Beauty secrets of Hawaiian spas: we've rounded up the best products from island pampering sports to transform you into an exotic beauty - Essential Guide to Summer

Shape, May, 2003 by Amy Rapaport Karlson

There's something about the thought of the tropics that instantly conjures up sun-drenched days, heady nights and, of course, exotic beauty. The secrets to the supple skin and healthy hair found on the islands: native plant and herb essences. We tracked down Hawaii's top spa experts and got their advice on how to look and feel great using the best ingredients Hawaii has to offer.

Hydrate skin and mend split ends with

BANANAS

Bananas not only make great skin hydrators, they also can improve the health and natural elasticity of your hair. "These tropical fruits lubricate the hair, leaving it feeling soft and more manageable," says Joel Warren, owner of Warren-Tricomi Salon in New York City. "Bananas are also rich in potassium, which strengthens the hair, making it the perfect remedy for all the damage inflicted by processing treatments like coloring and straightening."

* The spa treatments we love Ali'i Banana Coconut Scrub, The Spa at Manele at the Manele Bay Hotel, Lanai City, Hawaii ($1 10 for 50 minutes; lanai-resorts. s.com). Skin-smoothing banana and coconut are blended with sea salt to exfoliate and revitalize body skin. Back on the mainland, there's also the Banana Hair Conditioning Treatment at Warren-Tricomi Salon, New York City ($50 for 45 minutes; www.warrentricomi.com). Warren creates his own custom blend of bananas and Epsom salts to strengthen and soften the hair. The Epsom salts close the hair cuticle, making hair stronger, while the bananas soften it.

* How to do it at home Try lathering up with the banana-infused Lush Gumback Express Smoothie body scrub ($11.50: Iush.com) or Confianca Banana Soap ($1 3; ebubbles.com Also indulge in these hair treats: The Body Shop Banana Shampoo and Conditioner ($8 each; 800-263-9746), which contain real banana pulp, and Philou Banana Shampoo and Banana Detangling Cream ($14; hairboutique.com), a mild, high-foaming shampoo and deep-penetrating conditioner that leave your hair glossy, manageable and smelling yummy.

Give skin a deep cleansing with

KONA COFFEE

Hawaiian Kona coffee is wonderfully rich and aromatic and helps exfoliate the skin, giving it a deep cleansing, says Sharon Warren, president of Warren Botanicals in kailua-Kona, Hawaii, who mixes up batches of ingredients for Hawaiian spas like the Spa Moana at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa and the Kohala Sports Club and Spa at Hilton Waikoloa Village. "The cycle of bright, sunny mornings: humid, rainy afternoons: and mild nights creates the perfect growing conditions for exotic plants like coffee to flourish," she explains.

* The spa treatment we love Coca-Java Body Scrub, The Spa Grande at Grand Wailea Resort Hotel and Spa in Maui ($1 1 2 for 25 minutes; grandwailea.com). This scrumptious scrub uses freshly ground coffee beans and honey followed by a mango-coconut lotion application.

* How to do it at home For an exotic and deeply aromatic treatment, Warren suggests using her own blends that she created for the Spa Without Walls at The Fairmont Orchid, Hawaii: Exfoliation, Orange Cream and Hawaiian Vanilla Lotion ($35 for set; warrenbotanicals.com). Or try the invigorating Jaqua Girls Coffee Body Scrub ($18; sephora.com), which uses the natural acids in coffee to help soften and revitalize tired skin.

Get a radiant complexion with

PAPAYA AND PINEAPPLE

Papaya contains the enzyme papain, which is one of the best exfoliators around. "It's abundant in the tropics and has been used for centuries because of its smoothing effect" on the skin, says Jeremy Mccarthy, spa project director at The Spa at Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea. Nonirritating, it can be used directly on the skin or as a main ingredient in an exfoliating product. Enzymes derived from pineapple also help loosen dead skin cells, resulting in a soft, glowing and smooth complexion.

* The spa treatment we love Pineapple Ginger Facial, The Spa at Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea ($110; fourseasons.com/maui). In addition to the traditional deep cleansing, there's also a gentle papaya-pineapple-grapeseed scrub to rid skin of dead skin cells, followed by a green-tea-and-ginger mud mask.

* How to do it at home Massage in a layer of Kiehl's Pineapple Papaya Facial Scrub ($15.50; kiehls.com) to help smooth skin. Then follow with Juvena Scrub Off! Mask with pineapple enzyme ($25; sephora.com) or Murad Exfoliating Fruit Enzyme Mask ($30; murad.com).

Smooth dry elbows, hands and feet with

MANGO

Mango's natural fruit enzymes help rejuvenate, restore and replenish theskin, says Maurizia Zanin, massage therapist at the ANARA Spa in Koloa, Kauai. "Fruit extracts, especially from our own locally grown products, have wonderful hydrating properties and are rich in nutrients like vitamin A, which is great for the skin," Zanin says. "Even better, when you breathe in the flowery-sweet scent of mango, you're instantly transported to Hawaii and everything beautiful it has to offer."

* The spa treatment we love ANARA Body Polish, ANARA Spa at the Hyatt Regency Kauai in Koloa, Kauai ($65 for 25 minutes; anaraspa.com). This luxurious treatment uses the spa's signature line of mango and coconut products to give you a hydrating scrub topped off with an after-bath mist that leaves your skin smelling of the tropics.