It turns out I might have been onto something with my teenage DIY beauty routine. Sure, not every homemade remedy I concocted from my kitchen cabinet—a too-lemony sugar scrub, an oatmeal face mask with walnuts, a mayonnaise hair mask—returned glowing results, but drenching my hair in beer, it turns out, makes a lot of sense. While clinical evidence isn’t available, anecdotal accounts abound: the vitamin B in beer is said to help strengthen your follicles, while the proteins in malt and hops repair damage, making your hair look glossier and grow faster. Yeast may also help moisturize your locks and reduce frizz. And, it’s great for your skin too. Beer’s nutrients, like amino acids, zinc, and B vitamins, help with an anti-aging appearance; hops and barley are extremely effective at washing away toxins and bacteria; and antioxidants fight inflammation and reduce redness. All these benefits can be amplified when delivered through a relaxing beer bath.
My sister and I love the Oakwell Beer Spa for its distinctive blend of relaxation and revelry that accommodates our spa mentality. There is no silence in our treatment room, but a chorus of giggles and constant chatter that help us unwind just as much as a sound bath helps the next girl find her zen. We take turns cold showering and sipping our beers when the infrared sauna gets too hot, and before hopping in the bath, we smother ourselves in the mini bar of products. Coating our hair in beer oil and rubbing the mushroom mask onto our faces, we climb into the cedar tub with water infused with beer’s main ingredients: hops and barley. We soak up all the beneficial nutrients as we spill all our latest secrets, and I don’t know which is more therapeutic.
When we check out, the attendant asks how we liked the products and points out the wall behind her, displaying for the first time, the mini bar’s products available for purchase in fullsize. We buy one of each, but we also book another time slot next month, only allowing the at-home products to enhance our routine, not replace it.
