2012 spa forecast: Color therapy, medi-pedis, and ice rooms

A mother and child enjoying a family spa treatment at Aulani on Oahu, Hawaii. At Disney's new family resort and spa, the Laniwai Spa also offers special family suites where babies can accompany parents and young children can have massages. ASSOCIATED PRESS Enlarge

NEW YORK -- From color therapy and medi-pedis to frigid blizzard rooms and swankier eyebrow bars, fresh trends are surfacing around the world in the $60 billion spa industry, according to an annual forecast.

As destination resorts, day spas, and beauty salons shake off economic worries, new luxury is playing out in all price ranges through more intimate pairings with healthy fine dining, glamour, and child-welcome options, said Susie Ellis, president of the online spa portal SpaFinder.

Past trends such as wellness pampering and organic treatments haven't been replaced but are being joined by a broader range of foot healing, multisensory experiences, and icy cold therapies, Ms. Ellis said recently when she rolled out SpaFinder's 2012 trends report.

Look for more wow, fun, and wellness, and for more spa options in Asia, which she said leads the world in industry growth.

With more than 100,000 spas worldwide, making sense of often-pricey services can be difficult, along with tracking evidence that they work. A nearly year-old, industry-funded Web site, SpaEvidence.com, is a small but growing clearinghouse for clinical trials and published research on services ranging from yoga and music therapy to Ayurveda, the ancient holistic system of medicine from India, and "thalassotherapy," the use of seaweed, algae, and other materials from the sea.

"You are now moving from not only wellness but to wellness empowerment," said Dr. Daniel Friedland, an internist and consultant who worked on the site.

Helping spa-goers hunt down research is a game changer, especially now that more insurance companies and employers are willing to reimburse them for preventive care, Ms. Ellis said.

More from the SpaFinder report:

COLD AND ICE: With saunas, steam rooms, Whirlpool baths, and rock massages, spas have traditionally used heat to de-stress and detoxify, but the industry is taking a cue from the Romans, who more than 2,000 years ago finished spa-like experiences with a trip to the "frigidarium."

Look for more ice therapies and cold rooms alternated with hot treatments to reduce pain and inflammation in muscles and joints, Ms. Ellis said.

At ESPA locations around the world, clients can scoop ice crystals from fountains to rub down after saunas. At the Qua Baths & Spa in Caesars Palace Las Vegas, visitors can head to the "arctic ice room" to sit amid falling snow as a more gentle transition from heat and steam than the usual cold plunge into a pool.

The luxury Dolder Grand in Zurich has a room for snowball fights. Visitors to the AquaSpa at the golf resort the Belfry in the U.K.'s West Midlands can head to the "igloo" room and grab handfuls of ice for rubbing.

This month, spa designer Thermarium will introduce touchscreen technology allowing users to choose between light, moderate, or blizzard-like snowfalls in cold rooms, SpaFinder said.

With cryotherapy, spa-goers in bathing suits wear protective socks, gloves, mouth, and ear gear to avoid frostbite in rooms cooled to minus 184 degrees (visits last just moments). The chambers are available at the new Sparkling Hill Resort & Spa in Vernon, British Columbia, and Champneys Tring Health Resort in Hertfordshire, England.

Elite athletes first took up cryotherapy. It's earned mixed reviews from researchers for relieving pain and ailing muscles, but Mehmet Oz of the Dr. Oz show recently endorsed it. The first U.S. Cryotherapy Center, a 4,300-square foot facility in Roseville, Calif., opened in April.

At the Qua Baths & Spa at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, visitors can head to the arctic ice room to sit amid falling snow as a more gentle transition from heat and steam than the usual jarring plunge into a pool. ASSOCIATED PRESS Enlarge

COLOR, LIGHT, MUSIC, VIBRATION: Incorporating them as ambient afterthoughts is nothing new for the spa industry. Now they're "becoming the main event," the report said.

One innovation is software that creates real-time music, tones, beats, and other sounds such as wind rustling and rivers to beats generated by a therapist's movements in tandem with the client's bodily responses during massages, SpaFinder said. The client leaves with a CD of the "wellbeing music-art" they helped create. The technology, MUUSA, is from Italy and in use at the Tombalo Talasso Resort in Castegneto Carducci in Tuscany.

During Aura-Soma, a person chooses four bottles of dual-colored liquid containing oils, flower essences, and the "energy" of crystals for a reading of spiritual and emotional wellbeing, complete with a rubdown. Aura-Soma color readings are available in the United States at the Mii amo spa resort in Sedona, Ariz., and Qua at Caesars Palace Las Vegas, in addition to spas in the U.K., where the practice originated.

"I think you'll see more of it," Ms. Ellis said. "It's quite an interesting new way of looking at and using color."

Too far-fetched? Not far-fetched enough?

A Viennese artist who goes by the name "sha." created canopied, cradle-like "tranquility pods" for use in "AlphaSpheres" built into spas around the world, including Berlin's Mandala Hotel ONO Spa and Bulgaria's Kempinski Hotel's Zalez facility. Guests are surrounded in blue light, sound, and vibrations while they sway to the rhythms of their own breathing.

HAPPY FEET: Chinese reflexology has been around for years. Now spas and wellness centers are targeting problems like high-heel pain as part of menus for the feet.

Computer gait analysis and foot treatments in zero-gravity chairs are available at the Canyon Ranch SpaClub in Las Vegas.

New York City's Yamuna studio has stiletto classes, and the feet-only Stride in Palo Alto, Calif., includes foot Botox to reduce odor and a "Walking on Clouds" treatment of filler injected into the ball of the foot for padding and pain reduction.

Yamuna Zake, the founder of Yamuna, uses small knobby spheres to condition aching feet and teach foot care. "You can't get anywhere without those feet, yet they come with no education," she said. "If you get it in your head what feet need, you can turn it around."

GLAMBITION: While health and wellness have been a spa focus for several years, full-on Hollywood glamour and old European grooming are back at all price ranges.

In addition to affordable blowout bars for the hair, Blink bars for eyebrows have multiplied in the last year at London department stores -- along with Henri Bendel in New York City -- for eyebrow threading. Some offer brow tinting and false lashes. Choose from flirty, permed, colored, or the extra-long Twiggy look.

Hershesons hair spas at five London locations let customers pick walk-in hairdos from a dozen celebrity photos including Brigitte Bardot and Kate Moss, about $37. The Blushington Makeup Beauty Lounge in Los Angeles charges $35 for full makeup from a set menu that includes "Pure & Simple" and "Simply Glowing."

"We're seeing a glam factor at both ends of the economic spectrum," Ms. Ellis said. "There are little touches everywhere, like glam nails and quick beauty fixes."

On the high end, the Waldorf Astoria's Guerlain spa offers guests post-treatment free makeup retouching and clothes pressing. The new Trump International Hotel & Tower in Toronto assigns guests a personal "spa concierge" at its Quartz Crystal Spa, offering old world quartz treatments.

FAMILY AFFAIR: More spas are accommodating adults and kids together. "The new thing is that it's the family. People want to go with their children to spas. Not all of them, of course. Some want to go without," Ms. Ellis said. "We're seeing now the spas responding and very much making it more of a welcome place for kids."

Ms. Ellis predicts more will reconsider age restrictions. Kid-specific spas are also on the rise, Ms. Ellis said. Some are adding dads to the mix. Karma Resorts in Indonesia offers "father and son chill-out massages," the report said.

The Jiwa Spa Resort at Conrad Bali Hotel has a "Mum and Me" package, where kids choose from foot baths, foot masks, back massages, or chocolate milk baths and get a bath toy to take home while Mom picks her own selection of facials and massages.

At the Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa in Maui, Hawaii, guests can book the "family spa suite" and treatments such as chocolate-coconut scrubs and massages for kids as young as 6. At Disney's new family resort and spa Aulani on Oahu, the Laniwai Spa offers family suites; babies are welcome and young children can have massages.

WOWS BIG AND LITTLE: Some spas are trying to wow and woo with unusual, eye-popping decor that defies traditional minimalism.

At the Boscolo Milano's Atomic Spa Suisse in Italy, LED-illuminated mirrors cover treatment room interiors, sauna, and baths for a bubbly Champagne look.Canada's Sparkling Hill Resort is adorned with 3.5 million Swarovski crystals and has crystal glass fireplaces.

Not all spas are zen quiet or dead serious. The spa at Travassa Austin in Texas offers a workout on a mechanical bull. The CosquilleArte Spa in Madrid is the world's first "tickle spa," using feathers and light touch as stress-relievers during treatments.