środa, 22 września 2010

WHAT IS VINOTHERAPY ?


Vinotherapy is a beauty therapy process using wine grapes.


Wine therapy is the latest discovery in the field of aesthetics and well-being. The therapy "exploits the benefits of grape marc (the remains after the juice is pressed out to create wine), grape must, grape seeds and wine." Customers are bathed (la bainéothérapie) in "naturally hot" water mixed with extracts of wine and grapes, including the skin, pulp and seeds. The wine bath drains the skin of impurities by increasing circulation and "battles effectively against ageing."

Wine grapes are the perfect fruit for skin conditioning, as they are very high in antioxidants, particularly polyphenols and resveratol.

Over the centuries, wine has been used as an antiseptic and a sedative to alleviate depression, hypertension, gout and rheumatism. Julius Caesar recommended wine for his troops to increase strength and prevent dysentery.

Recent studies suggest the compound resveratrol, found in the skin of red grapes, might have important anti-aging properties.

HISTORY

In France, in 1990 Mathilde and Bertrand Thomas gave a tour of their winery to a University of Bordeaux professor and his students. The revelation he made would open the way to a new and exciting approach to skincare. Professor Vercauteren discovered that the grape seeds discarded at the end of the grape harvest contained powerful anti-aging properties. The grape seeds contain polyphenols which, once stabilized, have priceless benefits for the skin. The anti-oxidants contained in grape seed polyphenols have an incredible capacity to fight free radicals, and therefore fight skin aging. The free-radical protection from grape seed polyphenols is unequalled in the plant world. With the experience of wine making behind them and a patented, stabilized grape-seed polyphenol, Caudalie was born.

In 1993, a French company, Caudalie, collaborated with the Faculty of Pharmaceuticals of Bordeaux University in applying the grape’s antioxidant-rich properties to spa treatments. Consequently, Caudalie trademarked the word Caudalie Vinotherapie® and introduced a line of high-end products rich in wine and grapeseed oil.

In 1999, Caudalie opened its first spa at the Château Smith Haut Lafitte vineyards near Bordeaux. Here masseuses use artisanal wine-making rakes to massage energy paths on the spine. Later, Caudalie built its Caudalie Spa at Relais San Maurizio in Italy.

VINOTHERAPY IN UMBRIA

In the Italian medieval town of Torgiano, the ancient culture of wine is being put to new uses for health and beauty in a local wellness spa.

At the Bella Uve SPA, stressed-out visitors can enjoy massages with ointments made from grapes and herbs, and a Cleopatra-like bath in crushed grapes in a wooden tub. The bath is accompanied by a goblet of wine from the region.

Winemaking in central Italy's Umbria region dates back to antiquity. Using wine for wellness is also traced to ancient times, says Teresa Severini, one of Italy's first female oenologists. She helps run the family business, Lungarotti Winery, the biggest in the region.

The Italian region of Umbria is known as the "green heart" of the country. It is covered by miles and miles of vineyards.

UMBRIA

"Many centuries ago, you can find recipes to have good skin, good health. And still today, if you go into the country you can find people immersing their legs in the wine when they are tired, or doing massage on their scalp because of the good properties of wine," Severini says.

The town looms over gentle hills, lined with row after row of vineyards. On the lower
slopes, succulent white grapes — pinot grigio, trebbiano, and chardonnay — are waiting to be picked. Reds such as sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon and pinot nero glow lusciously on the higher slopes. This is the home of many fine wines, including Rubesco, whose name derives from the word "blush" in Latin.

The spa has revived the ancient use of grapes and wine to make unguents, perfumes and soaps — applied with modern massage methods. Every treatment uses a specific wine for
foot massages, facials and body peelings.

Masseuse Emanuella Menella fills a wooden tub that looks like a wine cask. She adds 3 liters of sangiovese red for the treatment, called "the Wave of Bacchus."

"We start the wine therapy with a scrub, massage with cream with wine, and after, a bath in wine," Menella says. "After the bath in wine, you feel energized because wine activates circulation. It is an antioxidant, and relaxes muscles."

Many of the treatments available at the spa derive from what in centuries past were known as "books of secrets" — documents filled with beauty aides and remedies for everyday ailments written by women for other women.

"We all made wine more or less the way the Romans did until the Second World War. It all changed with modern machines and technology," she says.

Visitors can see Etruscan urns with scenes of funeral banquets, reflecting the belief that wine accompanied the soul on the long trip to the afterlife.

There are small jugs from the ancient Greek region of Attica of the fifth century B.C. They were traditional gifts for children during a festival honoring the god Dionysus and part of a rite of passage in which wine played a central role.

The displays alternate between the sacred and the profane, including ceremonial bronze pieces and glassware from ancient Greece, alongside medieval and renaissance winemaking tools.

At the spa, Menella says all the treatments are just modern versions of what Cleopatra and others of her time would have enjoyed.

"She did the bath in wine, the bath in milk, for moisturizing her skin. So we take the old treatments," Menella says. "Here in Umbria we have all natural products, why not use that?"

RECOMMENDED VINOTHERAPY SPAS

Soon after 1999, top spas began incorporating wine into their therapies.

While the family of Caudalie Vinotherapie® Spas remains the most exclusive, several destination spas and day spas also offer vineyard spa inspirations -- some in the beauty of their vineyard and winery settings, and others in the presentation of vineyard inspired treatments.

The most renown are Hacienda (Ribera del Duero, Spain), Marquis de Réscal (Rioja, Spain), Spa Bourgogne, France, super chic Patios de Cafayate in Argentinian Calchaquí Valley, szwajcarski Lindner Alpentherme in Leukerbad, Switzerland, two SPA in Canadzie (Beyond Wrapture, Kelowna, BC and St. Catharines, Ontario.

Just outside Paris the creators of Caudalie Vinotherapy Spas have launched Les Etangs de Corot. Taking a run-down hotel they've transformed it into a chic spa.
At the Patios de Cafayate wine spa in Argentina, nestled in the Calchaquí Valley, guests can bathe in barrels of bubbling waters spiked with cabernet and soak in an aromatic blend of grape syrups, juices, pips and grapeseed oils.

One of the most exciting projects is definitely 6 stars hotel Marquis de Réscal (Rioja, Spain), designed by Frank Gehry.

Hotel’s spa facilities are operated by Caudalie Vinotherapie® Spas offering among others:

VIDEO


• Baths and Wraps: treatments to infiltrate the tissues, physiologically eliminating water and activating the circulation thanks to extracts of red grapevines and biological essential oils.

• Therapeutic Massage: the massages of Caudalie are carried out with essential oils and extra-fine grape seed oil which well known for its nutritional and softening properties. This oil keeps the skin hydrated and restores its elasticity.

• Facial treatment: aimed at achieving firmer, healthier and more attractive skin, these treatments use stabilized polyphenols that increase collagen and elastine production. The polyphenols also combat free radicals which are the main cause of skin aging.