Soaring snowcapped mountains, pristine lakes, and quaint Alpine villages provide a remarkable backdrop for the Sensai Select Spa at Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa (+41.33.?828.2828, www.victoria-jungfrau.ch) in Interlaken, Switzerland. But it is a finicky Japanese silkworm that helps make this six-treatment-room facility unique among European spas.
Exclusive to Sensai, a 6-year-old Japanese skincare brand, the Koishimaru silkworm grows only on young mulberry leaves and must live in a cool, dewy climate to spin its cocoon. Koishimaru worms were proprietary to the Japanese imperial family until the late 1990s, when permission to study their silk was granted to Sensai’s parent company. The research showed that the silk triggered the creation of hyaluronic acid, a natural moisturizer with effective antiaging qualities.
Opened in early 2010, the Sensai Select Spa—the brand’s first and only location—incorporates Koishimaru-silk products into all its treatments. The effects are best appreciated through a three-hour Indulgence in Silk treatment, which includes a body peel, facial, silk bath, and massage ($470).
