Koru Touch

🌵✨ BRIGHTEN RETURNS — A SEASONAL OFFERING FROM Laurel Skin

At Koru Touch, we believe the changing seasons ask us to listen differently to our skin.

Late summer brings its own conversation: prolonged sunlight, heat, humidity, outdoor living — and a complexion that has traveled through all of it with us. ☀️🌿

This is precisely when we welcome the seasonal return of Laurel Skin’s Brighten Compound — Resin + Rhizome.

Brighten is not simply another serum.

Laurel’s Compounds are highly concentrated whole-plant preparations designed to address specific skin imbalances. Brighten was created particularly for hyperpigmentation and sun-damaged skin, bringing together five remarkable botanical allies: Creosote, Licorice, Uva Ursi, Frankincense and Turmeric.

🌵 Creosote especially captures our attention.

This resinous desert shrub has adapted to environments of tremendous heat and solar exposure. Laurel highlights its antioxidant constituent NDGA for helping protect against lipid oxidation and free-radical damage while supporting the skin’s resilience to intense UV exposure.

There is a beautiful lesson here.

Some of nature’s most resilient plants do not merely survive challenging environments.

They flower within them. 🌼

This is the kind of whole-plant intelligence that inspires our work at Koru Touch.

We don't view skincare simply as correcting something that has gone “wrong.” We look at the complexion as a living landscape — responding continuously to season, environment, hydration, nourishment, stress, rest and the elements.

And then we ask:

Which botanical allies would best support this landscape now? 🌿

Brighten Compound offers one beautiful answer for this moment in the season.

Just 1–2 drops are applied to damp skin following a generous mist of Hydrating Elixir, then followed with Serum and/or Balm — allowing this concentrated plant preparation to become part of a complete Laurel ritual.

✨ BRING THE RITUAL HOME

Brighten Compound and our curated Laurel Skin collection are available through the Koru Touch online shop, with convenient curbside pickup and national shipping.

🌿 OR LET US CARE FOR YOU

If summer has left your complexion feeling beautifully sun-kissed in all regards, we invite you to experience a Laurel Holistic Facial Ritual at Koru Touch.

Rather than following a one-size-fits-all facial, we meet the skin where the season has brought it — allowing whole plants, intentional touch and thoughtful observation to guide the ritual.
Come journey with us through the never-ending greatness of Laurel’s alchemy, whole-plant formulations and holistic code for great living.

Because sometimes the most beautiful approach to skincare is simply allowing:

🌿 Nature to meet nature.

Shop + Book Online: www.korutouch.com


Photo Credit Laurel Skin

🌿🦋 THE OLD MAP SAID: CLEANSE. TONE. TREAT. MOISTURIZE.

But what happens when the map itself changes?

For generations, toner occupied an established position within skincare and the classical European facial.

Our relationship with Laurel Skin has invited us to consider something much larger:

Perhaps toner isn’t a category waiting for a better replacement. Perhaps it belongs to a skincare paradigm whose purpose has been completed.

Laurel Whole Plant Skincare offers another orientation entirely.

Rather than dissecting the skin into individual concerns and searching for one ingredient or “hero product” to conquer each problem, Laurel brings us back into the intelligence of relationship and synergy.

🌱 Plants support plants.

🌿 Ingredients support one another within thoughtfully composed formulations.

💧 The Hydrating Elixir prepares the skin to receive.

✨ Serums, Balms, Compounds and the greater Laurel range continue that botanical conversation.

👐 And the ritual of application itself mirrors the synergistic intelligence within the formulations.

The brilliance isn’t located in one bottle.

It lives within the relationships between them.

In Gregory’s newest Koru Touch blog, this botanical philosophy opens into an even larger exploration of skincare, memory, ritual and radiance.

Through his personal spiritual lens, Gregory also considers whether our renewed relationship with plants and innate intelligence reflects something larger unfolding in this moment—a movement toward what he experiences as a Golden Age, with messengers appearing to help us remember another way.

For Gregory, Laurel is one of those messengers.

Her language is whole plants.
Her map is synergy.
Her medium is the skin.
Her invitation is radiance.

🦋 The Forgotten Language of Skin begins with an Elixir.

But what waits inside is an entirely different conversation about how we understand, listen to and care for the skin.

Read the complete blog:

https://www.korutouch.com/s/stories/the-forgotten-language-of-skin

Welcome to whole-plant synergy.

Welcome home to your radiance.

We welcome you into a treatment room✨ of all possibility and greatness at Koru Touch🌀Book your “Laurel Holistic Facial Ritual” today online❤️

🌺 A Beloved Summer Ritual Has Returned to Koru Touch 🌺

There are a handful of seasonal moments we eagerly anticipate each year, and the return of Laurel Skin’s Whole Plant Vitamin C Ritual is certainly one of them.

We are delighted to welcome back two extraordinary seasonal formulations, available for a limited time at Koru Touch:

🌺 Hydrating Elixir C: Jasmine Hibiscus

🍊 Radiance Compound: Fruit + Flavonoid

At the heart of both formulations is freshly harvested Hibiscus calyx, beautifully complemented by whole botanical sources of Vitamin C, including Camu Camu, Sea Buckthorn, and Rosehip. Together, these vibrant plants create a luxurious seasonal ritual that leaves the skin feeling refreshed, beautifully hydrated, and radiant while celebrating the wisdom of whole plants.

What we appreciate most is how naturally these two formulations complement one another.

💧 Hydrating Elixir C delivers refreshing hydration through artisan-distilled Jasmine hydrosol and whole plant Vitamin C.

🍊 Radiance Compound follows with antioxidant-rich botanical oils and flavonoids, gently pressed into damp skin to complete the ritual with nourishing botanical richness.

Together, they create a sensory experience that celebrates the beauty of seasonal skincare and the artistry of thoughtfully crafted botanical formulations.

At Koru Touch, we lovingly refer to Hydrating Elixir C as the botanical breath between every layer—a refreshing pause that prepares the skin to welcome each beautiful botanical that follows. It has become one of our favorite expressions of Laurel’s philosophy: honoring the skin through hydration, presence, and intentional ritual.

☀️ This summer, we invite you to experience more than exceptional skincare.

Step into a peaceful treatment room where cooling botanicals, exquisite natural aromas, and whole-plant formulations come together in our Laurel Holistic Facial Ritual.

Each treatment is thoughtfully personalized and designed to nourish the skin while creating space to slow down, breathe deeply, and reconnect with yourself through the rhythms of nature.

Whether you’re seeking a restorative pause from the summer heat, preparing for a special occasion, or simply honoring yourself with intentional self-care, this seasonal facial has become one of our favorite ways to celebrate the beauty of summer.

✨ Reserve Your Laurel Holistic Facial Ritual

https://book.squareup.com/appointments/8b8c8zoj35zpps

🛍️ Prefer to enjoy these seasonal treasures at home?

Both Hydrating Elixir C: Jasmine Hibiscus and Radiance Compound: Fruit + Flavonoid are now available through the Koru Touch Online Boutique, with nationwide shipping and complimentary curbside pickup for our local community.

🌿 Shop the Laurel Skin Collection

https://www.korutouch.com/shop/laurel-skin

Thank you for allowing us to share these beautiful seasonal offerings with you. Whether we welcome you into our treatment room or carefully package these botanical treasures for your home, it is always our privilege to support your skincare journey with products rooted in nature, intention, and craftsmanship.

With gratitude,

🌿 Gregory Cartwright & Ray Pruett
Koru Touch
Integrative Massage • Holistic Esthetics • Botanical Wellness

📷 Laurel

Radiance, Renewal & Gratitude

Dear Friends,

Summer has arrived in all of its beauty, brilliance, and warmth. It is a season that invites us outdoors, into the gardens, beneath the sun, and into moments of celebration. It is also the season when our skin quietly asks for something different—deep hydration, soothing support, restoration, and protection.

At Koru Touch, one of our most anticipated moments of the year has arrived.

The Laurel Whole Plant Skincare Summer Seasonal Launch

For those who have experienced Laurel Whole Plant Skincare with us over the years, you already know what this means. For many of you, simply hearing the words Jasmine Elixir brings back memories of your Laurel Holistic Facial Rituals and the sensory experience that has become synonymous with summer.

This once-a-year seasonal offering has become my favorite Laurel release. Every year I eagerly await it—it's truly Christmas for my skin.

Hydrating Elixir C · Jasmine Hibiscus

Often lovingly remembered simply as "The Jasmine Elixir," this extraordinary seasonal tonic is one of Laurel's most celebrated formulations.

Created with whole-plant Vitamin C from Hibiscus, Camu Camu, Rosehip, and Sea Buckthorn, this botanical infusion is designed to:

• Deeply hydrate thirsty summer skin

• Brighten and visibly firm the complexion

• Help calm heat and redness associated with long summer days

• Support healthy connective tissue

• Strengthen the skin's natural response to sun exposure

At the heart of the formulation is Jasmine, often called the Queen of Essential Oils. Beyond its exquisite aroma, Jasmine has long been cherished for its ability to comfort the nervous system, encourage relaxation, and support the parasympathetic ("rest and restore") state. It transforms daily skincare into a ritual of calm as much as beauty.

Radiance Compound · Fruit + Flavonoid

Returning alongside the Jasmine Elixir is Laurel's beloved Radiance Compound—a concentrated botanical treatment rich in whole-plant Vitamin C, flavonoids, and fruit enzymes.

Working gently yet effectively, it helps:

• Improve luminosity

• Encourage smoother skin texture

• Even overall tone

• Reveal naturally radiant skin

It offers many of the brightening benefits associated with conventional Vitamin C or exfoliating acids while remaining completely aligned with Laurel's philosophy of whole-plant herbal medicine.

The Laurel Ritual

One of the greatest strengths of Laurel Whole Plant Skincare is that every formulation has been designed to work together.

Your customized Laurel Serum—whether Antioxidant, Balance, Sun, Unburden, or Petals Alchemy—becomes even more effective when layered with the Radiance Compound and the Hydrating Elixir C.

Rather than individual products working alone, they create a botanical conversation with the skin, each supporting the next in harmony. This layered ritual is where Laurel's herbal intelligence truly shines.

Experience the Collection in Treatment

If you would like to experience these seasonal treasures before bringing them home, we warmly invite you into the peaceful silence of the Koru Touch treatment room for our Laurel Holistic Facial Ritual.

This immersive experience allows you to discover Laurel's remarkable herbal alchemy through touch, aroma, presence, and whole-plant medicine. During these exceptionally hot summer months, your skin's first line of defense is thoughtful self-care—restoring hydration, calming excess heat, and supporting your complexion from within.

There is simply no better time to experience what has become one of Laurel's most beloved seasonal rituals.

Because these releases are handcrafted in limited seasonal quantities, availability is limited each year and often sells through quickly.

To reserve your Hydrating Elixir C or Radiance Compound, please email [email protected].

To experience the complete Laurel Holistic Facial Ritual, appointments may be reserved online at:

korutouch.com (http://www.korutouch.com)

It would be my sincere pleasure to help you select the ideal home-care ritual or find the perfect appointment time for your facial experience.

A Season of Deep Gratitude

This summer has also brought one of the greatest professional honors of my career.

For twenty-six years, when people have asked why I became a massage therapist, my answer has never changed.

My purpose has always been simple: to help someone leave feeling different than when they arrived.

Whether easing physical tension, calming the nervous system, or simply offering a peaceful moment in an increasingly busy world, I have always believed that even the smallest shift can ripple far beyond the treatment room.

This summer, I was deeply honored to serve as a massage therapist for the German National Football Team during their training camp here in Winston-Salem.

It is an experience I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

Behind the scenes I witnessed remarkable professionalism, humility, discipline, kindness, and mutual respect. Excellence was reflected not only in athletic performance, but equally in character, presence, and the genuine care shown toward one another.

The experience reminded me that healing, much like sport, speaks a universal language. It moves beyond nationality, culture, and background, bringing people together through trust, compassion, and shared humanity.

To the players, coaches, medical staff, and everyone who made this unforgettable opportunity possible, I offer my heartfelt gratitude. Supporting your journey has become one of the most meaningful chapters of my professional life.

Thank You

As Ray and I reflect upon this remarkable season, we are reminded that none of it would be possible without you.

Every appointment, every facial, every massage, every conversation, every referral, every encouraging word, and every act of trust has helped shape Koru Touch into the sanctuary we dreamed of creating fifteen years ago.

Healing has always been a shared journey.

If you are reading this today, please know how deeply grateful we are for your continued support. Your presence allows us to continue sharing the work we love and the vision of peace, compassion, wellness, and authentic care that inspires us every day.

We hope this summer offers you moments of stillness, abundant health, radiant skin, joyful memories, and time to reconnect with your truest self.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Gregory Cartwright & Ray Pruett

Koru Touch
Luxury Holistic Wellness • Whole Plant Skincare • Massage Therapy • Energy Healing

Happy Summer 2026

The Jasmine Elixir Click here for an update from Koru Touch!

🌊💜 Experience the Rhythm of the Pacific… in Every Massage. 💜🌊

At Koru Touch, our Certified Esalen® Massage is distinguished by its signature long, flowing strokes that move continuously from fingers to toes, inspired by the natural rhythm of ocean waves.

This graceful approach helps calm the nervous system while creating a deeply nurturing experience that supports relaxation, circulation, body awareness, and a profound sense of wholeness.

To elevate this ritual, we pair our massage with Shankara Soothing Body Oil, an Ayurvedic blend featuring:

🪻 Lavender to calm and relax

🌼 Calendula to soothe and nourish

🍋🌿 Lemon Balm (Melissa) to restore emotional balance

Together, the flowing artistry of Esalen Massage and the botanical wisdom of Shankara invite you into a state where the body softens, the mind quiets, and everyday stress gently dissolves.

Imagine lying beside the Pacific Ocean…

Wave after wave washing across the shoreline…

Now imagine that same rhythm translated into therapeutic touch.

That is the experience we invite you to receive.

✨ Restore your nervous system.
✨ Reconnect with yourself.
✨ Return to peace.

🌿✨ Sometimes the greatest treatment begins before you ever enter the treatment room. ✨🌳

There are moments when life asks us to pause.

To remove our shoes.
To stand barefoot upon the Earth.
To rest a hand against the wisdom of an ancient tree.
To become aware of the rhythm of our own breath.

In those simple acts, something beautiful begins to happen. 🌎🤍

The nervous system softens.
The mind becomes quieter.
The heart remembers what it has known all along.

From this place of presence, our prayers become intentions, and our intentions become quiet messages carried into the Universe with clarity, trust, and hope. ✨💚

At Koru Touch, we believe self-care is more than a treatment—it is a practice of remembering. It is an opportunity to step away from the constant movement of the world and return to the wisdom already living within you.

When we slow down, we often discover that the answers we have been searching for were never outside of us. They have been patiently waiting beneath the surface, ready to emerge the moment we become still enough to listen. 🌿🦋

Our wish is that every person who enters Koru Touch feels welcomed into a space of compassion, presence, and peace—a sanctuary where the body can exhale, the spirit can expand, and the authentic self can gently come forward.

May today offer you a quiet moment to breathe deeply, connect with the Earth, and remember that you are supported, guided, and wonderfully connected to the living world around you. 🌳✨🤲

With gratitude,
Koru Touch Holistic Healing Arts 💚

🌿✨

🇩🇪⚽✨ Some professional experiences reach far beyond the work itself and settle permanently into the heart.

This summer, I received the extraordinary honor of being chosen to serve as a massage therapist supporting the German National Football Team during their training camp in Winston-Salem.

After 26 years in massage therapy, I understand more deeply than ever that the treatment room is a meeting place—one where titles, expectations, public attention, and the pressures of performance can quietly fall away. What remains is the human being: the breath, the nervous system, the body asking for restoration, and the trust required to receive care. 💆‍♂️🌿

Within that sacred space, I encountered remarkable professionalism, humility, dignity, kindness, and mutual respect. Each player met me with authenticity and presence. I was trusted to do the work I have devoted my life to, and I offered that work with the same respect, focus, and heartfelt intention. 🤍🙏

The spirit this team brought from Germany carried a beautiful light into Winston-Salem and across North America—a reminder of what becomes possible when people from different nations meet through shared purpose rather than division. Sport can create a current of excitement, discipline, creativity, courage, and human connection. It calls each individual to bring forward their personal best while honoring the gifts of others. 🌍🤝✨

From the earliest traditions of competitive sport, people have gathered across cultures and borders to test their abilities, refine their character, and inspire one another toward excellence. In that meeting place, competition becomes more than winning or losing. It becomes a language of devotion, teamwork, focus, and respect.

To have supported these athletes in the quiet moments behind the scenes was among the greatest privileges of my professional life. My gratitude for this experience runs far deeper than words can fully express.

To the German National Football Team, thank you for your trust, your graciousness, and the humanity you brought into every interaction. This chapter will remain with me for the rest of my life. 🇩🇪🤍⚽✨

Gregory Cartwright, LMBT NC #11331
Koru Touch | Winston-Salem, North Carolina

🌿✨ More Than a Facial. More Than Self-Care. A Return to Yourself. ✨🌿

At Koru Touch, we believe true skincare begins long before a serum touches the skin.

It begins with presence.

With being seen.
With being nurtured.
With being given permission to pause in a world that rarely slows down.

Every holistic facial we offer is individually curated, blending advanced facial massage, whole-plant skincare, energetic awareness, and restorative touch into an experience that honors the whole person—not just the complexion.

🌱 Skin
💚 Heart
✨ Mind
🕊️ Spirit

Working with the living intelligence of Laurel’s farm-to-face botanical formulations, each treatment becomes a unique unfolding. One guest may benefit from Gua Sha and lymphatic techniques. Another may receive crystal light therapy, Esogetic Colorpuncture®, sound healing, breathwork, affirmations, or moments of profound stillness.

No two journeys are ever the same.

We often say that the skin is a reflection of our inner landscape. When stress softens, when the nervous system feels safe, when the body is given space to rest and receive, something beautiful begins to happen.

The light within starts to shine again. ✨

Our intention is simple:

To create a sanctuary where guests feel cared for, supported, and gently guided back into harmony with themselves.

🌿 Spirit.
🌿 Soul.
🌿 Skin.

Let us take you on a journey back to true self.

💚 Koru Touch
A Fragrance-Free, Plant-Based Wellness Sanctuary

✨ THE GIFT OF REMEMBERING ✨

At Koru Touch, we often witness something beautiful.

A guest arrives carrying the weight of responsibilities, expectations, unanswered questions, and the constant movement of life.

Then something begins to shift.

The breath deepens.

The shoulders soften.

The mind grows quiet.

And beneath the noise, a deeper truth becomes available.

We believe wellness is not about adding more to your life.

It is about creating enough space to hear what has always been there.

Whether through massage therapy, holistic skincare, Esogetic Colorpuncture, vibrational healing, or Quantum Healing Hypnosis Technique®, our intention is the same:

🌿 To create sanctuary.🌿 To cultivate presence.🌿 To support self-discovery.🌿 To encourage meaningful self-care.🌿 To help you reconnect with the wisdom already within you.

Sometimes the answers we seek do not arrive through effort.

Sometimes they arrive through stillness.

And in that stillness, we remember who we are.

Our newest Koru Touch Blog explores this reflection and the beauty of returning to ourselves.

👉 Read the full article here:

✨ https://www.korutouch.com/s/stories/remembering-who-you-are ✨

May it inspire a moment of pause, presence, and remembrance on your journey. 🕊️

With gratitude,

The Koru Touch Team 🌿

🌿 KORU TOUCH IS CELEBRATING 15 YEARS! 🌿🎉

This month marks a very special milestone for us.

Fifteen years ago, Koru Touch opened its doors with a simple vision: to create a welcoming space where wellness, compassion, and genuine care could thrive.

Over the years, that vision has continued to grow because of one thing:
💚 Relationship.

The relationships we've built with our guests.
The relationships that connect us to our community.
The relationships that remind us of the importance of slowing down and caring for ourselves.

✨ For fifteen years, Koru Touch has sought to be a bridge—helping people reconnect with themselves, with nature, with community, and with the wisdom that has always lived within them.

Whether through massage therapy, holistic facials, wellness experiences, or simply a quiet moment of rest, our goal has always been the same: to provide a space where people feel supported, renewed, and cared for.

To every guest who has trusted us with your wellness journey, thank you. 🙏

Your loyalty, encouragement, and support have helped make Koru Touch what it is today.

We are honored to serve this incredible community and look forward to many more years of connection, healing, and heart-centered care.

With gratitude,
Ray Pruett & Gregory Cartwright 💚