Don’t talk about herbs if you’ve never been to Boreh Spa and Sauna Rina. The place for facial and health care really offers treatments using ‘boreh’ or scrub with natural ingredients such as leaves, shoots, bark, stems, roots, fruit, sap, and tubers. All the ingredients and properties of the ancestral heritage are inspired by the palm-leaf manuscripts, especially the Taru Pramana. “I am trying to uncover the secrets of this ancestral heritage for therapy and health, including skin beauty,” said the owner of Sari Herb, Komang Pujiarini, who oversees Boreh Spa and Sauna Rina, recently.

At least, there are 41 species of plants mixed in the form of boreh. The warm boreh which is usually used by the elders is created so that it is not too hot on the body, so the dose of the ingredients used is the key to the boreh concoction. More interestingly, all the boreh ingredients come from Bali because these ingredients are ancestral heritage. There are plants cultivated in the yard and in the garden. “We also buy because not all types of plants for boreh can be grown easily,” said Komang Puji.

Apart from boreh, the ingredients for the sauna also use spices, especially bay leaves and ginger. All of them are useful for blood circulation, detoxification, removing dead skin cells, warming the body, and smoothing the respiratory tract. Boreh, which is rubbed all over the body, will be easily absorbed when the skin pores are open as a result of the sauna effect. “When it first opened in 2021, Boreh Spa was quite attractive to local and domestic tourists. Especially after the opening of international doors, foreign tourists also like this authentic Balinese treatment,” he added.

Foreign tourists who have felt the benefits can come every day just for a massage or take a complete package. The interest of foreign tourists to apply the boreh is not without reason. That’s because they feel the benefits of the boreh and sauna of these herbs. Raw materials and processing methods are carried out in the traditional way. “For the Balinese, boreh is made from a mixture of spices for treatment to warm the body, and to heal,” said Komang Puji.

Some of the raw materials are dried in the sun so they do not get moldy and are not perched by insects because this is related to the hygiene of the ingredients. The dried materials are measured according to the amount she created and then pounded in the mortar (natural stone). Results of the compound are smoked on the fireplace to dry. The results of the dried ingredients are crushed to be smooth and added to the liquid. This herb is used to cover the body.

This woman who has a wealth of experience in the SPA industry stated that in the Balinese healing, boreh is one of the traditional treatments having been trusted for generations. Especially for the sauna here, the components contain a mixture of more than 30 kinds of spices in the sauna stew, so that it results in a very good effect, for the body from inside and outside the body. “I also sell various spices to a number of hotels in Bali. So the spice is indeed very trusted from time immemorial, not just now,” she said.

More customers are repeater guests, in addition to domestic tourists who are on vacation in Bali. There are packages such as 2-hour treatment starting from a massage with a combination of Balinese message. After that, it is proceeded with the slathering of boreh all over the body except the face, and then going into the sauna. There are also treatment for up to 30-40 minutes, some guests consider 15 minutes are enough, and it all depends on how long the guest wants. “Our employees amount to 15 people, and now five people are assigned per day because we do not handle so many guests,” she concluded. (BTN/015)