When Red [1] salon and spa owner Angela Bern Castagnola began developing her new Castagnola product line two years ago, she launched an international search for the best laboratory around. The winner: a Canadian contender that uses eco-friendly ingredients such as sustainably sourced essential oils and other botanicals, and adheres to regulations even stricter than those of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Her comprehensive line, available only at Red, boasts more than 50 pharmaceutical-grade face and body products designed to tone, tighten, smooth and otherwise coax skin into looking younger and fresher. "Pharmaceutical-grade" means the lotions, toners, cleansers and other products have the highest possible concentration of ingredients.
Castagnola's sweet scents come from essential oils such as grapefruit, orange blossom and eucalyptus, not from artificial fragrances. Prices range from $33 for some body-care items to as much as $120 for certain serums.
Some standouts in the line: Miracle C Mask, which goes on wet, dries until the mask-ee can barely move her face, then peels off to reveal skin that's noticeably firmer. Then there are the anti-aging products, all of which contain DAME. What DAME is isn't as important as what it does: It's the only ingredient with FDA approval that claims to reduce wrinkles.
Red employs the Castagnola line in its spa treatments, with special emphasis on three "Runway-Ready" uber-treatments: a facial ($200, 75 minutes), a body treatment ($190, 90 minutes) and hand ($60, 45 minutes) and foot ($90, 75 minutes) treatments. Stop in and ask for a promotional card to receive $25 off body and facial treatments or $10 off hand and foot treatments.
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Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
