Asian Secrets of Health, Beauty and Relaxation by Sophie Benge, photographs by Luca Tettoni
It’s no secret that we look good when we feel good. And we feel good when we look good. For centuries, Asian woman have practiced a holistic approach to beauty and health, preparing facials from plants and minerals, foot baths from flowers, and soothing teas from a variety of herbs to rejuvenate body and soul.
It would be ideal to periodically spend a day or a week at a spa, but few of us have the time or the money to afford that indulgence on a regular basis. In Asian Secrets of Health, Beauty, and Relaxation, Sophie Benge shares her many trade secrets that have been garnered throughout her professional life.
Her book is a fully illustrated manual that shows the reader how to prepare a wealth of traditional treatments - formulas for body wraps, baths, oils, herbal tonics, revitalizing facials, baths and massage oils taken from some of the most famous spas in the world.
Using ingredients from sea salt to lemon grass, the reader is invited to mix and brew, cook and puree, do their own hair treatments, luxuriate from head to toe in herbal soaks and meditate using natural fragrances.
In other words, you can enjoy the benefits of a first class spa in your very own home. All the treatments found within its pages are natural and gentle to your body – inside and out.
There are also tips for meditation and recipes for healthy, delicious cuisine such as Asparagus and Oyster Mushroom Salad, Tuna Tartar with Cucumber Sauce, Stir Fry King Fish Thai Style. The appendix, “Natural Spa Ingredients,” is a pictorial listing of the most common plants and herbs that form the backbone of Southeast Asia’s potent health and beauty treatments. Many have found favor in the beauty salons in the region.
The author, Sophie Benge, has worked as Deputy Editor of Orient Beauty in Hong Kong, a regional magazine for Asian women. Luca Tettoni is a world-renowned photographer who has lived and worked in Asia since 1973.
Spirit of Well Being in Bali, published by PT. Raja Matahari
The recently published small-format Spirit of Well Being in Bali, is an excellent holistic guide to the island’s healing centers.
The first directory of its kind, this easy-to-carry booklet is divided into four sections: Bali’s spas, reflexology and acupuncture centers; traditional healers; yoga meditation centers; organic restaurants.
Treatments offered by the exhaustive listing of Bali spas include Balinese massage, mandi lulur (a fragrant scrub made up of spices and roots), boreh (a spicy Javanese-derived concoction), acupressure, facial massage, body and face scrubs, scalp massage, hydrotherapy, ayurveda and Swedish massage, shiatsu.
The guide opens with a map of Bali followed by eight area maps accompanied by charts which give the name of the spa or the health practitioner, the price category (low, medium or high) and the page number where the facility is discussed in more detail.
The layout is extremely user-friendly, enabling the reader to pin point locations of the desired treatment. Iconic navigational symbols, symbolic of each form of treatment, are listed on a fold-out flap on the inside the front cover of the book.
As a bonus, Spirit of Well Being in Bali also covers Bali’s best known balian (shaman) who are endowed with the natural gift of healing and an extensive knowledge of medicinal plants. In the backmatter is a comprehensive glossary of terms used in the health and healing professions.
Supported by I Gede Ardika, Indonesia’s Minister of Culture & Tourism, and I Gede Pitana, the Director of Bali Tourism Authority at the time of publication, this new directory is available in both English and Japanese.
Both titles perfectly complement each other. Using a more holistic approach than the rigorously therapeutic, clinical treatments of yesteryear – emphasizing prevention rather than cure - both books show readers how and where to reap the riches of Mother Nature to make them feel and look good.
Asian Secrets of Health, Beauty, and Relaxation by Sophie Benge, photographs by Luca Tettoni, Periplus Editions 2000, 127 pages, full color, ISBN 962-593-854-0. Rp125,000.
Spirit of Well Being in Bali, edited by Laurent Delsol, PT. Raja Matahari 2003, 130 pages. Rp125,000.
Available at Periplus Bookshops in the Bali Galleria and in the Matahari in Kuta, Warung Made in Seminyak, Ngurah Rai Airport (both the international and domestic terminals), Keris Gallery in Nusa Dua and in Grameda Bookstores.
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Copyright@2004 PakBill
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