Indigenous Treatments At the Spa

Indigenous treatments are a spa trend that highlight local ingredients and therapeutic traditions -- ruby grapefruit scrubs in Texas, blueberry wraps in Maine, Lomi Lomi massage in Hawaii.

Spas use a lot of creativity to come up with these indigenous treatments. At their best, indigenous treatments are deeply authentic, giving you experiences you couldn't have anywhere else, like a highly skilled Lomi Lomi massage by a skilled Hawaiian practitioner. Sometimes they're a little gimmicky, but still fun.

Here are a few examples of indigenous treatments:

* The Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa offers a Cactus Flower Wrap that uses prickly pear cactus extract to soften your skin, and a Sedona Mud Wrap that uses local mud to detoxify your body and nourish your skin.

* Hawaiian spas offer Lomi Lomi, a healing type of Hawaiian massage derived from ancient Polynesian traditions. It usually begins with a blessing, and the massage is given with very fluid motions using the forearms.

* Mohonk Mountain House in upstate New York has a Mohonk Red massage that uses towels infused with a witchhazel that only grows in the Shawangunk Mountains.

* The Cliff House in Maine has a Blueberry Body Wrap and Blueberry Smoothie Pedicure and offers hot stone massage with stones it collected from its own beach.

The Cotton House in the Caribbean island of Mustique uses tropical fruits in its Lime and Pineapple Extravanza. Fresh lime is mixed with sea salt for a body scrub, followed by a pineapple, yogurt and honey wrap to soothe and soften the skin.