PHOTOS COURTESY OF TAMARA INSTITUT DE BEAUTE '
Remineralizing
body treatments
aim at rehydration
and purification.
Mineral treatments offer
an all-natural mode
of relaxation.
RUTH LITTMANN STAFF WRITER
eAr
oreen Aberly is a snowbird who loves the sun.
She winters in Florida and returns to Michigan in spring-
time when the weather warms up and she can get down to
flowers and vegetables at home in her Bloomfield Hills
garden.
The outdoor activities take their toll on her skin, however,
so Mrs. Aberly makes a habit of getting body treatments that
look suspiciously like the ocean she swims in and the soil she
plants in — but feel great, she insists.
Algae powder. Seaweed. Oils. Sea salt. Iodine. The combi-
nation forms part of Ms. Aberly's healthy "mud bath" regimen
at Tamara Institut De Beaute. The Farmington Hills spa of-
fers all-natural body treatments that aim to relax, rehydrate
and rejuvenate body and soul.
"You feel energized and delicious afterward," Ms. Aberly
says.
Mud baths — more appropriately called remineralizing and
rehydrating body treatments — generally start with a 10- to
20-minute sweat in a steam or dry sauna. With perspiration,
the body releases toxins and the skin loosens a little.
At Tamara, owner Tamara Friedman offers her clients a
"Salt Glow Treatment" when they emerge from the sauna. Us-
ing sea salt and aromatic oils, she exfoliates skin from head
to toe. The exfoliant sloughs off dead-cells and allows for bet-
ter penetration of additional products, she says.
Throughout the process, environs are kept quiet, the ambience tran-
quil. At Tamara and other spas around town, the atmosphere is bliss-
fully hushed to heighten the safe-haven aura.
Next comes the mud. It's greenish and sort of earthy-looking. But there-
in lies the key to a healthful wallow, says Ms. Friedman and other ex-
perts.
Ingredients from the sea — considered the source of life — contain
elements vital to good health. When prepared in a certain way and ap-
plied topically, some say they have the ability to penetrate the skin and
induce healing.
At Tamara, licensed massage therapists deliver the treatments, which
last between one and three hours and cost $65 to $150. Ms. Friedman
says nearly 20 customers a week request the full regimen.
After the body is covered in mud, it is enfolded into "astro-wrap," which
looks like tinfoil. Lying under a heat lamp for warmth, the client can opt
for a facial, complete with cucumber slices to reduce puffiness and tight-
en skin around the eyes.
Mrs. Aberly, who generally receives one full treatment a month, de-
scribes the process as relaxing and cooling. "If you are not claustropho-
Top: Body salad: Cucumbers soothe the eyes.
Right: Hydro-tub provides a relaxing massage
and rinse.
bic, it's fine," she says. And, after washing off in a high power hydro-tub,
you feel smooth, like someone scrubbed you all over."
The treatment doesn't finish with a bath, however. Next comes ma-
rine lotion with algae and more essential oils. Sage, juniper, cyprus and
rosemary extracts hydrate the skin, says Ms. Friedman. She advises her
customers not to rinse off or shower for 24 hours. This gives the treat-
ment time to sink in.
"People would never spend money to come here if theydid not feel bet-
ter, if it did not work," she says.
However, there is some question as to whether rehydrating and rem-
ineralizing treatments work as spa experts say they do. Although some spa
owners claim that certain oils, algae and sea extracts penetrate the epi-
dermis and enter the bloodstream, many medical doctors beg to differ.
The epidermis, most say, is designed to keep the outside world out. Dr.
Marvin Siegel, a dermatologist in Waterford Township, says very few
chemicals are able to penetrate adult skin. But, if a mineral bath proves
to be relaxing, go ahead.
"If it feels good, do it," he says.
The American Academy of Dermatology in Chicago advises people who
seek mud baths for specific skin ailments to first consult a physician. ❑
"