Bali’s crazy new wellness store

Last year, I reviewed Ikone Bali Spaceships, an experimental cocktail bar, art gallery and restaurant with fine French food in the Seminyak tourist precinct of Bali.

Now the owner, Yaz Duralex, a French entrepreneur and accomplished graffiti artist, is about to launch a new wellness concept called Hydrotherapiz Lab.

Last week, he invited The West Australian inside for a sneak peek. Hydrotherapiz Lab specialises in high-end organic perfumes, soaps, serums and botanical candles handmade on the premises using a machine cut straight out of a science fiction film that costs as much as a new family car: a rotary evaporator, or Rotovap for short.

Traditionally used in laboratories to remove solvents from samples through the process of evaporation, Yaz used a Rotavap at his restaurant to make luxury apple juice by extracting the flavour from apples without any sugar, and other unique cocktails and drinks.

Now he’s applying the same process to unlock and extract the botanical and healing powers of rare roots, flowers, leaves, spices and resins sourced from different islands of Indonesia and make scents and skincare products with aromas that are off the charts that are chemical-free.

“I was inspired by Yuka, a smartphone app that tells you the ingredients inside food, beauty products and toiletries,” says Yaz. “I picked up some soap, cologne and suncream from a store in Bali. But when I scanned them with Yuka, I was shocked to learn that about 75 per cent of the ingredients are banned in the West. That was the light-bulb moment, when I realised there was space in the market to start an organic skincare range in Bali.”

The Hydrotherapiz product range will include labels like Cosmos, a scent made from fig leaves, lotus flowers and jasmine; Blood Dragon soap enriched with cryo macerated vetiver and Edelweiss flowers; and Lumibalm, a botanical candle that blends seaweed and exotic woods and that melts into a body balm.

But the Hydrotherapy concept store doesn’t end there. It will also include a day spa based on “cryotherapy” or ice bathing.

An ancient form of physical therapy first mentioned in an Egyptian medical text, ice bathing is believed to have a range of health benefits like better circulation, improved immune responses and reduced muscle inflammation.

There are already dozens of venues in Bali where you can get an ice bath: gyms, hotels, yoga retreats and day spas. But in all these places, the ice baths are communal, whereas here they are pod-shaped and for one person only.

Yaz designed and built the baths with proprietary engines that not only cool but also clean and filter the water after every use. And instead of just sitting there and shivering as your body goes into cold shock, the staff at Hydrotherapiz Lab teach the Wim Hof breathing technique: deep, rhythmic breaths that help control the body’s stress response.

They also take a photo of you to show your friends and family as you freeze your arse off in Bali.

fact file Hydrotherapiz Lab is at 28 jalan (street) Lebak Sari in Seminyak, one of Bali’s most popular beachside districts, about half an hour’s drive north of the international airport.