“Spas have long been at the forefront of cutting-edge beauty trends and innovation,” said Gelula. “In 2008 we’re going to see the influence of spas in many areas – from makeup that acts like anti-aging skin-care treatments and spa-grade, skin-enhancing gadgets for the home to botanical ingredients from the Amazon like acai in beauty products.”

Tress Relief
Scalp massages are upgrading to full-length spa treatments for relaxation. (They may also stimulate hair growth.) Spas such as Ole Henriksen in Los Angeles include hair conditioning in many of their body treatments. Why should spa services stop at the hairline?

PDA’s For Skin
The Zeno zit zapper and Clarisonic face-washing brush will be joined by heap of new at-home beauty appliances. Many will mimic the mechanics of spa-grade gadgets, like the Mini-Marvel, which uses LED light to diminish wrinkles, acne, and blotches.

New Anti-Aging Targets
The face is no longer the sole focus. Neck creams, bust tighteners, and body über-exfoliators are coming to the spa and retails shelves by popular demand (helped along by Nora Ephron’s best seller, I Feel Bad About My Neck).

A Natural Standard
Look for a regulatory standard and seal for natural beauty products, now that organic ones can use the USDA seal to indicate degree of purity. The Natural Standard Seal will require at least 95% natural ingredients and pure processing methods.

Old Wine, New Bottle
Look for more products marked firming and lifting. Then look at the label on the back. You’ll find the same proven ingredients (retinol, vitamin C, and peptides) you’ve been using to treat wrinkles and blotches.

Lash Supper
There will be sharper focus on thickening and lengthening lashes. The product boom, marked by such lines as Osmotics FNS Nutrilash and ActiLash, was followed by a temporary bust when the FDA seized discontinued tubes of Jan Marini Age Intervention Eyelash Conditioner in November, declaring it an unapproved and misbranded drug. But as long as the ingredients are safe and the product stays on the right side of what the agency says a cosmetic can promise, lash-enhancing products will continue to be a huge trend.

Anti-Aging Makeup
Kimiko Beauty’s Lifting Eye Shadow and Joey NY’s under-eye concealer are examples of this powerful new trend. Packed with anti-aging ingredients like peptides, these new products take the recent “good for you” mineral makeup trend one step farther; actually leave skin better off for having used them.

Chemical Peel Renaissance
Less aggressive formulas are on the rise at spas. They’re lower in acids and higher in skin soothers like green tea, and thus available to more skin types. Scaling back the potency has also birthed more variations of the at-home peel.

The Midas Touch
Spas are infatuated with gold as a facial ingredient. But it’s bling – a gold facial or an ounce of serum with gold runs about $500 – rather than benefits. Dig as we might, there’s no proof that gold’s an anti-ager.

Going Up The Amazon
The Amazon basin is the new spa-beauty garden, because its indigenous plants, fruits, and nuts are high in antioxidants and skin-nourishing oils. Amazon Secrets contain açai, buriti, and guarana fruit. Inara Organics is based on the babassu nut. Even mainstream brands like Kiehl’s and Borba are using guanabana and yerba mate because of their purity and efficacy.

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Top Ten Spa Beauty Trends to Look For in 2008