Intensive heat therapies among top spa trends for 2017

Sweat-inducing treatments, on-the-go services and businesses that blur the lines between spa and medicine are the trends set to shape the market next year, according to Stylus’s Future Beauty: Evolution of the Spa report.

The top three trends are: On-demand services drive innovation: Mobile on-demand services such as Blow Ltd, Freauty and Zeebba have applied the Uber model to popular treatments such as massages, making them available at a time suitable for busy clients. The concurrent trend for targeted, no-nonsense treatments also fits this demographic. Heat therapies take centre stage: Sweatinducing infrared heat and “face-freezing” liquid nitrogen treatments are emerging on to the market and many US spas are already getting involved.

Los Angeles’s Shape House is encasing clients in sleeping bags on a bed that emits far-infrared to induce a detoxifying sweat, while California’s Skin Laundry is offering a 15-minute facial that uses laser and intense pulsed light to “vaporise” dirt. Medi-spas are on the rise: Vitamin-drip therapies, such as EF Medispa’s Drip & Chill lounge are gaining traction, while the availability of DNA testing is creating more bespoke treatments. For example, London facialist Kate Kerr collects a cheek-swab sample from clients pre-treatment to get a better understanding of their underlying skin issues.

The rise of podiatry in pedicures is also playing a role, as is the increased take-up of advanced machines such as A-Lift in spas.

This story first appeared in the November issue of Professional Beauty. Find out about industry news first by subscribing here.