythema and results in plumped up lips:

• Mix together a auarter cup of white sugar, one tablespoon of olive oil, one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

• Add one teaspoon of cinnamon

•  Apply to lips before applying natural, petroleum free lip balm

Thermes Marins Monte-Carlo Reveals Top Tips to Stay in Shape at Home

Set along 3.83km of deep turquoise coastline on the Mediterranean’s glittering Côte D’Azur, the Principality of Monaco's leading Thermes Marins Monte-Carlo Wellness Spa offers a range of innovative spa, wellness and fitness facilities in a luxurious setting. The spa has revealed its top tips for staying in shape whilst at home, including:

Cardiac Coherence: A simple, deep breathing exercise to enhance sense of well-being, improve sleep and reduce anxiety.How: Inhaling through the nose and out the mouth of five seconds, for five minutes.When: Recommended three times a day.

Strength Workout:Strengthening activities focussing on engagement of the thigh and leg to improve muscle tone and overall balance. How: Standing with feet shoulder width apart and toes facing outwards, bend the arms at shoulder height and keep the back straight. Inhale whilst bending the legs until parallel to the floor, before returning to a standing position. Repeat three sets of 10 repetitions.When: Recommended three times a day.  

Stair Climb: Climbing the stairs in your home to improve cardiovascular endurance.How: Walking or jogging up 200 steps, either one or two steps at a time.When: Recommended once a day.

For further information please visit https://www.montecarlosbm.com/en.

Jade Mountain St. Lucia’s Mango, Cucumber and Banana Face Mask 

Jade Mountain is set high on the hills overlooking St Lucia’s Pitons World Heritage Site and comprises of 24 Infinity Pool Sanctuaries and 5 Sky Jacuzzi Suites – each of which is a carefully designed, individual work of art and architecture. The resort’s hilltop Kai En Ciel Spa utilises the finest organic produce from the resort’s 600-acre Emerald Estate, including chocolate, mangoes, bananas, spices and botanicals. The team are delighted to share their recipe for a deliciously soothing, hydrating and softening face mask, using ingredients you may have at home. 

Ingredients:

1/4 ripe mango

1/4 cucumber

1/2 banana

Directions:

• Peel the banana, chop and blend all ingredients either by hand (a potato masher is perfect!) or in a blender, to create a soft puree.

• Smooth the puree onto your face, avoiding the delicate eye and mouth area. 

• Sit back, relax and let the mask take effect for around 15 minutes.

• Use a warm, wet flannel to gently remove the mask.

• Use a splash of cold water to remove any remaining residue and pat your face dry using a clean towel.

For additional relaxation and some gentle exercise, watch Jade Mountain’s expert yoga teacher teach the basics of Yoga Flow

Make Your Own Bath Bomb with Kagi Maldives Spa Island

The five-star, 50-villa Kagi Maldives Spa Island will launch in the Maldives’ North Male Atoll in September 2020.Set within a 1,500-square-metre, purpose-built wellness centre, Kagi’s Baani Spa will provide a personalized, outcome-focused wellness experience. Taking guests on a journey to ‘Release, Restore and Regain’, offerings will range from reiki, crystal and sound-healing, holistic health coaching and transformative ‘Wellness Sabbatical’ retreats. Kagi’s Baani Spa team are pleased to share their recipe for a home-made bath bomb, allowing you to enjoy some Maldivian bliss within the comfort of your own home. 

Tools

Big bowl

Whisk

Measurement cups

Measurement spoons

Small cup

Various shape of molds

Dry ingredients

1 cup baking soda

½ cup corn starch

½ cup citric acid

½ cup epsom salts

Wet ingredients

3 tablespoons bath oil (massage oil will also work)

5 drops of desired essential oil (or perfume if no essential oil)

1 tablespoon water 

Few drops desired food colouring

Method

• Mix the dry ingredients well in a bowl

• Blend wet ingredients in a small cup

• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredient bowl. Mix well.

• Put the mixed ingredient into the mold. Press firmly then remove from mold. 

• Wrap with paper to keep fresh. 

• Drop into the warm bath whenever you need a relaxing treat!

Longevity Wellness Worldwide's Playlist - Wellness Soundtrack for Working from Home

As most of the UK are now working from home, the normal workday has taken a different form, bringing its own pressures and tensions. As a result, Longevity Wellness Worldwide has introduced a new work from home playlist to help people to destress and relax. A leader in spa, health and integrative wellness services, Longevity Wellness Worldwide is dedicated to providing unique wellness and holiday experiences in the heart of Portugal's Algarve region. Longevity Wellness Worldwide emphasises that it is essential to focus on looking after the immune system, and a major aspect of implementing this is through restorative sleep and relaxation. The new Longevity Wellness Worldwide work from home wellness playlist incorporates the very best of Longevity Wellness Worldwide, bringing the holiday and wellness atmosphere of its three wellness hotels in the Algarve home. Longevity Wellness Worldwide's playlist includes a range of music from relaxing summer songs that recreate the Portuguese holiday experience; to spa relaxation music; and to Portuguese artists, including Bernardo Sassetti, Salvaor Sobral and Luisa Sobral. Longevity Health & Wellness Hotel (longevityalvor.com/en/) offers a standard room from £170/€194 per room per night on a B&B basis, based on 2 people sharing. 

MarBella Collection’s Homemade Beauty Recipes

With additional time to spare at home, keep on top of your beauty regime, with nature home made beauty recipes inspired by the spas at the MarBella Collection. Encompassing easy to find ingredients, turn your home into a relaxing spa destination. With a focus on natural products, the banana face mask is suitable for all skin types and has only three key ingredients, banana, honey and orange juice. A series of scrubs for the body and face will keep skin smooth and moisturised during the time indoors and a night time face mask packed full of antioxidants like blueberries and active ingredients such a yoghurt will leave skin brighter and more refreshed. Incorporate these home spa tips into your relaxation regime. Take a few minutes to pamper yourself and enjoy the natural remedies which we hope will boost your mood and wellbeing whilst at home. https://m.marbella.gr/files/PDFs/Recipes.pdf

Banana Face Mask: 

1. Mash one half of a banana in a bowl

2. Mix in a tablespoon of orange juice and a tablespoon of honey

3. Apply the mask to your face and keep it on for 15 minutes 

4. Rinse with lukewarm water and then moisturize

Keep Fit with the MarBella Collection and 3D Leisure at Home

Now more than ever it’s important to keep as active as possible from home and MarBella Collection and 3D Leisure are here to help keep you moving! Taking inspiration from the classes offered at the Corfu properties, 3D Leisure is offering free streaming sessions so you can keep fit and active and most importantly have fun. From nutritional advice to wake and shake and yoga sessions, keep motivated and in touch with other active members. Offering a community feel, advice and fitness inspiration, 3D Leisure at home is a fun and interactive way to move more and feel better. See Facebook page @3DLeisureathome and download the program here: https://www.marbellacollection.gr/marbella-elix/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/fitness_home-classes-3.pdf

Classes include:-

• Yoga

• Body conditioning 

• Meta Fit

• Tabata

• Dimensions HIIT 

• Family Fitness 

• Floor Barre

Get Fit in Quarantine with Quinta do Lago's Live Fitness Classes with The Campus’ Top Trainers - Available Via Instagram Live: @thecampusqdl 

If you're looking to run away from your desktop disasters or children's tantrums you can release tension with Quinta do Lago's brand new virtual classes. Now live streaming, you can experience the same high-performance training as top athletes Rio Ferdinand and the entire Irish rugby team who have used The Campus. So jump up, put your indoor trainers on, turn up the heat and imagine you're training at the heart of Portugal. The Campus is a state of the art sports facility with beginners’ clinics, private professional coaching and sunshine all year round, it is the ideal destination to master a chosen sport. The Campus offers a wide array of fitness classes  from Barre Fitness to Express Boxfit and Yogalates and all trainers are ex-competing professionals in their various fields. Live classes to include yoga, HIIT and Boxfit. 

• 17/04/2020 Friday – Yoga restore and relax with Dinah at 10am , live stream for stress relief and anxiety

• 24/04/2020 Friday –Yoga flow with Dinah at 10am, live stream to detox

• 01/05/2020 Friday – Yoga restore and relax with Dinah at 10am, live stream to feel relaxed and renewed

• 08/05/2020 Friday – Yoga flow with Dinah at 10am, live stream to feel an energy boost 

Re-energise the Body with JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa’s At-Home Wellness Regime - HIIT Workout, Yoga and Home-Made Scrub 

JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa recommends a full wellness programme incorporating a HIIT Workout, yoga and home-made scrub. Designed to re-energise the body in the morning, the regime boosts metabolism for the day ahead. 

Phase one starts with a warm-up followed by a simple at home high-intensity interval workout for phase two, as follows:

Phase one - Warm up:

• Jumping jacks (one minute)

• Skipping (one minute)

• Squats (one minute)

• Rest and repeat 1 more time.

Phase two - HIIT workout 

• 5 push ups

• 10 squats

• 15 sit ups

• 20 mountain climber

• One minute: Skipping high knees

• Rest one minute and repeat 2 more times

Phase three, the relaxation phase, involves a yoga and meditation class, whilst applying a nourishing home-made body scrub made out of simple ingredients:

Phase three - Relaxation

Relax your body with a deep breath, some yoga poses and self-guided meditation continue with applying home-made body scrub:

1. Use rice powder as the base of the body scrub and choose the ingredients that you like the most: coffee powder, chocolate powder, coconut milk powder, and coconut powder. 

2. Mix all the ingredients with coconut oil, or any other oil of your preference together in a bowl, and mix until you’re satisfied with the consistency.

3. Apply the scrub with gentle body massage and leave it on your skins for approx. 15 minutes to get the maximum benefits. 

4. Finish with a warm and relaxing shower or bath.

Little Emperors - The Future Of Wellness- Forecast Looks Bright For Wellness 

Little Emperors, the luxury private members hotel club offers preferential rates and dedicated benefits to its 35,000 members, working with 4,000 of the very best luxury hotels around the world. The company is in a unique position to offer insight into the future of travel and has predicted that wellness will be the first thing consumers look for once travel bans lift. Rebecca Masri, Founder of Little Emperors quotes:  

“Wellness has already been an increasing underlying theme in the travel industry. Health awareness, mindfulness and wellbeing is at the forefront of peoples agenda, and I believe this trend influences future travel plans. A few years ago, ‘Wellness Travel’ would have meant nothing more than a hotel with a gym and sauna to most people. Today, the growing demand has led to the opening of many great hotels offering all different types of wellness, from weight loss, detox, fitness, recovery, rejuvenation, relaxation, yoga, retox, beauty, medical, stress relief.. even tantric! At Little Emperors, a members only travel club offering preferred rates and unparalleled benefits at over 4000 hotel partners around the world, the demand for wellness has noticeably increased and I imagine will continue to do so. People want a holiday that they don’t need a holiday from” 

Little Emperors recommends the following wellness hotels:   Amanpuri, Phuket; Ananda in the Himalayas; Equinox, New York; Miraval, Austin; Rosewood, Hong Kong; Brenners Park Hotel, Baden Baden; Four Seasons, Los Angeles at Beverly Hills. Little Emperors annual membership fees starts from £250. Tel + 44 203 178 4984 or email info@littleemperors.com

Natural Easy to Make Face Masks and Body Scrubs from Ikos Resorts’ Spas by Anne Semonin

Ikos Resorts is a collection of luxury all-inclusive resorts in Greece and Spain with spas using the finest essential oils and trace elements from leading French beauty brand Anne Semonin. The Ikos Spas have devised a range of natural face masks and body scrubs that can be easily made at home, allowing everyone to get that glow whilst on lockdown and a glimpse of the treatments they can experience at Ikos Resorts. 

Cucumber face mask - perfect for sensitive skin 

Preparation Time: 5 minutes. Chill it in your fridge before use to make it especially soothing. 

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon brewer's yeast

• 1 tablespoon oatmeal

• 1 whole cucumber

• 2 tablespoons plain yogurt 

• 1 teaspoon honey

Preparation and application:

1. Mix together the yeast and oats in a small bowl and set aside.  

2. Peel the cucumber and place it in a small food processor and process until only liquid remains. Add the yogurt and honey and process further to mix.

3. Add the brewer's yeast and oats to the cucumber/honey mixture and process to mix fully.

4. To use, apply to clean face and neck skin and leave on for anywhere from 15 minutes to a half hour. Rinse well and follow with toner and moisturizer.

Pumpkin Body Scrub

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup organic pureed pumpkin

• 1/2 cup organic brown sugar

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 tbsp honey

• You can also add a small amount of powdered cinnamon or clove, or a drop of vanilla, to make it more uplifting. All three can scents can also be added as essential oils, but just use a drop or two. Clove, which is said to be an aphrodisiac, and cinnamon can be irritating if applied directly to the skin

Preparation and application:

1. Mix all ingredients in a clean, unbreakable bowl and mix with a clean spoon. 

2. Take to the bathroom and add a few extras like candles to turn it into a spa experience.

3. Draw a warm bath, and soak in it for ten or 15 minutes to soften up your skin. 

4. When you're done soaking, drain the bath and dry your skin. Don't apply the scrub to wet skin or it will simply melt away instead of exfoliating the skin! Put the towel in your empty tub and sit on it. Put a small amount on the pumpkin scrub on one part of your dry body --your lower leg, for instance -- and rub it up and down. The abrasiveness of the sugar will start to remove the dead skin cells.