Better Homes And Gardens Garden Spa Wax

Farm to Facial

A number of resorts are featuring botanical beauty products and treatments sourced straight from the garden.

Image courtesy of JW Marriott

Guests at Phoenix, Arizona's JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort can take garden tours and then see garden elements integrated into their spa treatments.

The garden-to-table movement of restaurants' sourcing recipes from seasonal produce has caught on like wildfire. Now, in a new spin on using the freshest, purest garden ingredients, a number of luxury resorts and spas are beginning to offer plant-to-pamper masks, massages and other botanical beauty treatments, sourced from nearby or even on-site gardens.

Many of these resorts and destinations incorporate garden tours along with treatments so that guests can see how garden ingredients are sourced before being incorporated into the spa experience. At the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort and Spa in Phoenix, Ariz., guests can take a tour of the Revive Herb Garden and then enjoy a spa treatment blended by a botanist with those same garden ingredients. At the Old Edwards Inn and Spa in Highlands, N.C., guests can enjoy a Sweet Mountain Metamorphosis massage that uses crushed lavender, peppermint and rosemary grown by local florist Oakleaf, situated across the street from the inn.

Some of these farm-to-facial resorts emphasize beauty and health from the inside out. At the JW Marriott Cancun Resort and Spa guests enjoy an ancient Mayan drink made with anise and honey that is said to enhance tranquility and experience a massage using locally sourced Mayan herbs.

At the St. Regis San Francisco, ingredients for Beauté de Terroir spa services are sourced from the Matanzas Creek Winery, including grape seed oil and lavender. Lavender from Matanzas is featured in a lavender salt scrub, a combination of sea salt, shea butter, ground chamomile, lavender essential oil and musk. The scrub is followed by an aromatherapy massage featuring grape seed oil, lavender and rose essential oils.

Interested in creating your own botanical beauty treatment? Try this easy recipe for an herbal scrub:

Herbal Garden Scrub

1 cup Epsom salts*
½ cup fresh rosemary** – chopped
¼ cup olive oil

Combine all ingredients into a paste. Apply in a circular motion to any dry areas, avoiding the face. Rinse with water and pat dry. Repeat once or twice a week, depending on individual need.

*Epsom salts help slough off dead skin cells, and olive oil helps lock moisture into the skin.

**Fresh rosemary's intense fragrance means there is no need to use any other scents with this invigorating herb scrub.