Jessica Turner PHYT’S has found a place of beauty and healing at Living Valley Springs Health Retreat, as Ashleigh Sharman discovers.
As 2014 drew to a close, many brands focusing on a steady stream of holiday orders and plans for time off, Paul Massa was delivered a remarkable opportunity. Managing director of French organic skincare company PHYT’S, Paul was approached by the owners of Queensland health and wellness retreat, and registered public benevolent company, Living Valley Springs, to join as beauty partner.
“They found us! It was certainly a surprise, but not unexpected,” explains Paul.
“Living Valley Springs were looking for a change — a brand that was more potent, more specific than what they already had — and did their research in the tail-end of 2014. It all went fairly quickly from when we were first contacted; we sent samples, did presentations and visited the property for the first time in November.”
A welcome addition to the brand’s plans for 2015, Paul acknowledges PHYT’S now needs to work on the partnership and reach out to as many people as they can, sharing their philosophy of organic skincare.
“I had of course heard of them before and as an organic skincare brand they are the perfect fit. Living Valley Springs not only aligns with our philosophy and the ingredients we use, it aligns with what PHYT’S was created for — to target specific skin conditions from the inside as well as the outside.
“Living Valley Springs treat specific conditions rather than an indulgence in ‘luxury’ wellness. In this way, I feel it is a ‘true’ health retreat and I was really pleased when we won the account,” says Paul.
And the feeling is mutual. Giselle Alford, executive manager of Living Valley Springs Health Retreat, who discovered PHYT’S in an online search to find the most natural, organic, active skincare range available, explains that beauty treatments play an important role in enhancing the guest experience at the retreat.
“Not only do the treatments revitalise their skin, but guests also gain healing from being pampered and fully relaxed during the treatment. PHYT’S s is perfect for us as it does not contain harmful chemicals or ingredients. At our retreat, we strongly encourage our clients to stop using their chemical-based products and replace them with natural ones as this will help with the detoxification process and lead to greater healing,” Giselle says.
The full PHYT’S range is available to guests with the current treatment menu primarily offering facials sitting alongside Living Valley Springs’ body treatments (think steam and wraps of green, red and white clay from France). Paul was thrilled at how quickly their first retail order had been replaced and is in talks to add further services to the treatment menu — attesting to the success of the three-day training program and access to further training for staff online.
However the true value of such a partnership is how it awakens the philosophy of PHYT’S by placing the brand in an aligned context. It creates awareness within the beauty therapist who may now look at beauty and wellness from a different perspective; and, for the Living Valley Springs guest, this is not just an organic brand but also a results-producing brand which happens to be organic.
“Most of our guests enjoy PHYT’S facials as part of their treatment program and are able to purchase products. Two days a week we run a special workshop where our guests get to spend time with one of our beauty professionals. They can experience the PHYT’S range first hand and learn why we don’t use or recommend products containing harmful chemical ingredients. They can also have their daily beauty regime tailor-made to suit their skin’s needs,” says Giselle who lists the Ultra Hydration Facial, using Soin Aqua PHYT’S to deliver plum, youthful skin, as the treatment du jour!
Wellness comes from a place both inside and outside of the body. The valley in which Living Valley Springs is nestled is peaceful and its guests visit with purpose. Paul, who laughs about how he got lost on his first visit, admits, “it truly is in the middle of nowhere and it makes you consider the people who specifically have to go there, from all around the country — it’s not a place you go to on the spur of the moment.”
It is then a place where organic beauty can be redefined and where the brand can assert its place within the wellness revolution.
“We are here to help and heal those all those in need, whether they are extremely ill or just need rest and rejuvenation,” Giselle explains. “No matter what, our guests always leave feeling pampered, relaxed and revived, inside and out.”
