HEALTH AND WELLNESS

From bottled water at work to that filter on your kitchen tap at home, you already take great care with your drinking water. Why not protect the outside of your body from tap-water contaminants the same way you protect the inside? Sarasota’s Ferguson Bath & Kitchen Gallery, which caters to industry professionals as well as homeowners, introduces the one-of-a-kind Wellness Shower. A high-tech water filtration system that filters out more contaminants and lasts longer than any other shower filter on the market, the Wellness Shower actually enhances water with rare volcanic minerals and reduced ions. Which means it’s good for your home and for you.

The Wellness Shower uses an advanced process to filter out up to 99 percent of water’s contaminants and is certified by NSF (the National Sanitation Foundation) to reduce chlorine for 27,000 gallons, three times longer than the average shower filter.

And the Wellness Shower doesn’t just filter. The system uses several layers of rare volcanic minerals with natural bacterio-static and fungi-static properties to enhance the water, helping to keep your shower fungus-free and providing defense against bacteria. Featuring a patented magnetic treatment stage, the Wellness Shower also reduces ions to protect the skin from free radical attack (lipid peroxidation), thus acting as an anti-oxidant. The system actually increases hydration by 115 percent for softer, younger-looking skin and hair.

The Wellness Shower is easily installed, fits all showers and is used by Japan’s leading skin clinic and more than 100 Japanese hotels.

LONGER-LASTING LIGHTS

Preserve the beauty of your landscape lighting by taking simple precautions and scheduling regular check-ups with the experts at Nightlights.

Florida residents know our lush flora can be difficult to restrain—especially during rainy summertime. With such rapid growth of greenery, landscape lights can quickly become choked out with vegetation. Step one in maintaining your landscape lights involves regular trimming and clearing of the light path.

In addition, some lighting systems employ “well lights” (lights that are low profile, with most of the fixture below the ground) that can be covered over by careless spreading of new mulch. The bulbs in these lights are very hot, so it’s important to be sure that any new mulch is put down with care and continually kept off the light’s surface.

Because of these and other hazards to outdoor systems, Nightlights recommends that your landscape lighting be serviced on a regular basis, thus preserving the nighttime beauty and also your investment. Nightlites/Lumical has a full-time service department available to provide regular maintenance of your landscape lighting, be it one of the company’s own installations or a competitor’s.

BIG-TIME BUILDER

Make room—Lakewood Ranch has yet another feather in its cap. London Bay Homes, whose local model shines at the Lake Club, was named America’s Best Builder by Builder Magazine. The Naples-based company was recognized for excellence in all aspects of its business, as well as a dedication to moving the building industry forward. This means, of course, that you only need to take a quick drive east to explore the work of the best builder in the country.

The perennial award-winning master-planned community also handed out a few awards of its own recently: Lakewood Ranch Communities recognized Rick Libro of Re/Max Properties, Beth Pheney of Michael Saunders & Company and Pat McMillan of Lakewood Ranch Realty as the winners of its 2007 Amazing Rewards Program. The awards feature realtors who lead the way in sales volume and number of client visits.

STYLISH SETTING

Head to HomeResource this month to check out the latest from Italian manufacturers Tonin and BonTempi while you take in a performance of Misery Loves Children by local playwright Jenny Beres. The stylish furniture store on Central hosts nightly performances of Beres’ play May 20-23 at 7 p.m. While you’re there, check out the new shipment of Kartell furniture, too. When else can you spend a night out at the theater and come back with an occasional chair?