Move over Dead Sea mud, anti-aging creams and a whole host of other lotions and potions too! When it comes to preserving your youthful handsome looks and physical well-being, something even better is hitting the headlines. Peat. Yes that’s right, good old Irish peat straight out of the bog.
It’s a wonder it took us so long to realise that this brown gold has an even more wonderful purpose than making a divine open fire! But we can thank the discovery of Old Croghan Man and Clonycavan Man, for showing us the way. These two bog bodies, which date back to the Iron Age, were discovered in 2003.
If you’re scratching your head and wondering what a somewhat macabre reference to bog bodies has to do with well-being, well we’ve got two important words to say to you: ‘naturally’ and ‘preserved’. Those two bodies date back 2,300 years and their skin was in remarkable condition.
While they might not be able to promise that you’ll look as good as you do now in two millennia, the therapists at ESPA at the Ritz Carlton in Co Wicklow are now putting peat to really good use thanks to their uniquely Irish Warming Peat Ritual.
This is the ultimate way to condition winter skin and warm and soothe aching, tired muscles. Made with 100% natural Og Ireland Peat, the treatment has an array of therapeutic benefits.
This signature Peat Ritual commences with an ESPA Salt and Oil Body Scrub with muscle warming oils to prepare the skin for treatment. Then gently heated Og Ireland Peat is then applied over the body, focusing on key tension areas. Whilst warmly cocooned, stress is eased away with an Oriental Head Massage, followed by warm oils being applied in preparation for a Full Body Massage. The treatment lasts 90 minutes.
Og Ireland Peat contains water, magnesium, manganese, iron, zinc and copper and is sourced from bogs in the Midlands of Ireland. The treatment offers many health benefits. Peat improves the skin’s tonicity and is an ideal anti-aging treatment due to its content of copper and zinc and its skin healing properties. It is also a good treatment for acne, psoriasis and eczema.
And if that’s not enough benefits to boast about, peat also helps to increase blood and lymph circulation, helping to reduce cellulite, while the anti-inflammatory properties are excellent in treating arthritis, rheumatism and joints.
To enhance the benefits of the peat wrap, all guests at ESPA at The Ritz-Carlton are also invited to use the thermal suites including the sauna, crystal-lit steam, vitality pool and tepidariums which together can increase the efficacy of treatment by up to 30%.
Now doesn’t that sound like a nice way to ease aches and pains or soothe a tired body after a long day on the golf course or biking and hiking in Wicklow’s lovely hills.
Visit www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/Powerscourt/Spa/Default.htm for more information