Back in the day, I only associated toner with blue astringent; it stung, it made my face red and it smelled like rubbing alcohol mixed with the hope for clear skin – clearly my toner memories were bleak.

Fast forward to my mid-twenties and the realization that toner is not the harsh chemical-laden blue liquid of my past, but rather an integral part of any skincare routine, because all skin is thirsty for hydration and toners feed that thirst. Whether your skin is oily, combination, normal or dry – you need to be using a toner.

One that I recommend is Juara Tamarind Tea Hydrating Toner. Juara is an East-meets-West Indonesian line of skincare and treatments, which are inspired by the ancient spa experience. The products are 100% vegetarian, paraben-free, phthalates-free, sulfate-free and have not been tested on animals. So,  not only are these products great for you, but you can feel great about using them, too.

Put simply, the Juara Tea Hydrating Toner has the ability to make me feel better about my skin immediately by giving it the extra dose of hydration it needs, especially at this time of year. It calms redness and makes my dry skin soft and prepped for moisturizer, or even primer, before my makeup in the morning. The key ingredients are what really make this a necessary part of any skincare routine:

Hyaluronic acid, a protein naturally found in the skin, helps retain the skin’s own moisture. According to Dermatology Times, as we get older, hyaluronic acid in the skin decreases, so products containing this ingredient can be helpful with skin hydration. This ingredient holds 500 times its own weight of water which helps give skin a plumping-effect.

Tamarind, a curved brown bean-pod used in Indonesia for numerous health conditions and in cooking, improves skin smoothness, stimulates the regenerative process and increases hydration.

Green, white and black teas, strongly present in Indonesian culture, have been shown to decrease the risk of free radical damage and stimulate cell and DNA repair.

To use the toner, first cleanse your skin then pump a quarter-sized amount of it into the palms of your hands (that’s right not a cotton ball like back in the blue-astringent days!). In a patting and smoothing motion, spread the toner directly onto your face – the toner has a gel-like quality which is why the cotton ball or applicator is unnecessary. Finish by applying your favorite serum and  moisturizer and you can thank us—and Juara— later!

Juara Tamarind Tea Hydrating Toner; 4.75 oz., $27

If Juara products sound like they are perfect for you, enter to win a Juara Skincare Spa Package on SpaRahRah!’s Facebook page.

Actress and new face of G-Star Raw, Clémence Poésey’s look always evokes an easy Parisian flair. Her signature undone look is the product of celebrity stylist Jacqueline Bush of Aim Artists. “When creating a look for Clémence, I always go for a style that’s effortless yet utterly chic,” says Jacqueline. “The trick to an undone look with staying power is to mix the right cocktails with the right styling products to enhance hair’s natural movement while adding flexible hold.” You too can achieve Clémence Poésey’s look by following these simple steps from Jacqueline and using René Furterer styling products:

1. Lightly mist hair with water and then pump two quarter-size squeezes of René Furterer Vegetal Sculpting Gel and two dime-size portions of a light pomade into your palms and rub together to emulsify the mixture. Run hands through hair from roots to ends. “The gel and pomade cocktail add long-lasting hold without leaving hair too stiff to move easily.”

2. Next, using a blow-dryer and your hands in lieu of a styling brush, rough dry  your hair in its natural part while twisting some sections using your fingertips to give hair more lift, wave and texture.

3. Taking random sections of hair, including a few face-framing pieces, use curling irons, alternating between 3/4 -inch, 1-inch and ¼-inch irons, to curl hair in different directions. About ¾ of the hair is left loose – “I lightly curl just enough sections to add a bit of movement throughout the hair,” says Jacqueline.

4. After letting your sections cool (because “touching them while still hot will make the curls collapse”) run your fingers through your hair to loosen up the curls. Leave a few pieces to fall freely around the face on either side of the part. Gather the rest, pulling to one side, and loosely divide it into three sections. Braid hair starting at the base, “taking care to be neither too messy nor too perfect.” Leave about 2-3 inches at the ends free to keep up with the “overall organic look of the braid.”

5. Secure the braid with a small elastic band and take a small piece of hair from underneath the end of the braid and wrap it around the elastic, pinning the piece underneath the braid. “Again, the key is to not wrap it too neatly, you want the effect to look effortless.”

6. Loosen up the braid with your fingertips to make it look asymmetrical. For more suppleness and shine, Jacqueline recommends adding a touch of René Furterer Styling Wax at the end of the braid and on the face-framing pieces. Lastly, mist the braid lightly with a normal strength hairspray.

 Follow Jacqueline Bush on Twitter @JacquelineBush

We aim to be on top of the latest and greatest spa trends here at SpaWish, so the moment we caught wind of the innovative new waterless pedicure and manicure service now being offered at Honolulu’s SpaHalekulani, we knew we had to fill you in. Featured on The Doctors, the waterless pedicure is not only an incredibly safe and sanitary alternative to traditional pedicures, but it’s also ten times more environmentally friendly. As the first spa in Hawaii to adopt these services, SpaHalekulani is helping to make waves in the spa industry while staying true to its belief in the sanctity of land and water.

Traditional pedicures can be great to get,  but the impact on the environment might be surprising to some. The typical pedicure using spa pedicure chairs consumes 12 to 15 gallons of water, PER PEDICURE! In addition, the chemical cleaning products required to keep these chairs sanitary can negatively impact our ocean life and ecosystem, says Lena Mossman, spa director of SpaHalekulani. With waterless pedicures, spas are not only saving the environment but they are saving money, too, which makes the environmentally friendly service a deal for clients; they typically run cheaper than traditional pedicures and you can enjoy them guilt-free!

So you might be wondering, how does a waterless pedicure work? First and foremost, get comfy. Most spas will have recliners for you to sit in so it’s not a total departure from the traditional spa pedicure. Your technician will then use a steamed towel to soften and relax your legs and feet. Following the warm towel is the usual nail shaping and cuticle conditioning.  Next up is a gentle exfoliation and callus removal followed by a warm foot massage and polish.

We’re hoping many other spas will follow SpaHalekulani’s lead and find other environmentally friendly alternatives to some of our favorite spa treatments.

Have you had a waterless pedicure?  Tell us about it in the comments or on Facebook!

While we normally spotlight just one product in our Product of the Week, I knew I would be amiss if I didn’t share both of the great products I tried from Soap & Glory because, frankly, they work amazingly well together.

Soap & Glory, a line of bath, body and beauty products launched in 2006, is the latest brainchild of “suds-loving beauty baroness” and founder of an incredibly widespread and successful chain of spas (Bliss Spa anyone?), Marcia Kilgore. The line was recently picked up by the beauty mecca that is Sephora. While Soap & Glory’s cheeky names and girly pink designs might catch your attention at first, after trying them, you’ll know that they are so much more than just a pretty box. The products have the most delicious signature “pink fragrance,” which features fresh bergamot, mandarin, rose, jasmine, peach, strawberry, oakmoss, amber, woody notes and amber and warm vanilla notes on the bottom. It’s incredibly feminine without being overpowering. Here’s the low-down on the two products I tried—and loved.

Use this First: Scrub ‘Em and Leave ‘Em Body Buff; 10.1 oz., $18

This scrub smells incredible; it contains beautiful notes of bergamot, black currant, magnolia, freesia, vanilla, and musk (also found in the line’s flirty, floral body spray, Mist You Madly). The babassu oil, a very fast penetrating oil with similar benefits as coconut oil, sea salt and moisturizing jojoba and mandarin oils get to work right away, leaving skin exfoliated and smooth.

Follow with: The Righteous Butter; 10.1 oz., $18

Softening shea butter and aloe vera make this body butter incredibly moisturizing and effective. Created for very dry skin with a new dynamic moisture trap matrix to help hold hydration in longer, it left my skin perfectly quenched without feeling greasy. Plus, that signature pink fragrance made my skin smell amazing. Perhaps the first moisturizer that I don’t even have to think about putting on after my shower, it’s officially become the part I look forward to.

Together, these Product(s) of the Week work perfectly and will help you tackle dry skin all year long!

We’ve all been there, making our list of resolutions that, nine times out of ten, includes a gym membership or a crash, fad diet. We then go through with our brand-new plan for a few days, maybe even a month and then we just stop, leaving us feeling defeated and unaccomplished. This year will be different though, we’ve come up with three simple and do-able steps for staying on a healthy path this New Year. 2012 is looking brighter already!

1. “Take Small Bites”

We don’t mean to literally take smaller bites; we mean start slow and simple when going for a lifestyle change. The whole idea of changing your entire diet is unrealistic. When Mariel Hemingway, Wellness Week 2012’s spokeswoman, stopped by to give us all a few tips for staying healthy, she told us to start slow. “I say to people, if they want to change the way they eat, change your breakfast – start with one thing, because it’s do-able and more often than not, if you change your breakfast, you’ll feel differently at lunch and make a healthier choice then. If you push too hard or make it so extreme and so far from your regular life, then you won’t continue it. So I always say go slow, take small bites.”

 2. Make it FIT!

If the idea of getting up an hour early to go for a run or head to the gym makes you cringe now, you likely won’t actually get up and go when the alarm is blaring at 5am. Make your goals fit in with your lifestyle. If you don’t like waking up early then then try to tackle your workout after work. Buy free-weights and use them and do a few sets of crunches while you watch your favorite TV show if you can’t get the gym. Make working out a group activity. Go for a brisk walk with your friends or children. Check out our Big-Sister SpaFinder and keep in mind that SpaFinder isn’t just about spa, and find a fun yoga, Pilates or fitness class to take. As far as dieting goes, try to find healthy and delicious recipes to try at home so you don’t have to stick to an unappetizing diet. Make the goal pleasant. 

 3. Give it Three Weeks

Don’t buy a gym membership or start a crash thinking that after a week, you’ll have lost 10 pounds and gained a brand new set of abs; that’s just not how it happens. Hemingway says that so many times “we put so much pressure on ourselves that we feel beaten before we start.” Don’t expect immediate results, “wellness doesn’t happen overnight, lifestyle is something that is created, its habits that are ingrained in you. Habits get ingrained over 21 days. It takes that long for a habit to happen, so you have to give something three weeks’ time in order for it to be in your cellular structure. [Once] you do that past the 21 days, then it becomes something that you just do.”

If you start with these three, simple steps: start slow, make the goals possible and be optimistic, we can guarantee that this year’s weight-loss resolutions will be kept!

For many Americans, this year has been tough. The job market is still not what it used to be and unfortunately many remain out of work. On January 23, OLEHENRIKSEN FACE/BODY SPA in Los Angeles, California, is dedicating the entire day to treating 100 randomly selected people who have lost their jobs.

Each person selected will receive one free 50-minute treatment of his or her choice: massage, facial, fresh start manicure and pedicure or a 25-minute hydrotherapy soak. A perfect way to de-stress and start fresh in the New Year, as well as enjoy a few moments of wellbeing after a tough year. If you or someone you know has lost a job this year and is in the Los Angeles area, tell OLEHENRICKSEN your story!

In 500 words or less, let OLEHENRIKSEN know how losing your employment affected your life, the changes you had to make and how an OLEHENRIKSEN FACE/BODY SPA service would brighten your day. All submissions must be received by Saturday, December 24, at 6 p.m. via email to OHSpaDay@olehendriksen.com. The randomly selected winners will be announced Friday, January 6, 2012, via email or phone call. Please click here for more information and rules/restrictions.

We hope this New Year brings everyone all that they have been wishing for — and good luck in 2012!