COVER STORY: SLOW SKINCARE AND THE SPA RENAISSANCE

Slow Skincare and the Spa Renaissance

Waterlily is paving the way towards the intersection of mindful spa experiences and science based skincare.

Imagine walking into your dream day spa. The tranquil space has been thoughtfully curated to tantalise your senses and induce calm. The warm greeting puts you immediately at ease. You are mindfully hosted through the treatment experience creating an assurance that holds space for connection, recovery and healing. The spa ritual you are about to experience is layered with opulent touch points and aromatic extra sprinkles that surprise and delight, and you surrender to deep relaxation.

Waterlily, an Australian skincare brand, helps day spas deliver this exquisite experience across Australia and New Zealand. Curious how? Let us explore below how Waterlily helps bring to life exquisite wellbeing experiences and truly glowing skin...

The beginnings of a handcrafted, slow skincare collection

Waterlily has been formulating Spa Rituals since 2004, including the professional Spa Collection which is trusted and used in over 150 luxury day spas and leading salons across Australia and New Zealand. From the very first active ingredient, Waterlily’s formulations reflect green science, creativity, transparency, purity and superiority in formulation.

The Waterlily story begins with the Founder and Formulator of the brand, Michelle Reeve. Her vision was to create proactive rituals of self-care that captured the values of intensity and integrity through fresh batched beauty and clean and green cosmeceuticals. In other words: Spa Wellness.

This idea was fuelled by a passion for natural medicine to reimagine skincare to focus on prevention, health and skin nutrition. Each product in the Waterlily Collection has been thoughtfully imagined and created, and is handcrafted in their Botanical Laboratory in Brisbane, Australia.

For fifteen years, Waterlily has been a pioneer and custodian of this philosophy with a heritage embracing pure skin nutrition. The holistic philosophy of the brand where mindfulness, slow skincare, eating beauty and naturopathic philosophies meet.

Behind the scenes of the Waterlily Botanical Laboratory

Let us take a closer look at Waterlily’s Botanical Laboratory where you will find ingredients are thoughtfully selected for their botanical nutrition with a paddock-to-plate philosophy. Thought and care is behind each carefully selected element of this brand’s product formulation.

The result of this unique, bespoke approach is an exquisite infusion of botanical actives with cutting edge cosmeceuticals to create an intensive, sensory and effective skincare solution which not only delivers a beautiful spa journey but elevates the self-care ritual for home. An aromatic skin solution that honours mind, body and soul with a passionate following of skincare and wellbeing advocates.

Working with a spa brand that values you

Care and kindness is reflected in each touchpoint of the Waterlily Spa Partner experience, from that first order placed, to business development and the tailored support offered. One of our valued Spa Partners, Luxury Spicers Retreats, have stocked Waterlily exclusively for over a decade. Lisa Tristram, Spa Manager at Spa Anise Tamarind of Spicers Retreats shares, “Working with the Waterlily team is innovative, beautiful and always keeping up with the latest science in skin. It keeps our therapists passionate and invested in doing the best for our spa guests. The team has become like our extended family, their support is invaluable and so incredibly caring. If we need training, support for an event, beautiful imagery or collateral it is always available with a smile.”

Why care and connection matter

In a space where aesthetics has been the traditional model for beauty treatments, Waterlily’s mission is to lead a renewed health-focused renaissance in the spa and salon space. Just like it takes a village to do most things, health doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Research shows time and again that the key to health and longevity is community.

My hope is that one day our Day Spas will be the cathedrals of our health care experience

That is why Waterlily prioritises care, connection, support and collaboration. This is one of the many reasons why people choose to partner with the brand, as well as the 360° support offered to create and hold space for rituals that put touch, care and connection first.

“Care and connection matter. Firstly, they matter at work because we spend so much of our time, and ultimately our lives, working. For me, my time invested in work needs to be a personal reflection of the values I hold dear. That is kindness and compassion. The care we take to do things is important. The care for each other, who we work with and partner with, and the community that surrounds us all, are at the end of the day, the moments that make up our lives,” Michelle explains.

As for the care and connection delivered in Waterlily spa treatments, this is more than relaxation, as important as that is. The touch that is delivered during a massage or spa treatment lowers our stress hormones, including cortisol, and helps the body shift into rest and digest mode, which is integral for our wellbeing. This touch, paired with aromatherapy that is the cornerstone of the Waterlily formulations, is an experience unlike any other.

“We need touch and connection and community in our lives to feel truly well. Spa is absolutely key to this. What better way to invest in ourselves and our health than time in a spa. The community of spa wellness advocates making this happen for their guests, make me so grateful for what we do each and every day.”

For Michelle, creating skincare that delivers both results and a holistic wellness experience has been a key benchmark for all Waterlily formulations, underpinning the delivery of exceptional results for the skin as well as exquisite rituals that honour health.

“My hope is that one day our Day Spas will be the cathedrals of our health care experience.”

What’s next for Waterlily

Waterlily continues to grow, and imagining new ways to serve our partners continues to drive brand evolution. At the heart of the Waterlily team’s work is partnering with like-minded smart, kind, and passionate advocates of spa wellness.

waterlilyskinbodyspa.com.au

@waterlilyaustralasia

+61 7 3390 3988