One interesting wrinkle (no pun intended) in this story is the number of body-care lines that include the word “spa” as part of their name. Marketing finesse gives spa lines an authoritative aura and healthful image when it comes to skin care, particularly from the neck down. This misperception can waste money and also cause skin problems.
Spa products are not the result of any particular enlightenment, nor are they specially formulated in any way. In fact, spa products sold at cosmetics counters and specialty spas are notoriously similar to the ones sold in drugstores. I think most women would be shocked to discover that the “spa” formulations for various body washes, bath salts, body moisturizers, and bath oils are really almost identical to the drugstore formulations. Moreover, spa lines, like most body-care products, are highly fragranced, and fragrance is no better for skin on the body than it is for facial skin.
Far be it from me to deny anyone the pleasure that can be derived from pampering, soothing body care. Taking care of the body should include relaxing in deliciously warm water or being gently massaged. But skin-care problems can occur all over the body, and they require more than sweetly scented bath salts and oils, which are often enough the very same things responsible for red, flaky, irritated skin. Despite the allure of spa treatments and their high price tags, the products used rarely, if ever, seriously address the issues of sun damage, blemishes, skin sensitivity, antioxidants, anti-irritants, or skin disorders such as rosacea or psoriasis.
Doing all they can to appear more natural and superior to other product lines, spa lines tend to add an eccentric marketing flare. How can you convince a consumer that your products are really different? You throw in exotic ingredients from some remote part of the world and claim it is the new miracle for your skin. These novel ingredients always come from a part of the world like the remote deserts of Africa or the Amazon rainforest, since of course they would never come from someone’s backyard in Dallas or Miami. If it sounds out of the ordinary and mysterious, women are eager to believe it must have glamorous benefits for skin. That is never the case. Whatever foreign plant extract is being heralded as the answer for your skin today will be replaced in a few months by another rare and heretofore unknown plant extract, maybe from China, that will unleash its youth-bestowing benefit for you. So however you look at it, you are being played for a sucker and wasting your money.
For example, in marketing their facial services and skin-care products, one line boasted that their products contained truffles that were handpicked and mixed into their treatments. While handpicked truffles (is there another kind?) might be great for a salad or steak, the skin can’t tell the difference. What does matter is whether or not truffles can have a positive effect on skin. It turns out that there is a small amount of research showing black and white truffles to be effective for inhibiting melanin production and for some antibacterial properties. (Sources: Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS) Microbiology Letters, April 2000, pages 213-319; and Pigment Cell Research, February-April 1997, pages 46-53.) However, there are many different products that contain other effective skin – lightening or antibacterial ingredients with less spin, less expense, and with vastly more researched efficacy.
Caviar is often touted as an especially extravagant ingredient in some products. Exclusivity aside, what is caviar’s benefit for skin? It turns out that caviar does contain essential fatty acids similar to the ones found in skin. But lots of living substances, from fish to animals and plants, are replete with identical or better fatty acids (like phospholipids and triglycerides). Caviar is not a superior or even desirable source for these skin-care ingredients. Plus, only a tiny amount—and I mean it’s barely detectable—of caviar is included in products like this, rendering it almost impossible to exert any effect on skin whatsoever.
A cornerstone for almost any spa service is the ever-popular mud mask. Some kind of mud from some exotic part of the world is showcased to get the consumer’s attention, because how could mud from your backyard be worth $50 to $100 a treatment? How appealing would mud from Idaho be in comparison to mud from Ishia or Austria? “Parafango” mud gets a lot of attention in spa treatments, but “parafango” is merely Italian for “protecting mud”—it isn’t a kind of special earth from some distant, far-off land.
But could there be parts of the world where the dirt is better for your skin than it is from somewhere else? I have looked for the evidence, and to tell you that there is no research showing mud that is beneficial for skin is an understatement. Further, having a mask applied once a month at a spa is similar to dieting once a month; it ends up being of little help in keeping your body healthy day in and day out. It may feel good to be wrapped or to soak in mud, but the benefit is purely emotional and unrelated to any real effect on your skin.