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!

I’ve come to realize that ever since I caved and bought a smartphone, it has been an accessory that remains constantly next to me or in my hands. I am officially that person that checks Facebook when I’m in the grocery store, who tweets at dinner with her fiancé and who checks emails until my head hits the pillow. I know with 100 percent certainty that I am not at all alone. Who knows when it happened, but we are now a society that is always “on” – we’re always connected, always updating, always moving at 100 mph. Slow down and smell the roses, I think I heard that maybe ten times a day growing up and here I am, on the brink of 25, planning a wedding and concerned only with the color of the roses, not about slowing down to appreciate their beauty. This is why at a recent breakfast held by SpaRitual to discuss Slow Beauty and the Slow Movement – my ears perked up at the concept of turning “off.”

The idea of slowness has a negative connotation at this point ─ why slow down when everything around us is speeding up? Shel Pink, founder of SpaRitual, created a company committed to Eco-friendly products using vegan ingredients. The brand’s philosophy promotes an understanding of beauty as a holistic connection to ourselves and to the environment. The Slow Beauty belief is relatively self-explanatory; it encourages us to slow down and to have a greater awareness and understanding.

To embark on the path of Slow Beauty, SpaRitual has developed Seven Outposts:

Honoring the Spa Tradition:  Spa, Latin for “health through water,” is rooted in an ancient tradition of wellness. Today spa is a safe haven to reconnect to ancient healing traditions and ourselves. We honor the spa tradition on location or create a spa environment at home.

Mindful Consumption:  Purchasing decisions based on safer ingredients, better work conditions, environmental stewardship, giving back, authenticity and transparency.

Rediscovered Rituals:  A holistic beauty routine based in health and wellness. Look to ancient cultural traditions such as Ayurveda and homeopathy, as well as nutrition to enhance your beauty routine from the inside out.

Renewal:  Live in your natural rhythm through seasonal cleanses, down time and a good night’s sleep.

Meditation:  A regular meditation practice strengthens the immune system, helps maintain a youthful appearance, calms the nervous system and builds grey matter.

Self-Expression:  The byproduct of self-expression is confidence, a greater sense of freedom, increased creativity and joy.

Life-Long Learning:  Promotes wisdom, the development of natural abilities, the free exchange of ideas and an expansive relationship with yourself in the world.

I for one am taking note and turning off. I’ve particularly connected with the concept of rediscovered rituals, renewal and mediation. I used to use my Sundays as the day to get all of my errands done that accumulated after a week’s worth of procrastination, but now I use them as a day to unwind and relax. I take a long bath as opposed to a quick shower, I indulge in face masks or go for a manicure, and I do my best to keep my phone in my purse or in another room. After a soothing Sunday I’m ready to hit the ground running on Monday. I feel quicker, more energized and ready for the fast world around me. Slow Beauty officially has one more follower.

It’s not often a routine visit for a cut or color can lead to a doctor’s visit that could potentially save your life, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility. Our hairstylists are in a position to check the areas that often go unseen: our scalp and neck. Because these areas are so often overlooked there are chances for cancer to go undetected until its later stages. Melanoma is the least common, but the most deadly skin cancer, accounting for only about four percent of all cases — but 79 percent of skin cancer deaths. Melanoma of the scalp and neck represents six percent of all skin cancer cases; in the United States from 1973 to 2003 it accounted for 10 percent of all melanoma deaths, according to the Melanoma Center.

In a survey of 203 hair professionals from a chain of 17 salons in the Houston, Texas, area, 37.1 percent reported looking at at least half of their clients’ scalps for signs of suspicious lesions in the month prior. The findings were published in October’s issue of the Archives of Dermatology.

“Almost every dermatologist I’ve talked to anecdotally has said to me, ‘Yes, I’ve had a melanoma case referred to me by a hair professional,’” Alan Geller, a senior lecturer at Harvard and study co-author, told NPR. Given the fact that a stylist’s main job is to spend time examining our heads it would be natural that they do double-duty as skincare educators. Fifty-eight percent of the respondents told researchers from Harvard’s School of Public Health that they had encouraged a client at least once to get a mole examined by a doctor.

Of the professionals surveyed, 28 percent reported they had already received formal skincare education, and 49 percent were very or extremely interested in getting first-time or additional skin cancer education. After seeing this statistic, Harvard’s School of Public Health teamed up with the Melanoma Foundation of New England to form The Skinny on Skin, a training program that will educate hair professionals on how to spot potentially cancerous skin on their clients. Salons can log in to the site and sign up for their employees to receive the training.

Even if your stylist hasn’t been trained, there is no harm in asking them to take a look while they are already combing through your hair during your visit. It could just save your life!