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Every year, nearly three million people make the trek to the Mojave Desert to visit Joshua Tree, California. Joshua Tree is more than just a tiny town; it is a community living on the edge of a magical desert, operating in tune with the nature of this world and the next. When considering the wide range of things to do in Joshua Tree, it is worth noting that this place has a reputation for grounding and self-discovery for a reason. For those looking to lean in and deepen their wellness practices, here are a few options to consider when planning your next stay.

Connect with Nature

Reconnecting with the natural world is perhaps the best thing to do in Joshua Tree. Joshua Tree National Park is the most popular place to do so. A National Monument since 1936, it became a National Park in 1994, making it one of the country's newer parks. With nearly 800,000 acres of boulders, peaks, and the trees it is named for, there is plenty of land to take space for yourself, including favourite destinations like the Cholla Cactus Garden and Jumbo Rocks. If you are driving in from Interstate 10, consider heading north through the park from the south entrance, thirty minutes east of Indio. It is a fine way to see the whole park at a leisurely pace, and the road delivers you right into the heart of downtown Joshua Tree. Pioneertown Mountain Preserve and the Desert View Conservation Area are other hiking areas with exceptional desert scenery.

Expand the Mind

The Mojave Desert is a sanctuary for musicians, thinkers and artists alike. When looking for things to do in Joshua Tree, consider one of the many ways to delve into your creativity. Locally run yoga studios Cedar & Sage and Untamed are excellent places to expand your practice, with offerings ranging from heated vinyasa flow to fundamentals of meditation. For those interested in the local art scene, ceramic studios such as ZZIEE Ceramics and Sage Ceramics offer both wheel and handbuilding classes that teach you to work with the earth. Galleries such as La Matadora and 29 Palms Art Gallery feature a wonderful selection of local work. The Joshua Tree Retreat Center is another renowned institution with a near-constant run of classes, exhibits and events focused on the mind and creativity, including breathwork classes, Qi Gong, and community sound baths.

Nourish the Body

The Mojave Desert is a restorative place for both body and spirit. At Mojave Desert Skin Shield we offer a selection of intentional holistic treatments designed to nourish from the inside out. All are held at our Wellbeing Space in Pioneertown, California, and they are an excellent option for the wellness-minded visitor. For individuals, our Bespoke Facial Healing Session is a 100 minute treatment using our house-developed skincare blends. Groups of up to 10 may book a Self Care Journey to experience together, which includes a self-guided facial treatment, a sound therapy session, and a Tao Tea sitting. Close friends or family may enjoy the Journey Treatment for Two, a shared session of nourishing, resting and refuelling together. Whatever path you choose, we consider it an honour to work with visitors during their time in the Mojave.

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As these beautiful spring days gradually begin to grow warmer and drier, there is no denying that summer's reign is nearing. During these summer months, it is important to hydrate the body internally and externally to maintain healthy, glowing skin. Here are a few ways to increase your body's hydration this summer from the inside out.

Drink More Water

It is not a secret that to have healthy skin, we first need to prioritize our body's internal health. The first step to having healthy, hydrated skin is to have a hydrated body as a whole. While recommended amounts vary from person to person, drinking at least one liter of water daily is a reasonable starting point. Monitor your activity and energy levels to gauge whether you need more.

Misting

If you are looking for an easy way to add moisture to the skin, consider incorporating a mist into your skincare routine. Facial mists are generally lightweight formulas that contain hydrating, anti-inflammatory ingredients. They can be helpful for people with dry or sensitive skin, or those who want some rejuvenation on the go. Look for mists built around rose water or aloe vera.

Consider Your Diet

During the summer months, it helps to eat in a way that supports hydration too. Fruits and vegetables with high water content are an easy way to increase your intake: cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers and melons. Foods high in Vitamins A and C support a healthy skin barrier, which in turn holds moisture in. Foods with omega-3 fatty acids are worth including as well, since skin needs both water and lipids to stay hydrated. Olive oil, nuts, and oily fish such as salmon, tuna or sardines are all good sources.

Humidifier

Low moisture in the air dries out the skin, leaving it irritated and inflamed. To counter that at home, consider a quality humidifier. Water vapour from the humidifier adds moisture to the air, gently hydrating skin from the outside in. Running one helps skin cells hold more moisture, and it can ease the sinuses and lungs as well, which is welcome during allergy season.

Hydrating Ingredients

Skincare products have different attributes, and some are far more hydrating than others. This summer, look for ingredients that act as natural hydration boosters. Examples include sodium hyaluronate, green tea seed oil, and calendula extract. These are effective at drawing moisture into the skin, which makes them well suited to hot, dry months.

At Mojave Desert Skin Shield, our Organic Desert Nectar Serum is built for exactly this step. With olive leaf juice as its hero ingredient, known for helping the skin withstand environmental stress, our Climate Adaptive serum brings vitality to any complexion. Its concentration of hyaluronic acid in the highly absorbable form sodium hyaluronate helps restore moisture, relieving dryness while plumping the appearance of the skin for a hydrated, healthy glow.

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Late June is here, and we are soaking in the final days of the spring season. Heavy rains resulted in our hillsides being painted with color, wildflowers in patches of violet, red, and gold. While flowers cover our horizons, bloom in the yard and decorate our tabletops, many do not know that certain flowers are key in the realm of skincare as well. Here are a few favorite floral ingredients to incorporate into your skincare routine.

Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil

Beloved in the self-care sphere by way of bath oils and mists, lavender oil has a variety of attributes that promote clear, healthy skin. Its antioxidant properties help protect the skin from free radicals, the unstable molecules that damage skin over time. Further, lavender oil's anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties aid in reducing the appearance of acne and redness.

Rosa Damascena (Rose) Flower Oil

Sometimes known as the Turkish Rose, the Bulgarian Rose, or the Castille Rose, Rosa Damascena is a cultivated flower with origins in the Middle East. Commonly known as the Damask Rose, this essential oil is widely recognized for its potent floral fragrance, as well as its anti-inflammatory properties that aid in calming redness and irritated skin. Rose oil's high concentration of Vitamin A encourages cell turnover as well, promoting healthy, youthful looking skin.

Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil

While sunflower seed oil is typically associated with cooking, sunflowers also provide a beneficial ingredient in skincare. Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil, or sunflower seed oil, contains high quantities of Vitamin E, which is extremely moisturizing for rough, dry skin. The oil is also composed of a blend of fatty acids that support ceramides, the lipids that maintain the skin barrier, keeping it strong and healthy.

Calendula Officinalis Extract

Derived from the common marigold flower, Calendula Officinalis Extract is both cleansing and hydrating, making it a key ingredient in many skincare products. With antimicrobial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties, it works to support clean skin without overdrying it. It also helps soothe a variety of skin complaints, rashes, and minor wounds. Additionally, calendula has properties that aid in buffering ultraviolet radiation, helping protect skin from sun exposure.

Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Seed Oil

Extracted and cold-pressed from the tea plant of Eastern Asia, also known as the camellia flower, Camellia Sinensis Seed Oil is a crucial ingredient in the world of skincare. This oil contains a host of fatty acids and nutrients that are important for deep nourishment of the skin. Its concentration of Vitamins A and B help support elasticity, softening the appearance of fine lines, and it inhibits the production of melanin, which reduces the look of hyperpigmentation. This makes camellia seed oil one of the best oils for the visible effects of aging. At Mojave Desert Skin Shield it is a feature ingredient in our Organic Nourishing Oil, our hero product that will keep skin aglow all summer long.

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Monsoon season is a lengthy one this year. It stretches on listlessly, a sleepy tint that continues to stain our skyline grey. Monsoon season, the name desert dwellers dub days that reign from mid-July through August, into September as we near autumn's fall. It sounds more scholarly, I suppose, than "late summer"; of more breadth than simple "August." Monsoon season, a term locals pitch like candy when offering reasons for the clouds that dip between the hills, for the tightness that haunts their joints, humidity that plagues the air even as days turn to sleepless nights.

Monsoon season is the encore of maddening Mojave summers. It is the handheld bow; roses carried across the stage and cradled as its curtain tumbles down. Summer, this place's Achilles heel; the season that bears the question as to why people choose to live here. Summer always seems to arrive too early and extend its stay for too long. It bids farewell as those endless desert days begin to shorten in increments, gloom seeping in earlier. Moisture begins to swell in the air, smothering us beneath its weight, a burgeoning balloon that never seems to break. It accompanies clouds that drift in on creeping winds, hovering darkly about the sky. Clouds that are often too thick for the sun to sufficiently break; they float low on the horizon as it fades through blue to black, barely allowing for beams of color in between. They stay and sheathe the moon as she rises, light muted and milky. Too often stars become illusions, mere tricks of the mind beyond the gauze.

Monsoon season is the encore for our peace season, bordering the edge between season and off. The rains make for a dramatic applause before groves of tourists rise and take their stand, cars clogging the highway that wraps along our valley, through the canyon to down below. Their arrival fills our sparse streets, reminding everyone that this is a town built on tourism, and that tourism comes with a price paid via traffic and lengthy waits at the local Country Kitchen. Until then, however, we find ourselves growing used to open roads, to silence that hugs midnight skies. We envelope ourselves in solitude; morning baths last longer, sweeter under stillness. We slip into sleep earlier, exhausted from heat and wind, eyes dropping closed to trickles from swamp coolers. It is the time to recharge in this place, to stay inside and rest the way they do in winter elsewhere. Think of this as your shoveling snow, my uncle suggests, a man who loves hot, dry desert days. The mercury etches towards 110; that has to be worse than this.

Monsoon season, we sigh as another grey day rises; as afternoon rays wear thin. The fragment of our year when we feel almost accustomed to rain; umbrellas move from car trunks to backseats. Thunder shatters evenings' quiet and mornings drip with strained yellow light, soft patters echoing throughout our homes. Skies darken as doors are cracked open; the fragrance of creosote and scorched Earth become heady, intoxicating; we cannot breathe deep enough. Desert rain; one of those scents that consumes a person; a lover we always chase but can never hold for too long. It dwells along the mountains' shadowed sides, its sweetness lingering long after they bloom back to blush. Falling gently to replenish this land as the curtain tumbles down, and the lights come on again.

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One of the common laments about Southern California and the Mojave Desert is that it is a land void of seasons. Comments such as these tend to be made by people who do not reside here, and at first glance they seem correct; this land is not marked by soil's thaw, nor by leaves turning from green to gold, orange, and brown. Yet those who live here know they are far from the truth. For they know that these seasons are defined not by rampant mood swings, but rather by sweet, subtle shifts of nature. Earth cracks open, scorched during Summer; air is heavy with heat that cannot be escaped. Summer seems to seep gently into Autumn, whose days remain hot but whose nights grow cool. Cool nights, when winds die down so that the glows of bonfires may once again light these darkened hills, filling the air with a fragrance of pine and ash. Winter arrives once dusk begins to fall too quickly. Winter, when snow caps the crests in the distance; when the Santa Anas bring our best sunsets, cotton-candy fire smeared across the sky. People who live here know the delicate promise that arrives with Spring in the desert.

Spring in the desert is quiet, coming in peace after Winter's lengthy spell. A spell is broken except for on the mountaintops, whose peaks remain painted with thick white glaze. They line the edge of our dear Highway 62, the common concrete thread that ties the High Desert. Peering out from between the rolling hills, they remain a gentle reminder of what came before. A land stained sepia, the deep green growing from snow seepage strikes the eye as fresher, more fervent than seen elsewhere. Grassy, verdant bursts of green that sprout over the valley's slopes; they prove life to this bare, barren land once again. Green lends to the blooming of desert flowers, their fragrance a note sweeter, colors brighter than flowers found elsewhere. They show up every Spring despite Winter's harsh winds, or the lapse in time since our last nourishing rain. The blazing fuchsia blossoms that open from the end of cactus leaves will never not strike as beautiful; they will never strike as anything less than a tiny wonder of this world. Lilac bushes found here may not boast as full as they are elsewhere, but their light, clean fragrance still drifts down our dusty streets, mingling with the scents of Earth and sun.

Spring in the desert is the season of Season; when visitors begin to arrive in groves, traveling in tandem as they meander up the steep canyon's curves. They venture from their homes with the intent to experience this way of life; the slowness that it entails, the simplicity. They are greeted by sleek, angular lizards who dart out from beneath boulders before freezing into place. Their unhurried drives down our desert dirt roads are halted, surprised by sudden snakes stretched across sand, soaking in the lengthening golden hour sunlight. Visitors who have never witnessed the miracle of a cholla flower; a striking lime blossom wedged between cactus needles' grip. They have never borne witness to the mountains' deepening to cornflower blue at dusk, how sharply they jut against a blood orange sky. Visitors who have never felt the power of a desert Full Moon burgeoning from beneath the horizon, setting this barren land aglow.

Potent, yet subtle define our seasons; easily overlooked by the naked eye, one must look with intention for the changes to this land. We welcome Spring's arrival in the Mojave Desert, taking on this shift in time with open-hearted peace, and a prayer for renewal.

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