Ignite!!! The fiery theme for iSpa 2017 lit a spark under each and every attendee, getting us all excited for how we can grow and inspire our communities around us. The three day event took place at the Mandalay Bay, just days after the smoke was settling from the worst mass shooting our country has ever seen, and the timing of that turned out to be quite beautiful. Everyone attending felt good about coming to this place to support Las Vegas and all of the dedicated employees of the hotel. The event kicked off with long moments of silence, recognizing the sudden string of insane tragedies that had swept across our country.
And then, it was business time! New to the iSpa floor was a true fire starter, Ira Green, and her product Freedom natural deodorant. Her passion to protect humans from breast cancer by offering pure, whole, natural products drove her to develop this amazing blend that not only is safe enough to eat (although I wouldn’t recommend that) but also really works! Being a bit of a science snob, I have studied a lot and have learned that not only is aluminum a sneaky substance that has been linked with dementia, but also the ingredients used to create modern day antiperspirants are registered drugs and should be given respect and maybe raise a couple of eyebrows.
I took some samples home from the show, and I can tell you that Freedom deodorant is outstanding. I wear it all day, and then go to sleep, wake up, go take a bootcamp class and still…I don’t stink! And to know that I’m not causing any hormonal disruptions in my body using these pure ingredients makes me double smile. But most of all, as a single mom, I applaud Ira’s tenacity and power in creating, developing and making this product available to us, because she too is a single mom. My heart leaps with joy to see this incredible achievement, because this is not coming from some rich multimillion dollar company that decided to dabble in something just to make a quick buck. Pure passion, hard work and dedication did.
Another new face discovered this year on the iSpa floor was Julie Ure, with the company Get Salted. This fabulous organization recognized the astounding healing capacities of Himalayan salts, both when ingested and applied externally. Inspired by the book Water and Salt: The Essence of Life by Barbara Hendel, Julie jumped into the salty world of holistic beauty. She partnered up with Leo Tonkin, owner of the company The Salt Chamber, who introduced dry salt therapy to the United States about 8 years ago.
Her first goal was to create something for her 9 year old daughter who had an autoimmune condition and was unable to use her beloved Lush or Bath and Body products because of her sensitivity to the artificial ingredients. So Julie invented amazingly sensuous bath bombs using only all natural ingredients and essential oils. Because they contain Himalayan salts, these bombs actually hydrate and nourish the skin, providing 84 of the natural minerals our bodies need.
I perused the well appointed booth full of exciting goodies, including salt stones for massage, soap and body bars, but the thing that really caught my eye was the Sole Jar. It is a jar of pure, Himalayan salts (of course) that has room for water to be added to it. After letting the water soak the stones for 24 hours, one teaspoon of this salty water can be added to 8 ounces of pure water and consumed daily to remineralize the body. This captured my attention because my doctor was just telling me the other day how our reverse osmosis systems are filtering all of these important minerals out of our water, and he had a chemical mineral concoction that I could purchase and then add to my drinking water (which was expensive, by the way).
The Sole Jar was an inexpensive, natural way to get these minerals into my body. I was also excited when Julie shared with me that after 3 weeks of having just a teaspoon a day in her water, that she noticed an increase of energy and a decrease in sugar cravings. And her husband noticed his libido increase. I must admit that after using it for just 10 days, I have noticed the same results. Being a firestarter, Julie has plans for more exciting, natural products on the horizon, which I am beyond thrilled to see happen.
Finally, there was Farmhouse Fresh, a socially responsible, ecological skincare line. They are an old favorite of mine, and at iSpa this year, they introduced me to three new products, all of which I found to be amazing. First was their Vitamin Berry Facial Tonic, which is a lovely pick-me-up in the form of a light misty spray, for a tired feeling face, restoring the pH balance with a delightfully fresh berry scent. This can be topped off with their luxurious new Three Milk Ageless Night Cream, a thick, moisture-full bomb for the face that firms and hydrates while you sleep. And my hands and feet were extremely pleased to become acquainted with their new Steeped Milk Lotion, available in Honey Chai or Buttermilk Lavender.
There was so much more to see and do at iSpa this year. Like always, the experience did not disappoint. These were just my top 3 for the year…but all of it was awesome. I could go on and on about the new BB and CC creams from Kerstan Florian, or the amazing massage water table with accompanying binaural beat sounds from Gharieni, or the always incredible, almost edible products offered by Boldijarre from Eminence Organics… but I’m thinking you might just want to get yourself there one day. After all, who doesn’t love seeing great, new innovations first?
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