COVER STORY

Rooted in RITUAL

As the call to reconnect with nature & embrace self-care grows stronger, the UK & Ireland salon sector can rejoice at the return of SPARITUAL®

ALEX FOX REPORTS

This month’s Scratch cover conveys calm, balance and harmony, inviting us into a moment of stillness and quiet reflection. The visual expression of touch, self-care and touch, conscious beauty perfectly denotes the core of brand, SPARITUAL®, which has found its way back to Great British shores to join the Sweet Squared distribution portfolio.

“SPARITUAL® launched 20 years ago, with the intention of offering healthy formulas for nail colour and care, as well as hand, feet and bodycare products for nail and beauty professionals,” shares Shel Pink, SPARITUAL® founder & author of Slow Beauty: Rituals and Recipes to Nourish the Body and Feed the Soul. “From its inception, SPARITUAL® has been dedicated to providing clean, effective formulations for the body, and relaxing the mind via colour, texture and touch. From an early age, my mother taught me the importance of putting good ingredients on and into the body, and when I had the opportunity to start a beauty brand, I wanted to offer safe, ethical formulas for professionals to use and retail to their clients.”

Shel Pink

Guided by the philosophy of slow beauty, the SPARITUAL® offering serves to help pros deliver relaxing manicure and pedicure experiences in modern salon settings. “A manicure or pedicure treatment grants an opportunity to disconnect and de-stress. It’s the perfect chance to slow down, relax and take a break from the non-stop world we live in,” Shel notes.

In an industry often driven by speed, output and constant innovation, there is an emerging, growing desire to pause – via experiences that soothe rather than stimulate, and treatments that restore balance rather than demand attention. Slow beauty is not about doing less for the sake of it; it’s about making intentional choices. Through eco-conscious packaging, clean formulations and the considered use of scent and texture, slow beauty reconnects the treatment room to a sense of wholeness. Here, products, the therapist and the client work in quiet harmony to encourage calm, presence and wellbeing.

Few understood this need before it became a global conversation. But two decades ago, Shel Pink, daughter of industry pioneer & Orly founder, Jeff Pink, recognised that modern life was pulling people further away from nature and themselves. As digital dependency began to emerge and later dominate daily life, Shel envisioned a beauty experience that would act as a counterbalance: one that invites people to slow down, breathe and reconnect through ritual. This vision became SPARITUAL® – a brand rooted in mindfulness, sustainability and sensory-led care.

Today, this concept feels more relevant than ever. As SPARITUAL® returns to the UK and Ireland, the professional industry is offered a chance to recalibrate, by introducing treatments that prioritise feeling as much as finish, and rituals designed to support both therapist and client. By bringing SPARITUAL® back into the salon landscape, Sweet Squared reopens the door to a slower, more intentional way of working.

“SPARITUAL® feels like a very natural addition to the Sweet Squared portfolio,” enthuses Samantha Sweet, Sweet Squared co-founder. “We’ve always championed performance-led professional brands, and SPARITUAL® offers a wellbeing and ritual focus that elevates the entire salon experience. It doesn’t compete with what we already do:

it enhances it and gives hair, beauty and nail professionals simple ways to add value, create moments of calm and truly look after their clients. We’re proud to add SPARITUAL® to the Sweet Squared family.”

Samantha Sweet

Slow beauty in the salon

Bridging the gap between emotional wellbeing and beauty treatments, SPARITUAL® promises high-quality ingredients that effectively hydrate and beautify. Its formulas, developed for both nail and bodycare, are crafted to support the health of nails and skin. The brand also places emphasis on high standards, training its professionals to ensure clients receive maximum skin and wellness benefits.

“We promote the science of slow beauty, where clean ingredients mean maximum results for healthy, beautiful nails and skin,” explains Shel Pink. “Today’s conscious beauty consumer demands both, and SPARITUAL® delivers this through its formulations. They are designed for use in spas and salons, as well as by clients in between appointments. We encourage people to take a break from the fast-paced world around them and practice self-care rituals, so they can slow down, return to self and feel good inside and out.”

Conscious by design

Committed to a fully vegan, sustainable and cruelty-free product line, Shel expresses what sets SPARITUAL® apart in terms of integrity and dedication to these values: “We made this commitment from the inception of the brand and have stayed consistent,” she shares. “From its beginning, sustainability has been a critical aspect of SPARITUAL®. We use a high percentage of post-consumer recycled materials in primary packaging and FSC-certified paper in secondary packaging. We also use a high percentage of fairtrade ingredients in our 100% vegan formulas.”

‘‘SPARITUAL® enables salons to increase service value, elevate wellbeing-focused treatments and create a more holistic, premium experience for clients. ‘‘

Products with purpose

The art of relaxation is often advanced through touch, smell and sound. The power of scent is significant, since it travels on a direct pathway to the brain’s emotional centre, bypassing conscious thought and triggering memory, mood and a physical response. With this knowledge, Shel Pink chose the SPARITUAL® scent profiles wisely, layering notes that soothe the senses and gently anchor the mind in the present moment.

“Scent is critical in the journey of stress reduction. We developed the Citrus Cardamom range to warm and uplift, the Jasmine Tuberose collection for its sensual and soothing properties and the Geranium Cedarwood line for its earthy, fresh and grounding essence,” she reveals. “All of these scent stories enhance the manicure and pedicure experience, which each client can personalise through their choice of scent. Whatever time a client can spare, be it for a 30-minute or a longer treatment, they will reap the feel-good benefits for the skin and mind that SPARITUAL® offers.”

Bryony Bell

Supporting the salon

IIf you resonate with SPARITUAL®’s slow beauty ethos and are ready to embrace the brand in your nail space, Sweet Squared brand manager, Bryony Bell, offers up insight: “Years of accelerating pace, digital saturation and ‘always on’ expectations have delivered productivity and success, but also led to widespread burnout, disengagement and a loss of meaning to our craft,” she says. “Now is the right time to re-embrace ritual, intention and mindfulness, as professionals are actively seeking depth, sustainability and purpose. Intention helps us move from reactive behaviour to conscious decision making, future proofing our businesses and helping us remember our ‘why’.

“At Sweet Squared, we are always on hand to develop and support the professional. For SPARITUAL®, we offer both online learning and in-person education. Expert managers can also provide a tailored approach to introducing the brand,” Bryony continues. “SPARITUAL® complements Sweet Squared’s portfolio by enhancing, rather than competing with, its existing brands. It brings a luxurious, clean, sensorial layer that elevates the overall client experience.

“SPARITUAL® elevates nail professionals’ offerings with ritual-based add-ons, such as hydrating hand massages. Hand and foot rituals using aromatherapy-led products transform treatment experiences, enhancing perceived value without adding time or complexity to appointments. SPARITUAL® enables salons to increase service value, elevate wellbeing-focused treatments and create a more holistic, premium experience for clients.”

SPARITUAL® products are available in the UK and Ireland via www.sweetsquared.com

@sparitualist & @sweetsquared.nails &

sweetsquared.skin

/SpaRitual & /SweetSquared