Explore the Art of Alchemy at Six Senses Douro Valley

The Alchemy Workshop presents guests with the opportunity to blend their own ingredients in order to create individualized fragrances for home and beauty products.

The alchemy experience begins with the awe-inspiring setting of the mixing area. The centerpiece is a large antique carpenter's table featuring an array of labeled glass bottles and jars – some antique and some newer, but all with interesting contents. Behind the table are shelves with glass containers, mixing bowls and mortars with pestles on display.

This wellness workshop is designed to nourish the body at the highest levels and teach guests in-depth alchemy. Under expert guidance, guests work with a variety of herbs, fruit and spices; feel their textures and smell the uplifting aromas in order to develop personal and very individual blends for body scrubs, face and hair masks and lip balms.

These fascinating workshops are available to all resort guests at Six Senses Douro Valley. In the 60-minute hands-on session, guests learn about the distinct properties of the herbs and how to select the right ingredients for their blends. The emphasis is on local, in season, 100 percent organic ingredients from the garden and surrounds. As a bonus, guests also learn how to make everyday items such as home fragrances, laundry and kitchen pharmacy products at the workshop.

The Alchemy Workshop is offered weekly on a complimentary basis and limited to six guests. Individual workshops where guests make two products last 60 minutes and are priced at $56 per person.

To further their alchemy experience, guests may opt for a three-hour personalized Six Senses Spa Journey, which is tailored during consultation with the spa therapist and based on the Alchemy Bar menu recipes. Guests choose a body scrub, body wrap, face mask and hair mask, and make them together with their therapist and learn how to create the same concoctions at home from locally-sourced aromatherapy herbs and other ingredients. Once prepared, these products are used by the therapist in the couple's treatment room for a fresh personalized organic journey. This Six Senses Spa Journey is priced at $282 per person.

Visit website: www.sixsenses.com/resorts/douro-valley/destination