No animals were harmed in the making of this pedicure

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No animals were harmed in the making of this pedicure Organic -- and even vegan -- beauty treatments and products are gaining ground at spas LEAH McLAREN E-mail Leah McLaren | Read Bio | Latest Columns 'It doesn't make any sense," Ibeth DeHamilton, owner of Aliviar Spa, says as she applies an organic vegan hydrating mask to a client's face. "We get enough chemicals with pollution. To me, we don't need to buy a $150 cream and put more chemicals on our face." Last spring, DeHamilton, a native of Colombia who has worked as an aesthetician in Canada for a dozen years, decided to open her own spa on Queen Street West in downtown Toronto. Aliviar -- which in Spanish means to "to heal" -- specializes in all-natural cosmetics that are both organic and vegan-friendly. The boutique itself is small and appealing. A sunny storefront nail shop (with manicure and pedicure stations) gives way to a series of clean, minimally furnished treatment rooms in the back. The contemporary space is not the sort you would associate with the crunchy granola aesthetic, but then, neither is DeHamilton, a gorgeous, caramel-skinned Latina with

bouncing curls and designer jeans. She bills Aliviar as "the first organic and vegan spa in the heart of downtown Toronto." It's part of a growing movement to "natural" beauty, fuelled in large part by consumer demand for organic goods. "It's definitely a trend," says Jim Hicks, publisher of Cosmetics, a Toronto-based trade publication. "Even the big boys are getting in on it." Just this week, cosmetics giant L'Oréal announced it has bought Sanoflore, a 20-year-old French organic cosmetics firm. L'Oréal will operate the brand as a separate commercial entity, much like the Body Shop, which it also owns. "More and more consumers want to put something natural on their body," Hicks says. "Companies are beginning to cater to that." While a chemical-free spa might be a trendy concept, for DeHamilton, it's the principle that counts. "I believe in protecting living things," she says. "I got the concept for the spa when I

read the ingredient list on one of my products. After that I started searching for organics." After hunting far and wide for the best all-natural products, DeHamilton stumbled upon Madlyn Rose, a holistic skin-care line designed by herbalist Yvonne Hutchinson-Saldin. All the essences in the little blue bottles, DeHamilton says, come from an organic herb farm in New Mexico. "I tried a lot of products, but these ones blew my mind." Madlyn Rose is made without any of the animal products commonly found in most cosmetics, including emu oil, gelatin, glycerin and even the seemingly innocuous honey. Despite the vegan tag, DeHamilton does make exceptions. One of her facials contains milk, and for manicures she uses OPI nail polish, as well as vegan brands, for quality issues. "I won't have my clients complaining about chipping," she says. According to DeHamilton, the point of running a vegan, organic spa is not to be

rigid, but to support environmental sustainability and chemical-free methods of beautification and healing. She herself is a vegetarian and an animal lover, donating a portion of her earnings each month to the humane society. "We cater to people who have allergies or aversions to chemicals and animal byproducts," she says. "I just want to give sensitive people a safe, clean environment."Peter H

 

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