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Calculating and measuring product for body treatments

I am not a spa owner so never thought too much about how to calculate how much product and the costs for each treatment. My "training" in the spas has just been one of the other estheticians showing me about how much treatment product(s) to put in a bowl. But now I have to write up some treatment protocols and am also proposing one or two new treatments and am at a loss as to how to calculate product amounts. For salt scrubs I was shown to take about a cup to make it - (but I think I only use about a half a cup) and to just dump "some" oil over the top. If it is a ready to use scrub I was shown to take about 1/2 cup - do you think that is too much? For a hydrating body wrap/cocoon or mud wrap I think I make up about a cup - but maybe it's more. For a seaweed gel wrap I don't know how much is appropriate to use - as this is one of the proposed treatments - the manufacturer treatment protocol does not give an amount. I feel ridiculous even asking - but could anyone give me some general guidelines as to how much product I should allocate per treatment??

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Alicia Barrera-Warwick,HHP,LE on February 4, 2010 at 6:52pm

Not a ridiculous question at all - what a great topic!

Here is a couple answers that may be helpful....The amount of product you will use will depend on the product itself - is it dry, thin, or runny? A cup of very fine salts or sugars would be more than enough and less is always more when working with salts/sugars so a 1/2 cup for these treatments should work fine. Pour in "some" oil..... if your using a pump dispenser you will probably need 3-4 pumps or you can use a tablespoon or teaspoon to measure out and/or even try free hand by pouring in and mixing the product as you go - until you obtain the desired texture. Keep in mind the size of the body you will be working with as well.... if the person is tiny or you are doing an isolated area, use the rule less is more and if the person is larger, you don't want to run out of salt or sugar during the application process because you only mixed up enough for 1/2 cup or less. The goal is to control the amount of product you apply so that you will end up with very little left-overs obviously. For hydrating products you can be a little more generous because the client will be wrapped for the purpose of hydration and 3/4 to a cup should be more than enough. For muds and clays, because they need to dry - the less is more rule would apply. Apply a thin layer of product on with a application brush - 1/2 to 3/4 cup should be plenty. Same for seaweed gel application, you just want enough coverage on the body, not too much, not too little, I know that sounds vague but it's kinda like painting and because each body/canvas is different in size, a one size fits all approach won't work but if you stick to the 1/2 cup and up to a cup you will be fine. Good luck!