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As th​e first green-certified and holistic day spa in its region, Angelic Moon Holisti​c Day Spa & Apothecary seeks to heal mind, body and spirit for locals and tourists alike.

My journey to Angelic Moon in Cudjoe Key, Florida, was nearly a decade in the making and more than worth the wait. Donna “Angel” Spencer, the owner of this wellness center and apothecary, first contacted me back in 2013 to share details of her business, the first green-certified and holistic day spa in her region. I promised her then that I’d stop by the next time I was in the area—and in August 2022, the time finally arrived.

It has also taken a few years for locals, as well as the many tourists who flock to the Florida Keys’ waterfront paradise, to get with the program that defines this diminutive day spa—that of holistic healing. At approximately 680 square feet, Angelic Moon might be the “tiny house” of day spas, but its influence has been mighty, if grassroots-level.

“Angelic Moon has been coined a ‘haven for healing’ since its inception, but maybe that should be revised as ‘the tiny haven for healing,’” Spencer laughs. “When Angelic Moon Holistic Day Spa opened, no one seemed to know what holistic meant. I had to do a lot of educating, one client at a time. Over the years, the concept of holistic health and wellness has become mainstream. Clients are more knowledgeable about alternative therapies, and Angelic Moon has evolved from day spa to holistic wellness center.”

A Fated Vocation

For Spencer, Angelic Moon wasn’t merely a business plan or a career, but a calling, perhaps fated from birth. “As a child, I was the one who held the medicine in my family, the one who worked with herbs and the one whom spiritual information was passed down to,” she recalls. “My interest in the beauty industry started at age 14, when I would routinely lock my sisters out of the bathroom on Saturday afternoons and spend the next three hours giving myself spa treatments. At age 16 I became a licensed cosmetologist and started giving them treatments.”

Spencer’s current spa service menu was born in New York three decades ago when, as a side hustle during graduate school, she’d haul her day spa setup to retreats in Southampton and Montauk. After relocating to the Keys, she had no intention of providing services or owning a day spa, but learned upon arrival that the job she’d moved for no longer existed. A year later in 2005, Angelic Moon Holistic Day Spa opened its doors.

“Our credo is: Release your stress, restore your balance and resurrect your greatness,” Spencer says. “Our mission and vision is to utilize this philosophy to uplift and empower clients through holistic spa services.”

Angelic Moon packs multiple areas of healing into its small space: two treatment rooms, a tranquil post-treatment meditation space, a dressing/consultation area separated by French doors and the apothecary, a wellness boutique that was added in 2014.

“It was described as H.O.T., an acronym for herbs, oils and tinctures, but over the past eight years the description has morphed into ‘Apothecary: medicine for your spirit,’” Spencer explains. “While we still offer custom blends, ancestral remedies and homeopathic products, the focus is now on crystal/gemstone therapy and spiritual supplies. These products can be used in reiki and sound healing to elevate the vibration of the individual and her surroundings to achieve mental clarity, emotional/physical balance and serenity.”

Global Wellness Tourism

One of the most unique offerings that visitors can take advantage of at Angelic Moon is Global Wellness Tourism (GWT)—total mind-body-spirit retreats customized by Spencer based on the client’s stated objectives and needs. For two days and nights guests are housed at a cottage with nearby amenities including a saltwater pool, hot tub, tennis and bocce courts and scenic bike trails.

“It’s a mini-vacation, heavily steeped in wellness, with individual attention—a totally private holistic experience with one-on-one activities, workshops and instruction, so you don’t share time or activities with other guests,” Spencer details. “An eco-activity is also included in the itinerary, because here in the Florida Keys we highly regard marine and all wildlife.”

For those desiring longer stays (three to seven days), Spencer also hosts well-being retreats, designed to provide an opportunity for individuals and small groups to focus on any specific issues that prevent them from achieving their goals and living their best lives.

For my wellness tourism experience, Spencer arranged an array of healing therapies, starting with the Aromatherapy Massage (60-90 min.). The massage is the spa’s most requested service, and combines  essential oils selected specifically after a brief client consultation, and a carefully chosen carrier oil to create a personalized medicinal blend (Spencer designed mine to provide both relaxation and rejuvenation).

“At Angelic Moon massage is determined by two essential elements: what the client requests and what the body requires,” Spencer says. “What the client wants is discussed upon arrival at the appointment, but what the body requires can be determined only through touch.”

After Spencer’s hands expertly worked out my knots, she performed the Baby’s Bottom facial (60 min.), another best-selling service. The facial uses glycolic acid to exfoliate dead skin cells, smooth fine lines, tone, tighten and improve the appearance of dark spots and scars. In addition to providing intense hydration and sun protection for the face, the treatment includes moisturizing treatments for the eyes, lips and hands.

After spending the afternoon at the cozy spa browsing between services, the apothecary’s curated mix of retail from both national brands and local craftspeople, I felt head-to-toe restored. But Spencer wasn’t done yet.

Holistic Healing

After my physical body had been tended to, Spencer moved on to mind and spirit healing, as she does for her wellness tourism visitors. I got to participate in a mala-making workshop with local artisan Karen Moore, who ushered me through the practice of selecting stones to bead my own mala, which could then be used for meditation at home. This was followed by a guided meditation with Spencer, and the next day included a reading with Mary Strauss Youngblood, a psychic/medium, who gave me a fun look into my future.

Spencer hand picks all of the practitioners she partners with to help facilitate her GWT programs. “At Angelic Moon, we approach wellness from the inside out, understanding the undeniable link between emotional, mental and physical well-being, particularly how ignored issues of the mind and spirit frequently manifest as physical ailments,” Spencer explains. “Clients come to us to reduce their stress and lessen their pain. As wellness practitioners, we can take that a few steps further by educating our clients about what is causing their discomfort and how to formulate a treatment plan to alleviate it.”

Fittingly, Angelic Moon’s major spa lines are designed to attend to the internal (M’lis) and external (Dr. Hauschka), and it was the first spa in the area to offer complementary alternative health solutions on a day spa menu, including far-infrared technology, reiki, crystal therapy and sound healing.

“The day spa is small in size, but huge in service; the menu is three pages in length,” Spencer explains. “It’s no longer about simply offering spa services, it’s about seeing your client as a whole person who might benefit from complementary alternative services, in addition to the pain-management massage she’s seeking. By taking the holistic approach to serving our clients, we have a unique opportunity to treat the client’s symptoms and help them to decipher the root cause of their discomfort.”

In a post-pandemic, overstressed world, today’s clients are clearly hungry for an approach like the one offered at Angelic Moon. The spa graces the top 10% of Tripadvisor’s global business listings, receiving its Traveler’s Choice Award for the past four consecutive years, and word of mouth keeps spreading.

Spencer notes that whether they are local or out-of-town visitors, typical clients at Angelic Moon seek stress reduction, pain management or spiritual enlightenment. “The pandemic has made clients more conscious of their well-being than ever before,” Spencer adds. “They want more than a menu of random spa services. They want to know how they can be proactive with their mental, physical and spiritual health.”