Beauty for self-esteem - Sarah Camilleri

Having reported on the latest innovations in the spa world for the past 20 years, I have seen the transformational impact beauty and wellbeing services can make to people’s lives.

Spas provide invaluable space, services and access to wellbeing modalities that can help people massively improve their health and shift their lives to embrace preventative health. Beauty services and selfcare are essential to the spa mix.

I was given a glimpse of how spas would transform to wellness destinations over ten years ago when I was invited to Avène Hydrotherapy Center in the Cévennes mountains in France. There, I witnessed a powerful convergence of medical, hydrotherapy and beauty services to promote self-esteem, healing and skin health.

Where spa meets medical Celebrated for its natural healing waters, Avene Hydrotherapy Center boasts an extraordinary success rate for skin health. Today, more than 3,000 people a year are treated there for skin conditions like atopic dermatitis (eczema), rosacea, psoriasis, burns and skin side-effects from cancer treatments.

Back then I was taken to see the dedicated children’s hydrotherapy spa, where a group of children of different ages were playing in the water – laughing, splashing and having the time of their lives. Despite being covered from head to toe in psoriasis lesions, their time together was deeply therapeutic and with a medically supervised hydrotherapy programme they would be weaned off harsh topical steroids and medication to allow their bodies to start to heal. It was a watershed moment for me regarding the invaluable role spas can play.

Skin health and beauty

Chronic skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema are all too common, but we woefully underestimate the impact they have on people’s own sense of beauty and self-esteem. As a child I lived with constant flare-ups of guttate psoriasis, which continued long into adulthood. I understand the discomfort and isolation of psoriasis as well as the constant shame of having to explain that it was not an infectious disease. It made me self-conscious, anxious and shy.

Looking back, although dermatologists prescribed everything from tar baths, topical steroids and powerful immune system-suppressant drugs, no one ever asked me how I was feeling. Back then, no one saw the value of a more holistic approach to treating inflammation and my skin. Thankfully, today my skin is clear and healthy and, dare I say it, beautiful. It is something I am grateful for daily and work hard to maintain through my own holistic approach to wellbeing and life.

Beauty can transform lives

Also, on that memorable trip I watched Avène’s work with guests suffering facial injuries and burns. An extraordinary team of makeup artists and therapists were brushing on confidence and self-esteem with every stroke of specially created skincare and makeup. They told me that many of their classes to teach beauty techniques were also about creating a safe space to talk. For many, these makeup lessons were the vital first step back into society and back to themselves.

Back then, Avène’s famous waters together with the openness of the medical team and extraordinary work of its beauty and spa specialists was unforgettably powerful. It was also a glimpse into the future of spa and wellness, and what we would go on to achieve.

www.aveneusa.com/about-avene/hydrotherapy-center

Sarah Camilleri

FOUNDING EDITOR, EUROPEAN SPA MAGAZINE

Sarah Camilleri is the founding editor and owner of European Spa magazine and its affiliated daily news website www. europeanspamagazine.com. Its international success is built on a reputation for in-depth expert content derived from comprehensive ‘in-the-field’ research and journalistic integrity.

Sarah is committed to the spa and wellness industry and passionate about sharing the latest innovations in beauty, wellbeing, fitness and preventative health services.