Who’s your brand?  What does she or he look like?  What do they wear?  How do they dress?  This was my dilemma when I spent a night pouring through the shelves with Rita at Barnes & Noble.  It was Rita’s idea to head to B & N to research the new brand.  When you create a spa, you have to have a visual was Rita’s advice.

Book after book, what was I looking for?  To me, the brand was smiles, happy, black and white pictures, glamour, dancing, long eye lashes, big lipstick, elegant, whimsical, fun, and larger than life.  The new spa experience would be elegant, yet whimsical.  So I poured through books and took many photos.  Below, this was the brand from the books at Barnes and Noble.

The visuals above provided a road-map for our photo shoot for the spa brand.  The pictures gave us words, feelings, and guidance.  I guess that is why they say a picture is worth a 1,000 words.

Just like the rump of the cow gets branded…so does your spa.  When a farmer brands their cows, it is their way of telling the other farmers…hey you this is my cow.  When a client or guest walks through your door, what does your brand say?  Is it stamped where it should be?  Bags, brochures, signage, uniforms,…the list goes on all need to have YOUR brand, YOUR professional logo.

Plus, what does your brand infer about the spa experience…is it beachy, casual, snooty, elegant, whimsical, fun, serious, therapeutic, nautical, chakra, mountains, lakes, chocolate–the list could go on for your spa exerience.  You see, making your spa experience special is your way of branding your cow.  What you say or even don’t say about your story is repeated to others as their spa experience at your spa.  So, use all your senses to come up with your brand, your logo, and your spa experience.

Sear your spa experience on numerous rumps–it’s the spa way.

The days of using just soap and water on your skin are over for most people, especially if you want to have a great complexion and look younger. Few people realize that the skin is the largest organ of the body and it acts as the first defense against the environment, therefore we need to constantly take care of our skin and make it feel beautiful. But more important, great skin is now like a symbol of youth, no matter how old you are, if you have great skin, you will be very self-confidant and sure of yourself.

So what does it take to have great skin and what is great skin? We like to define great skin, as smooth feeling, glowing, and unblemished. It has nothing to do with wrinkles, age spots, pregnancy mask, skin tags, or any of the other numerous (and quite lovely) skin problems. Great skin is radiant and again, it has nothing to do with age.

Early intervention and taking care of your skin in your 20’s will give you fabulous skin when you are eighty. From lifestyle to technology, skincare is having a revolution in the aging process. We want to minimize the aging process by fighting increasing dryness, loss of elasticity, fine lines and wrinkles, rough texture, dehydration, hyperpigmentation . . . just to name a few of the aging signals. From exfoliation to skin lighteners to sun protection, advanced skin care is for those who want to go the extra mile. Your daily home care regimen and how you take care of your skin at home is the key to great skin.

For lifestyle, you have to evaluate your skin and obvious hereditary factors, exposure to the elements and lifestyle (smoking, alcohol) will contribute to the physical changes in your skin as you age. Nutrition, especially heavy dieting and vitamin defiencies can contribute to skin changes and aging, including hyperpigmentation. It is well known that proper skincare, long-term preventative techniques contribute to a total wellness approach to great skin. The tops in lifestyle for having great skin are to drink more water, decrease sun exposure, exfoliate more rapidly, use more moisturizers, get more sleep, and eat right. Your skin can tell you how well you are taking care of yourself.

As technology and science starts to evaluate the skin, we will continue to have advances in skin care and skin care treatments. For starters, you have to know what kind of skin you have—is it oily, normal or dry, and then there are a myriad of new treatments available from microdermabrasion to oxygen peels to the old standby, glycolic acid. Your skin can look the best ever as technology gives us the ability to exfoliate dead skin cells, increase cellular turnover, encourage collage and elastin to reconnect, or through DNA cell therapy have the new skin cells rebuild. It all sounds a little like a science project, but the technology is available to have smooth, glowing and radiant skin.

It seems like there is never enough time in the day to get everything done. Take the time, no matter your age, to get a sense of how your skin is doing. Dedication to good skin care will help you look and feel younger….even radiant.