Eco-friendly meets luxury wellness: Neal's Yard Remedies at The Shard

From their eco-factory in Dorset to wild-grown rosehips in Serbia, wild-grown Neal's Yard Remedies has been leading the way in natural and organic skincare since 1981. Having teamed up with the luxury spa, Shangri-La The Shard in London for their spa treatments, here they explain what makes their therapies unique, how they support individual wellness and how they have incorporated their ethical principles into the luxury spa environment.

What is special about Neal's Yard Remedies spa treatments?

What makes Neal’s Yard Remedies therapies so unique is our belief that inner health and outer beauty are intrinsically connected. That’s why we offer such a diverse range of treatments – to help our customers bring the mind, body and spirit into perfect balance.

Our therapy rooms take a holistic approach to wellbeing, offering an array of treatments beyond aromatherapy massages and facials. You can also visit our therapy rooms for acupuncture, reiki, Ayurveda, naturopathic nutrition and Tui Na massage, to name a few.

We use high-quality certified organic essential oils and base massage oils during treatments, giving customers peace of mind knowing that ingredients in our products aren’t only kind to skin but are responsibly sourced too.

How have they been incorporated into the spa experience at Shangri-La The Shard, London?

Together with Shangri-La The Shard, London, we have co-created a treatment menu that offers a variety of luxury massages to enhance guests’ relaxation during their stay. Our therapists use personalised blends with 100% organic Neal’s Yard Remedies essential oils, helping you unwind and enjoy the holistic benefits of your bespoke massage. 

Why did you want to be a part of the Shangri-La spa experience?

Shangri-La The Shard, London has adopted a holistic approach to their wellness programme, so it seemed fitting to lead the therapies and introduce their guests to the Neal’s Yard Remedies brand. 

How do you think they contribute to individual wellness?

From deeply relaxing body massages to uplifting face massages, the treatments give guests the opportunity to really enjoy a moment of self-care and feel restored.

The brand is built on quality ingredients - what makes the ingredients in Neal's Yard Remedies products so special? 

This is a really fitting question as we’re gearing up to launch a campaign celebrating all the incredible communities worldwide that help source our ingredients in ethical and sustainable ways. One of which is the work we do with an incredible women-run family business in rural Serbia to source wild-grown rosehips for our best-selling Wild Rose range. Then there are our partners in Oman, who help us source our certified organic frankincense, which we use in our award-winning Frankincense collections. Watch this space for what’s coming!

We also have our eco-factory in Dorset, surrounded by five acres of Soil Association certified land, where we grow an array of herbs and plants and transform them into herbal tinctures used in many of our products. It’s where we harvest our calendula, along with cleavers, meadowsweet, lemon balm, echinacea and plantain. In fact, we have 500 Rosa Damascena bushes coming into bloom over the next few months. The beauty of this is, as our sites become more biodiverse so do our plant tinctures. 

Proudly certified by the Soil Association since 1991, maintaining a transparent relationship with our customers is important to us. Soil Association offers the strictest body of certification, so our customers know that the products they are buying contain high-quality organic ingredients. 

How do you think aromatherapy can help people in their busy lives?

Since the pandemic, there has been a shift in the perceptions of health and wellbeing, and it seems more important than ever for people to implement wellbeing rituals (big or small) into their daily routines. 

We have always believed in the physical and psychological benefits of using aromatherapy, and there are many ways of incorporating it within your day-to-day. With many of us now working from home more, you could invest in a diffuser and use a pre-blended oil to fill your room. We have a great night-time blend which is perfect for using if you struggle to unwind before bed. If you’re having a hard day, our de-stress blend contains soothing ylang ylang, nourishing neroli and uplifting petitgrain, which is brilliant for helping to relax both the body and mind. 

If you’re constantly on the go, our aromatherapy Remedies to Roll are the perfect desk or handbag essentials to nurture wellbeing wherever you are. You could also try an aromatherapy treatment – a massage or facial is a great way to help to relax and harmonise body and mind. 

If you had to choose your top three recommended Neal's Yard Remedies spa treatments for 2022, what would they be?

That’s a tricky one as it’s so dependent on what my body and mind is craving. Right now, I’d have to say a holistic massage is high on my list as it’s helped to stimulate my body’s natural cleansing purpose. We can feel low in energy and run-down in winter, so the massage really helps to balance my body during the seasonal transition. 

I also think aromatherapy massage is a must-have. Now that we’re starting to return to offices and adopting hybrid working, our therapists’ expertly blended essential oils will help to alleviate any tension or stress from the working week. That’s why aromatherapy is so great; it can be tailored to your own physical and mental needs so that you receive a bespoke treatment. 

Lastly, I’d have to say acupuncture as it really helps me feel connected with my body and helps to rebalance my body’s energy flow, which has been needed during this period of uncertainty. 

What are your plans for the brand this year? 

Last year we marked our 40th anniversary, and we’re continuing to celebrate our heritage of building long-standing relationships with suppliers to create natural and organic products with traceable ingredients and beautiful stories. We’re also preparing to launch an education-led campaign to help improve clarity around sustainable practices, highlighting our commitment to developing more sustainable, innovative product solutions.

Do you think spa therapies and products have an important place in supporting the nation's wellness?

Absolutely! The power of human touch feels more important than ever before. So many of us couldn’t see our loved ones when we were in lockdown, so we missed out on usual day-to-day human interactions. Now that we’re placing more emphasis and spending more time looking after our minds and bodies, I think incorporating therapies and products made to help boost wellbeing is incredibly important.