Blue Lagoon (geothermal spa)

The Blue Lagoon (Icelandic: "Bláa lónið") geothermal spa is one of the most visited attractions in Iceland. The steamy waters are part of a lava formation.

The warm waters are rich in minerals like silica and sulfur and bathing in the Blue Lagoon is reputed to help some people suffering from skin diseases such as psoriasis. The water temperature in the bathing and swimming area of the lagoon averages 40 °C (104 °F).

The lagoon is fed by the water output of the nearby geothermal power plant Svartsengi. Superheated water is vented from the ground near a lava flow and used to run turbines that generate electricity. After going through the turbines, the steam and hot water passes through a heat exchanger to provide heat for a municipal hot water heating system. Then the water is fed into the lagoon for recreational and medicinal users to bathe in.

The spa is located in a lava field in Grindavík on the Reykjanes Peninsula, southwestern Iceland. Bláa lónið is situated approximately 13 km from the Keflavík International Airport and 39 km from the capital city of Reykjavík. The Blue Lagoon spa and geothermal complex is clearly visible from any of the usual satellite imagery sources at coordinates (63.879, -22.434).

Iceland has a strict code of hygiene and guests are required to shower without clothing in the communal shower area before and after bathing.

It is claimed that in June 2007 the Blue Lagoon appeared green, bewildering both residents and tourists of Iceland.

The Blue Lagoon was used for the thermal spa scenes in the filming of Hostel: Part II.

Medical spa

A medical spa or med spa is a loose term that describes any retail cosmetic medical business that operates under the supervision of a licensed health care professional, such as a medical doctor and offers non-surgical cosmetic 'medical' treatments. Medical spas may offer additional treatments that can only be administered by licensed medical practitioners. Additional treatments offered depend upon the scope of practice of the licensed practitioner and may include:

* Laser and intense pulsed light procedures
* Medical microdermabrasions
* Photo-facials
* Botox and Restylane injections
* Medical peels
* [Thermage]
* [Fraxel]
* Filler Injections and Botox

Facial

A facial is a procedure involving a variety of skin treatments, including: steam, exfoliation, extraction, creams, lotions, masks, peels, and massage. Normally performed in a beauty salon but it is also a common spa treatment.
Facials are generally categorized, for example:
- European Facial
- Mini-Facial
- LED Light Therapy Facial

A facial mask is a creamy mask applied to clean or smooth the face. It often contains minerals, vitamins, and fruit extracts, such as cactus and cucumber. There are different kinds of masks for different purposes; some are deep cleansing for cleaning the pores. The perceived effect of a facial mask treatment can be revitalizing, rejuvenating or refreshing. Facial masks are most commonly used by women but are also used by men.
Some masks are washed off with tepid water, others are peeled off by hand. Duration for wearing a mask depends on type of mask, but can be three minutes to 30 minutes, and sometimes the whole night.
Honey is a very popular mask because it smooths skin, and cleans pores. A popular home remedy includes a slice of cucumber on the eyes.
Facial masks should be selected according to skin type. Clay and mud masks suit oily skin; cream-based masks work best on dry skin types. Masks should be used after cleansing for better results. Firming masks should not be applied on the eye area because they can cause itching.

Mud-bath

A mud bath is a bath of mud, commonly from areas where hot spring water can combine with volcanic ash. Mud baths have existed for thousands of years, and can be found now in high-end spas in many countries of the world.

Mud baths in Israel are found at the Dead sea where people use the dead sea mud on their faces, hair and body for beauty rituals. Mud baths in the United States are mostly found at the resorts in Calistoga, Napa Valley, California, and in Miami Beach, FL. The mud is a combination of local volcanic ash, imported Canadian peat and naturally heated mineral waters. Historically, the mud bath treatment has been used for centuries in Eastern and Western European spas as a way to relieve athritis. Most people follow up the mud bath routine with a therapeutic body massage.

Yoga

Yoga (Sanskrit, Pāli: योग yóga) refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines originating in India. The word is associated with meditative practices in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. In Hinduism, it also refers to one of the six orthodox (āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy, and to the goal toward which that school directs its practices. In Jainism it refers to the sum total of all activities—mental, verbal and physical.
Major branches of yoga in Hindu philosophy include Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Hatha Yoga. Raja Yoga, compiled in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and known simply as yoga in the context of Hindu philosophy, is part of the Samkhya tradition. Many other Hindu texts discuss aspects of yoga, including Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Shiva Samhita and various Tantras.
The Sanskrit word yoga has many meanings, and is derived from the Sanskrit root "yuj," meaning "to control," "to yoke" or "to unite." Translations include "joining," "uniting," "union," "conjunction," and "means." Outside India, the term yoga is typically associated with Hatha Yoga and its asanas (postures) or as a form of exercise. Someone who practices yoga or follows the yoga philosophy is called a yogi or yogini.

Massage

Massage is the practice of soft tissue manipulation with physical (anatomical), functional (physiological), and psychological purposes and goals. The word comes from the French massage "friction of kneading", or from Arabic massa meaning "to touch, feel or handle" or from Latin massa meaning "mass, dough". An older etymology may even have been the Hebrew me-sakj "to anoint with oil". In distinction the ancient Greek word for massage was anatripsis, and the Latin was frictio.
Massage involves acting on and manipulating the body with pressure – structured, unstructured, stationary, or moving – tension, motion, or vibration, done manually or with mechanical aids. Target tissues may include muscles, tendons, ligaments, skin, joints, or other connective tissue, as well as lymphatic vessels, or organs of the gastrointestinal system. Massage can be applied with the hands, fingers, elbows, knees, forearm, and feet. There are over eighty different recognized massage modalities. The most cited reasons for introducing massage as therapy have been client demand and perceived clinical effectiveness.
In professional settings massage involves the client being treated while lying on a massage table, sitting in a massage chair, or lying on a mat on the floor. The massage subject may be fully or partly unclothed. Parts of the body may be covered with towels or sheets.

Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is a form of alternative medicine that uses volatile plant materials, known as essential oils, and similar aromatic compounds from plants, for the purpose of improving a person's mood, cognitive function or health. Preliminary scientific evidence is growing in all these areas. An aroma therapist is the person who performs the aromatherapy.
Aromatherapy is a generic term. It is used by manufacturers (of personal care, wellness and hygiene products) as well as practitioners, including massage therapists, chiropractors, nurses and doctors. Over-the-counter products that make use of essential oils (or their constituents, such as menthol and methyl salicylate) include mouthwashes, liniments and "rubbing ointments", such as Listerine, Mentholatum Deep Heat and Vicks VapoRub. However, aromatherapy purists insist that neither essential oil constituents as such, nor synthetic fragrant chemicals, should ever be used.
Because many essential oils are potent antimicrobials, they can be useful in the treatment of infectious disease. They are used as medicines, often in combination with other herbal preparations, by a small group of doctors in France. In nursing, essential oils are increasingly used in pain management, anxiety/depression, and Alzheimer's disease. Aromatherapy may be used in combination with other forms of alternative medicine. Terms such as 'essential oil therapy' 'clinical aromatherapy' and 'medical aromatherapy' have been used by some journals, educational institutions and practitioners, in order to distance themselves from association with the commercial aspects.

Mineral Spa

Mineral spas are resorts developed around naturally occurring mineral spring locales. Spas grew in reputation in the nineteenth century on into the late middle-twentieth century for their purported healing or healthful benefits to those wealthy enough to partake of their waters. This was called a Mineral cure and gave let to the phrase 'taking a cure', still used as a euphemism, normally though today for one trying to kick a drug dependency.
In many cases, they were located in mountainous locales that gave an additional excuse to leave the drudgery of a hot house in warm weather during summer's onset and were seasonally populated by the well-to-do. They eventually became early vacation spots with the counter-Victorian work ethic 'rationale' of health as an excuse to have fun and mix with one's peers in recreation.
Subsequently, many such became the seed stock for today's modern vacation resorts. Locations such as Steamboat Springs, Vail, St Moritz, Mineral Wells first became popular for the questionable health benefits of mineral or soda-water soaks, ingestion, and clean outs during the hey-day of patent medicines and backward medical knowledge. United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a Polio survivor, regularly visited Warm Springs and other Hot Springs for restorative soaks. While his cousin Theodore Roosevelt became known as a manly-man of incredible endurance, he was a sickly child suffering from asthma and 'took cures' periodically in an attempt to gain better health.

Evolution of the resort

As the Victoria era came to an end, the influences of the industrial revolution created more and more varied members of the upper middle class. The concepts of vacationing, tourism, and travel became less the property of the old monied, and shared by an increasing population base of those who could afford holiday trips like the rich. Such adventures had much allure in the days before any audio-visual entertainments outside a live orchestra. Thus, the spas began attracting an increasing number of local patrons as well as those from afar just at the time when the burgeoning numbers were able to take advantage of the newfangled automobile and the now extensive railways throughout most all of Europe and the United States. The Spa towns already had infrastructure and attractions in place to assuage such desires, and the modern tourist trip began to take its familiar form. Other technologies came into play (Ski's, Ski boats, etc.)

Destination Spa

A destination spa is a short term residential/lodging facility with the primary purpose of providing individual services for spa-goers to develop healthy habits. Historically many such spas were developed at the location of natural hot springs or sources of mineral waters. Typically over a seven-day stay, such facilities provide a comprehensive program that includes spa services, physical fitness activities, wellness education, healthy cuisine and special interest programming.
Some destination spas offer an all-inclusive program that includes facilitated fitness classes, healthy cuisine, educational classes and seminars as well as similar services to a beauty salon or a day spa. Guests reside and participate in the program at a destination spa instead of just visiting for a treatment or pure vacation. Some destination spas are in exotic locations or in spa towns.
Destination spas have been in use for a considerable time, and some are not used actively, but rather are historically preserved as elements of earlier history; for example, Gilroy Yamato Hot Springs in California is such a historically used spa whose peak patronage occurred in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Resort spas are generally located in resorts and offer similar services via rooms with services, meals, body treatments and fitness a la carte.

Typical services include:
- nutrition counseling
- weight loss
- medical treatment
- fitness consultation
- cooking lessons
- massage
- facials — facial cleansing with a variety of products
- nail care
- waxing — the removal of body hair with hot wax
- body treatments such as body wraps, aromatherapy
- balneotherapy
- skin exfoliation — including chemical peels and microdermabrasion
- hair spa treatment

Day Spa

A day spa is a business establishment which people visit for professionally administered personal care treatments such as massages and facials. It is similar to a beauty salon in that it is only visited for the duration of the treatment. Day spas sited in airport terminals are often called airport spas, which also offer services for hair and nails. In contrast, a destination spa offers the same services in a hotel setting where people reside for one or more days.

Typical services

1. facials — facial cleansing with a variety of products
2. massage
3. waxing — the removal of body hair with hot wax
4. body treatments such as body wraps, aromatherapy, salt scrubs, etc.
5. skin exfoliation — including chemical peels and microdermabrasion
6. manicures and pedicures

What is Body Butter?

What is Body Butter?

Body butter plant has the basic ingredients that contain fat such as nuts or fruits. Fat nuts or fruits are processed to extract useful for the manufacture of skin moisturizer products. This product is called body butter.
His name had become a variety of suitable basic materials, such as shea butter from nuts or cocoa butter than the white chocolate. In order to maximize benefits, body butter formula mixed with other materials that contain oils, like olive oil, avocado oil or peach oil. Thus, the oil content were also more and more dense texture like butter (Butter)

You should know:

Body butter is more durable than sticking to the skin body lotion
Body butter should be applied again if your skin is exposed to water
There are also good body butter smeared on the body fold areas, such as elbows, ankles, knees and feet
Not recommended to apply the body butter for you who want to bask in the sun
Tesktur like butter (Butter)
Body Butter characteristics of cocoa butter use white feature has an Ivory or white toward yellow and smelled like a typical young white chocolate
Characteristic body butter with shea butter which is slightly yellowish or ivory-colored natural fat extracted from the seeds of the shea tree. Shea butter is widely used in cosmetics as a moisturizer. Shea butter comes from the natural Shea tree can only grow in the African continent. Because only grow in the african continent is why they were very expensive for producers in Indonesia because kosmestik program must be imported from Africa. Instead we used cocoa butter is hard to find and relatively cheap,
Contains tocopherols and polyphenols that serves to counteract the free radicals
As a source of vitamin E that has many benefits for the skin
Contains tocopherols and polyphenols that serves to counteract the free radicals
Be careful selecting body butter body butter make sure you buy contains shea butter, or at least does not contain cocoa butter for many products that claim to use butter but it's not butter massage cream but added paraffin oil, white oil, Vaseline up to resemble a real butter.

Cosmetic Ingredients to Avoid

Cosmetic Ingredients to Avoid

Mercury (Hg)

Including hazardous heavy metals, which in little concentrations can be toxic. The use of mercury in whitening creams can cause a variety of things, ranging from skin discoloration which can ultimately cause dark spots on the skin, allergies, skin irritation and the use of high doses can cause permanent brain damage, kidney and fetal developmental disorder-term exposure to even short in high doses can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and damage to the lungs and is carcinogenic substances (causes cancer) in humans.

Hydroquinone

Groups including hard drugs can only be used under a doctor's prescription. Dangers of this use of prescription drugs without medical supervision can cause irritation of the skin, the skin becomes red and burning can also cause abnormalities in the kidneys (nephropathy), blood cancer (leukemia) and liver cancer cells (hepatocelluler adenoma).

Mineral Oil, Paraffin Oil, Vaseline (Petrolatum)

often used as base material formulation kosmestik. Because the molecular size larger than the size of skin pores of mineral oil can not absorb into the skin and can clog the skin pores. Besides the mineral oil is also komedogenik (causing blackheads). As an alternative look for cosmetics that contain vegetable oils / oils from plants such as olive oil, soybean oil is good and power serapnya small molecules that can penetrate the skin pores.

Lanolin

Is the lubricant that comes from fat in the skin of sheep, often used as a softener in cosmetics formulations. These materials can cause allergic reactions and komedogenik when the user is in large quantities. Find that contains silk amino acid or squalene derived from plants as a softener.

Alcohol

Commonly used in cosmetic products for oily skin and acne or as a peralut. This material will dry out the skin when use in large quantities. We recommend using a natural astringent extract the plant from absorbing oil and minerals to treat oily skin problems.

Artificial fragrance

This Gynecology menyababkan irritation and allergic reactions in the skin approximately 1% of the general population and at least 35% of all allergic reactions due to cosmetics. Deodorizer also be photo sensitive and will cause pigmentation due to sun exposure, as a good substitute is a natural fragrance derived from plant extract or essential oil.

Artificial coloring

Dye called coal tar derivatives used as dyes in cosmetic base is komedogenik and will cause a certain type of skin becomes sensitive and acne.

Komedogenik

Many raw materials are often used in cosmetic products are komedogenik and cause skin disorders.

Formaldehyde

This material is often used as a preservative, are very drying and irritating to skin. Formaldehyde karsinogerik effect (causes cancer) and most often cause skin irritation reactions. The best preservative is a natural vitamin E which acts as an antioxidant.

Differences between Body Butter, Body Mist and Body Lotion

Differences between Body Butter, Body Mist and Body Lotion

Dehydration of the skin will make your skin look dry, dull and sagging. Lack of water content makes the production of collagen which serves to give moisture to the skin decreases. Today, many types of products that can help moisturize the skin with each unique, among them are: body butter, body mist and body lotion. But before you decide to use which, carefully used your skin needs.

Body Butter

Compared body mist and body lotion, body butter has a moisture content of the highest. High levels of fat such as butter making shape (butter), which is a thick cream. Very good for the skin with extra conditions dry, cracked and rough, especially in the areas of elbows, knees, ankles and feet.

Body Mist

Fragrance and packaging body similar to the body mist spray is usually used to scent the body. Body mist contain a certain amount of oil, which serves as the binding of water in your skin does not become dehydrated. Suitable for normal skin that does not experience problems such as cracked.

Body Lotion

Other types of body lotion is a body lotion. Levels of moisture body lotion a better level than body mist. Very good for your normal to dry skin, not too problematic, and not too often exposed to too extreme temperatures, such as solar or AC. Similarly, the body mist and body butter body lotion use is best immediately after a shower. Use the whole body and repeat usage whenever skin feels dry