It is time for sun and everyone is talking about what works, what is safe and the difference between chemical and not chemical. We have sorted out the question marks and given some examples below. There is nothing better than a t-shirt and a hat and below are some surprising truths about sunscreens:

1. There is no consensus on whether sunscreens prevent skin cancer

2. There is some evidence that sunscreens might increase the deadliest form of skin cancer for some people

3. There are more high SPF products than ever before, but no proof that they are better

4. Too little sun might be harmful, reducing the body’s vitamin D levels

5. The common sunscreen ingredient vitamin A may speed the development of cancer

Mainstream or “chemical” sunscreens work by using chemicals to absorb UVB and UVA rays. Drawback: People are sometimes sensitive to the chemicals.

*Natural or “barrier” sunscreens use the active ingredients titanium dioxide or zinc oxide to form a barrier between the skin and the sun. Drawback: Natural sunscreens often look really white and thick when you put them on and take a while to absorb (not always the best look, I admit). Chemical sunscreens with synthetic active ingredients need time to be effective — up to 30 minutes. That’s because chemical sunscreens have to soak into the skin before they begin to work. Furthermore, sunscreen chemicals have been found to pass through the skin and mimic the effects of estrogen, which may disrupt the delicate balance of the body´s natural hormones.

So, are natural sun screens completely safe? The shocking truth is the fact that both chemical sunscreens (avobenzone, methoxycinnamate, padimate-o and the like) and physical sunblocks (titanium dioxide and zinc oxide) have been found to generate free radicals when exposed to sunlight, which then can attack the nuclei of your skin cells and cause mutations. That´s right: they can cause skin cancer.

So… what to do, well our advice is to use natural ones, they are for sure better than the chemical ones, in our opinion BUT don’t rely on them. A healthy and sound approach is the absolute best thing.

Finally, don’t believe what the marketing and labels say – below is an example:

Hawaiian Tropic Baby Stick Sunscreen SPF 50

Hawaiian Tropic’s website claims “Less Chemical Sunscreens” for this baby sunscreen stick. Truth is, it contains two chemicals to that don’t belong on a baby’s skin – the hormone disruptor oxybenzone and a form vitamin A called retinyl palmitate. A recent federal government study shows retinyl palmitate may speed up the growth of skin tumors.

The final straw? The UVA protection factor for this sunscreen is less than 10 – a far cry from the 50 SPF plastered on the package.

EWG (Environmental Working Group) top-rated sunscreens all contain the minerals zinc or titanium. They are the right choice for people who are looking for the best UVA protection without any sunscreen chemical considered to be a potential hormone disruptor. None of the products contain oxybenzone or vitamin A and none are sprayed or powdered.

We of course have a natural sunscreen at Grand and NK, The Organic Pharamcy. I use it myself!

//Anna

I am on my way back from 4 fantastic days on Bali. I will share lots with you the next few weeks BUT I have to share this absolutely amazing, mind blowing news with you today on my way back. I am so excited about this, that I almost could not sleep! The GSS (yes, I am a board meeting, but credit goes to Susie Ellis and Professor Marc Cohen for this one!) has put together EVIDENCE for various spa treatments – so we can tell our guests if they WORK or not.

It is the world’s first online portal dedicated to the ever-mounting medical evidence that exists for spa and wellness therapies. With thousands of studies evaluating the benefits of approaches like massage, meditation and acupuncture, we’ve put together, andmade it easy to search, some of the most relevant and authoritative sources of this evidence-based information.

Evidence-based medicine is “the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients.”

AND it is not only spa promoting evidence, this portal is to be transparent. Therefore, for example, EAR CANDLING is included and research shows that it even can be dangerous for us!

This free resource is designed to EMPOWER consumers and patients – and medical, spa and well ess professionals – to dive inand explore the hard science behind spa… http://spa.selfoptima.com/globalspasummit

ENJOY!!!

Bali is truly beautiful and is definitely part of the gems on earth. I am attending the GSS andwe had a fantastic first day. The worlds most renown trend analysts, researchers, social media gurus and of course loads of spa gurusare interacting for three days.  So what has transpired….

– three strongest trends in Asia are

1. Beauty enhancing drinks

2. Anti aging products

3. Vitamins and Dietry supplements

It sounds like Asians are understanding that beauty comes from the inside! (Although I do love my eyelash extensions and gelish from NK….).

If we look at beauty trends, it is body shaping, body shaping and more body shaping and the researches are saying that it is not a fad. Body shaping is using a machine that dissolves the fat cells and reshapes the body. And the result is a fact. Really. Although not permanent result, the research argue that make up, physical exerci

se and a massage is not lasting, so if body shaping lasts for a couple of months, is non invasive and makes you look great for the bikini seasons –  well why not?

Another message

is not to treat consumers as consumers, but as people and lots of other good stuff (for you that want to know more, I am tweeting things of interest throughout the day).

but not least, we have to embrace the net and its technology, the game “Mindflex” use a wireless headset that reads your brainwave activity, and you are then to use your brain to move an object, and the one that can focus the best wins! Check it out http://mindflexgames.com/what_is_mindflex.php ideal for children with focus problems! And perhaps

in spas.

More to come!

//Anna

At the airport waiting to board for my Bali trip, going to the Global Spa Summit (GSS). The “spirit” of the Global Spa Summit (GSS) is one of shared purpose rather than individual gain. It is a willingness to put aside our competitive egos and personal business goals while we join together and spend time shaping the future of the spa and wellness industries.

Designed to be a high-level gathering of top industry executives, the invitation- only GSS brings together decision makers from around the world. Everyone contributes his or her time and expertise, as well as resources to help fund the Summit and make it a success. I am on the board and has been heavily involved in all research this year, together with Mary Tabacchi, professor from Cornell.

Reading through some of the research to be released at the summit (and yes, will let you all take part of it!), one thing that has come through on the consumer research is the enormous growth of sites such as “Group On”, where it has come up on the top 3 places of how people seek spa experiences on the net.

My question is how good it is for the actual spa? I just had a recent personal experience at my hairdresser, where I almost felt tricked when I paid full price and the person next to me only paid 40% of the price, purchasing her deal at GroupOn. I think that if the business are to offer heavily discounted deals on the net, it should be something that guests can’t normally buy. May it be a treatment, en experience, bathing experience or similar, and it is only a one off. Otherwise I am afraid that we sell ourselves short. What will beis quality, that we show ourselves sooooo good that people are willing to pay full price coming back.

Well, would love to hear your comments on this, it is going to be very important for us either way the coming years, as people are loving it.

//Anna

This weekend Raison d’Etre conducted their second and final part of this spings sold out Spa Managers course. The aim is to give the attendees insight, tools and systems to effectivly lead and develop a spa. The 15 atten

dees where absolutely amazing and I believe that there will be a life long bond between several.

The passion and engagment from each one, showed in the discussions and more over the HCM Plans (Human Capital Managament plans – see earlier blog posts) handed in. The HCM plan together with the Business Plan that everyone started, coupled with all the leadership tools, will be the foundation to lead any spa to success.

I think that we have seen some of the leaders in the industry born, there are some interesting projects that these students are taking on, such as a spa in Malta, another mind blowing spa & clinic up in Swedish Lappland, some own business in spa consulting which were developed during the couse and of course great leaders in general!

Big thank you to you all and look forward to next time our paths cross!

/Anna

Just returned from Budapest where I represented Raison d’Etre at SPATEC Europe – a meeting forum for the European Spa, Beauty and Wellness Industry.  A really good turn out of close to 120 people – operators, consultants and suppliers from not only the EU but also from USA and the Middle East.  We spent two days solid having 20 minute meetings with each other – like ‘speed dating’ (not that I would know!!) which was actually quite productive as when you limit a meeting to only 20 minutes you immediately cut out most of the sales pitch and you just get down to the facts…. thank goodness for that.

Some interesting ‘highlights’ from my meetings were the increasing emergence of oxygen treatments ( I have to try one ….. and soon!), many new exciting spa product brands coming out of eastern Europe ( I am testing some right now!!), an interactive exercise bike where you can race 6 people at once while watching yourself race on a screen, some very funky, uber elegant new spa equipment coming out – one for you therapists out there – a massage table head rest with built in ipod dock and speakers!! …and a massage table that has a remote controlled air bubble system for lumbar, knee and ankle support, no more bolsters, how good would that be!!

The only thing missing for me was a real focus of spa product companies (notably the natural, organic lines) to have a dedicated MALE spa product line.  This is now a massive market globally which product companies are neglecting!!  You can probably tell that this is a real ‘hot button’ with me…. And believe me I told the companies all about it!!

Just so you all know it was not all work, as part of the conference we got some time to see the sights of Budapest – a world famous spa destination in its own right.  A stunning city along the banks of the Danube with beautiful architecture which is also home to many very famous bath houses, not surprising when you learn they have 120 thermal springs within the city.  The most famous bath house in Budapest is the Gellert which opening in 1918 – worthy of a visit alone just for the stunning architecture!

So, all in all a great trip.  Productive meetings, some insight into the world of Budapest bath houses and some great networking (with the odd glass of champagne!) with spa folk from around the world.

//Michael

I had the fortune to enjoy a full spa day in Gothenburg the other day. It was my mother’s 75 year birthday and the children had been asked to kidnap her for the day.

We started off at beautiful St. Jörgen and had booked the bathing ritual. I have to say that it is perfect for couple and groups and fits with the Swedish culture. They have done an excellent job and the number of guests showed that it is a success.

The way it works is that you book a spa ritual day, where you can chose from three different experiences; I think it was calming, energizing and cleansing. We chose the energizing which means that you alternate hot and cold experiences and apply the kit of products you receive according to a schedule. It is all do it yourself, which is why it works so well here in Sweden where we don’t mind this. The products are great, I know the lady who produces them and what high quality ingredients she uses, but would have loved to have them a bit more natural in terms of preservatives and SLS etc. That is always in the hands of the buyer….

Anyway, we did everything from foot bath, kneipp walk, aufguss sauna, cold bucket shower, steam, cold dip, outdoor pool, do it yourself scrub, face mask, foot bath etc. Again, perfect to do in groups or as a couple, however cannot recommend doing it on your own. You would feel very lonely.

St. Jörgen Park Hotel is beautifully designed, great art, furniture and feel and the architect and the designers have done an outstanding job. Overall we were extremely satisfied.

Then we went to another newly opened hotel and spa (and for courtesy I won’t name it) and this experience was exactly the opposite. They hadn’t got it right in terms of lighting, feel and art. It was more modern and cold with some attempts to make it warmer with wood here and there. The service was poor, the quality so so, and staff were not adequately trained. It wasn’t a completely terrible experience, they tried their best and it was clear that systems were not yet set up properly. These things often happen when you just have opened, and it is very common with spas that they get 1-2 weeks pre-opening training and then you open. It is simply not enough when people is the product – and the result is the experience that we had and that we won’t come back. A newly opened spa cannot afford this…

We still had a great time; we just enjoyed a great day together and had a lot of laughs and quality time, which is rare in this busy day. St. Jörgen remains as a great memory to all of us.

//Anna

I have just come back from a weeks visit to Cairo, Egypt where I was conducting an audit of a spa that Raison d’Etre has an agreement with.

Having been in Cairo and other parts of Egypt before it was very interesting to see how the tourism industry has been significantly affected by the recent ‘peoples revolution’.  As you would expect tourism has been decimated by the recent events and hotel occupancies as well as spas are suffering for business. 

But things are starting to brighten up!!  Tourism numbers over the last month are slowly increasing, notably for the Sinai Peninsula resort areas, flights are starting to fill up and the overall outlook – as seen from the eyes of Hotel General Managers and Owners is very optimistic.  Nearly everyone I spoke to expects a steady increase in tourism over the next few months with Egypt returning to normal tourism numbers after Ramadan which is in August.  Fingers crossed!!

What has been really interesting to observe in my week in Cairo is the overall positive and optimistic attitude of hotel and spa staff.  Cairo needs business, that is obvious, yet with everything that has gone on staff retain a smile and a genuinely positive outlook for the future… not only for the tourism industry in Egypt, but also for Egypt in general. 

//Michael Clarke

This week I went to Lausanne, Switzerland to EHL (Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne) considered one of the the absolut top Hotel Management Schools in the world. I was invited to be a judge for the first batch of graduating students final project presentations.

EHL launched their Spa Management program a year ago, and there were five enthusiastic and nervous students ready to present throughout the day for a panel of 5 judges – 3 from the school and 2 from the industry (me one of them…).

What struck me during the day is that spa is quite a bit away from teh academic world, and this actually limits our progress. Great enthusiasm, but more gut feeling than actual scientific study and strategic thinking.

I love gut feeling! But truly believe that we need to pair that with strategic thinking and knowing what tools are imparative to do to an objective study, or a specific project. While I admire the passion, their skills and strive to develop and hats off to the students who succesfully wnet through the program – I think we need to focus even more in the skill of the basics of how any business go about structuringt their business. It wasn’t really good enough this time, and I can’t wait to next time to see how we can increase this knoweldge then.

We are all in a progress of learning!

Now off to get Leon (my 5 year old) from his Saturday theater lesson while I enjoy a coffee in a nearby café!

//Anna

We had 14 enthusastic and engaged course participants in this weekends Spa Managers Course. It was a great weekend, with lots of interaction, discussion and development. This first part focus on leadership and what is clear is that spa managers has so much on their plate, and where people is the product as in spas, plans and strategies are key.

Plans and strategies are perhaps not what spa managers enjoy the most to create, but with these in place spa managers will instead make time to do what they enjoy most!

We have come up with the spa aligned HCM (Human Capital Management) plan and there is no doubt that it is working. Strategic and measureable are key to each action, and if every spa would get this structure – a lot of spas would be more profitable today!

HCM is a strategic and measurable approach to how staff is managed. I, in particular, like the measureable part, where every action is measurable in one way or the other. It consist of 5 pillas

1. Strategic objectives including vision, mission, strategies etc.

2. Leadership – what you as a leader need to do to leed more effectively

3. Talent – training and development

4. Culture – how do we want to take our culture forward, well, we have said daily mediation, exchange of treatments, common activities, CSR, routines etc.

5. Serviec & Market – an outlook on how market and economies are changing and how we should adapt.