Spa boutiques, the hot new biz

Mineral-laden mud wrap from the Dead Sea. An anti-ageing cream made from seabuckthorn, the berries found in Ladakh district. An Alphonso mango "whipped" lotion prepared with pure spring water.

A hair wash powder made according to an ancient Ayurveda recipe. That's the new language of body pampering and relaxation potions for you.

With consumers demanding detox therapies and health and beauty combo treatments, spa boutiques are springing up across the country. And this spells good news for the all-new breed of spa products manufacturers.

Says Smita Agarwal, director of Goodlife Healthcare & Hygiene, which introduced Israel's Mineral Line range of products in India: "The spa business in India is growing at the rate of 60-70 per cent per annum."

Mineral Line's products consist of salt, water and mud from the Dead Sea. Goodlife is Israeli company Odeyah Industries' exclusive distributor in India.

Currently Mineral Line supplies products to the Amritsar-based spa called Ranjit's Svaasa and the Hyatt and the Taj hotels in Kolkata. In a year's time, it plans to open its own retail store in Delhi and expects to clock Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million) turnover.

The four-year-old Forest Essentials brand supplies spa products to resorts like Aman-i-khas in Ranthambore. Mountain Valley Springs, the company that owns the Forest Essentials brand, also sells to the Hotel InterContinental, Delhi, apart from exporting its range to New Zealand and France.

Forest Essentials, too, has plans to expand. Present in 40 shop-in-shops, it is eyeing another 60 outlets soon. More company-owned retail stores in Delhi and Mumbai are also on the cards.

Like Forest Essentials, Kama Ayurveda Limited, supplies to 25 spas in Canada as well as those in Europe and the US.

"Our products are also available at Ananda, the Oberois and the Taj chain of hotels," says company director, Vivek Sahni.

Kama will increase its presence in the domestic retail market from 25 outlets to 60 by end of the year.

Spa products like bath and massage oils, as opposed to other cosmetics products, are used as a treatment rather than just for cosmetic purposes.

Companies claim that their goods are loaded with vitamins, minerals and use natural preservatives. Little wonder, then, that Vishal Modi, managing director of Seabuck Care is upbeat about its three-month old herbal cosmetic range, Seabuck Essence.

In the Rs 3,000-crore (Rs 30 billion) cosmetics and ayurvedic products industry, we're expecting around 1 per cent marketshare in three years," he says.

The company plans to launch its premium range targeted at five-star hotels by the end of the year.