Java Wrap

The Java Wrap is a global beauty phenomenon waiting to happen: an age-old process for a new-age answer to slimming. It started out as a 40-day ritual to rid the midriff from post birth bagginess and, even today, the Indonesian woman lovingly restores her body this way.

It is believed that the java Wrap helps flush out the bacteria which gather in the body after childbirth. It gets the lymphatic system going, reawakens the body's organs, and cleanses and heals.

New mothers can also benefit from the mineral and citrus paste that is smeared around the middle, then bound tight in a cotton corset. As the old saying goes: "you have to suffer for beauty". This figure-saving treatment is time-consuming rather than really uncomfortable, unless you visit the St Gregory Javana Spa in Singapore where all the work is done for you. The special paste recipe is fairly standard throughout Indonesia where it has been handed down from one generation to another, and administered woman to woman in the household. This treatment is best done by one friend to another.

Ingredients

Eucalyptus: strong antiseptic, benefits digestion

crushed sea stone/coral: calcium and other mineral content which warms and firms

fresh lime juice: an astringent which flushes toxins from the body

betel leaf : a leaf with antiseptic properties to cleanse womanly odour

massage oil: containing mint and eucalyptus essential oils for anti-viral and

decongestant properties, also cooling.

cotton cummerbund: 8-10 m long, 10-20 cm wide (8-10 yds long, 1 ft wide)

Steps

1. Mix enough ingredients to half-fill a cereal bowl with sufficient massage oil to give the paste a tacky texture that sticks to the body.

2. Rub the paste gently from above the tummy button to below the bottom.

3. Let it dry for 10 minutes, so that its healing properties start to soak into the skin.

4. Wrap the cummerbund neatly and tightly around the body starting under the bottom and weaving upward to the waist. The wrap physically constricts the body and helps to squeeze it back into shape!

5. Leave for 20 minutes, shower and moisturize with a gentle oil or lotion.

6. Post partum women in Indonesia also drink copious amounts of nourishing tonics such as turmeric, lime or betel leaf water.