http://www.beautynewsnyc.com/spa/confessions-of-an-esthetician/

In addition to Donnalyn’s workshops, the weekend also includes fitness, hiking, spa cuisine, and pampering in a casual, country setting dedicated to relaxation, wellness, and fun.  Rates are all inclusive and there is no additional charge to participate in Donnalyn’s value-added workshops.  Deerfield is the affordable spa for girlfriends getaways, stress management, weight loss, and spa weekends close to New York and Philadelphia.

Donnalyn Giegerich is co-owner of Heritage Benefits Group, a producing partner for Couch Braunsdorf Insurance in Red Bank, NJ, an avid athlete and dynamic motivational speaker.  Her hectic life was changed — but not interrupted — when she was diagnosed with Leiomyosarcoma, a rare soft tissue cancer in 2007. After a complex, 10-hour kidney auto-transplant surgery, general radiation, cyber-knife radiation, and six months of chemotherapy, she is Cancer Free! Throughout her recovery process, Donnalyn continued with business and daily life while maintaining a regimen of exercise including running, cycling and swimming.

As an inspirational speaker, Donnalyn encourages others to incorporate business, fitness, family, lifestyle skills, friends – and FUN — to navigate and excel through challenges with grace and style.

http://www.frommers.com/rss/articles/6702.html

Welcome to Deerfield Spa’s 2010 season! Yes, opening day was Friday, and what a beautiful opening day we had.  The rain stopped just for us.  We custom ordered it, of course!

You know, all the rain we had this March got me thinking about the notion of “too much of a good thing.”  How many times have we heard, “everything in moderation?”  Of course we need rain for a healthy planet, but in excess it can wreck havoc.

Moderation is a concept with particular relevance in our world – the spa world: from fitness, beauty, and nutrition, to stress management, pampering, and time for ourselves.  We all know exercise is critical to health of body, mind, and spirit, but overdoing it can be detrimental in many ways.  When it comes to nutrition, maintaining a balance of good fats and good carbs, with the right amount of fiber and protein is the Holy Grail.  We’re all painfully aware that over-indulgence is unhealthy, but we often overlook the fact that over-restricting can be harmful as well.  Even when it comes to caring for our body’s biggest organ – our skin – too much of a good thing can be bad.  Over cleansing and over exfoliating, for example, can lead to inflammation and injury, and a vicious cycle of damage and repair.

So as we embark on another glorious season at Deerfield Spa, dedicated to well being, relaxation, pampering, fun, and friendship, we remember not to jump too hard, too far, or too fast at first into our fitness or weight management jump starts.  Easy does it.  Staying conscious of how your body reacts and acclimating to new lifestyle choices is infinitely more sustainable and healthier overall than extremes in any one direction.  And as always, there’s no substitute for having great support in your efforts, finding ways to make the process of change fun, and laughing all along the way!

Whatever your goals this season, we are honored and delighted to support you in them, to make the process fun, and to keep you laughing all the while.  Come and see us soon.  We’ll be waiting with open arms.

In Good Health,

Joan Wolff

Thanks everyone for the great feedback about the twitter contest.  Of course we want all our friends, fans, and followers to have a chance to participate ☺  That’s exactly the reason we announced the contest to all our friends/fans on Facebook and through our blog too, instead of only through twitter.

Twitter’s technology works differently than Facebook. It allows for the tracking of contest entrants’ names more reliably, which is why these kinds of contests have become popular on twitter. If there’s a way to do it on Facebook, we are unfamiliar with it.  But who knows, we’re pretty new to this whole social networking thing, so we’ll look into it or maybe even invent a wheel here. Woo hoo! And if you have seen similar Facebook contests where existing fans suggest pages to their friends and then they and their friends who become new fans can be reliably tracked and entered into a pool of contestants, let us now. We’d love to do it on Facebook too!

Meanwhile, anyone can join twitter.  It’s free and easy to do.  If you want, call us and we’ll walk you through it.

Please know, our intention was not to exclude, but precisely the opposite.  Most importantly, we’re glad you shared your feedback with us because it helps us know what our valued friends think, feel, and want.  After all, we’re in the happiness business, so thank you for helping us be responsive.

In Good Health,
Joan

Your spa getaway includes two-night mid-week stay, accommodations, all meals and snacks, unlimited fitness, lifestyle education, evening activities, Deerfield’s celebrated hiking program, and 24-hour use of all facilities including outdoor heated pool, gazebo-enclosed hot tub, gyms, sauna, lounges, grounds, and more.

DonnaLyn is a motivational expert on empowering women.  Her credentials include successful business owner, community leader, cancer survivor and advocate, triathlete, author, college professor, spokesmodel, and mid-life pageant winner!

She’s offered to tailor her Deerfield program to the interests of our guests, so use this survey to tell us what you’d like to work on when she’s here.  Just click the link below to access the email survey.

Here are some of our choices:

4 Ways to Stay Vibrant No Matter What

Beat Adversity with Less Fear and More Fun

5 Characteristics of Resilient Women

3 Keys to Unlocking Stress – Mind, Body, and Soul

Building a Better Life Model at Every Age

Bouncing Back From the Unexpected

http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e
2rlo3t1g69th8yz/start

Ingredients

For soup:

3 shallots, finely chopped

2 (12-ounce) packages frozen winter squash purée, thawed

3 cups low-sodium chicken stock

For pumpkin seeds:

3/4 cup raw green (hulled) pumpkin seeds

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Pinch of cayenne pepper
To finish:

1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lime zest

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Preparation

Make soup:
Spray large saucepan with non-stick cooking spray. Using moderately high heat, sauté shallots until translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in squash and stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until soup thickens, about 30 minutes.

While soup simmers, make pumpkin seeds:
Spray small skillet with non-stick cooking spray.  Using moderately high heat, add pumpkin seeds and cook, stirring constantly, until seeds begin to pop, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in cumin and cayenne pepper and continue to cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer to bowl.

Finish and serve:
When soup has thickened, remove from heat and stir in lime zest and juice. Season with freshly ground black pepper. Ladle into bowls, garnish with pumpkin seeds, and serve.

Tip: 1 medium lime should provide about 1 teaspoon zest and 2 tablespoons juice. Be sure to zest the lime before halving and juicing it.

So you go for a facial and you want to come out glowing.  Of course you expect your therapist to be properly trained and certified, and to use the best techniques for your skin condition and goals, but what about the products they’ll use on your skin? Are all hydrating serums alike? All deep cleansing masques the same?  The answer is no.  The type of active ingredients, the percentage or concentration of those ingredients, and even the inactive ingredients can make your skin care preparations more or less effective.

Say you’re having a glycolic peel. You certainly want the percentage of glycolic acid to be high enough to produce the results best for you.  But just to know that the product being used on you has a “high percentage” of glycolic acid, say 75% for argument’s sake, doesn’t always mean you’re getting the benefit of 75% glycolic acid.  The pH of the product can buffer the effective level of the acid to less than half its original strength.  Even the fillers used in a product can change its efficacy.

Virtually every product has at least SOME fillers, for example something to make it lather, or to keep the active ingredients dispersed throughout the mixture.  But exactly what type of ingredient is used to accomplish these results can also change how well the product works.  Parabens, for example, are commonly used, but are far from ideal since they are petroleum-based, synthetically produced, and have been linked to certain health issues.

The Prana line of skinceuticals we use at Deerfield, on the other hand, use the all natural, botanically-based yucca extract as a surfactant to enhance lathering, silkiness, and spreadability.  To boot, yucca extract strengthens skin cells, so the ingredient multiplies the benefits of a given product.

The key to getting what you need is to ask questions.  Talk to your skin care therapist.  Find out about the active ingredients in the products they use – whatever your goals, from anti-aging, deep cleansing, or hydrating, to calming acne and rosacea.  Find out what kind of training, certifications – and continuing education – your therapist brings.   You don’t have to be an expert, yourself, but make sure you’re confident in your therapist’s expertise.

When you can fully put your trust in your esthetician, then you can really lie back and simply enjoy.