Harnessing Nature’s Healing Symphony in the Indigo Calming Ritual

Skincare brand Tatcha’s newest launch, Indigo Overnight Repair treatment, inspired the original 'Song of Indigo' by Nick Wood, debuts today in stereo and 8D audio on Apple Music and Spotify and will be a component in Tatcha’s new Indigo Calming Ritual, which launches today at Tatcha.com. The skincare-inspired soundscape, the first-of-its-kind in the beauty industry, was created in collaboration with Tatcha, Syn, and PlantWave.

Tatcha's Indigo Calming Ritual  

Through research into bodymind science, Tatcha has found that what you hear, touch, taste, smell, and see impacts your state of mind, which is reflected in your skin. That’s why they believe care for your skin must involve care for all of you. Anchored by the Indigo Overnight Repair treatment, the research-backed Indigo Calming Ritual was developed to engage the five senses and help bring the skin and mind to a state of calm, lowering mental stress and increasing mental relaxation.

To further understand the effects of the Indigo Calming Ritual on the bodymind, Tatcha conducted a first of its kind neurological study of 50 participants that recorded eye tracking and measured brain waves using EEG instrumentation as they performed each step. Researchers monitored the brain’s theta waves to evaluate participants’ mental stress levels and alpha waves to evaluate relaxation levels. The clinical results confirmed the Indigo Calming Rituals’ effectiveness in providing a sense of calm and relaxation. After one 16-minute session, participants demonstrated a 21% increase in relaxation and a 17% reduction in stress levels.

“Song of Indigo”

The journey began when Tatcha Founder Vicky Tsai became aware of Joe Patitucci’s work with Data Garden on a device called PlantWave. Designed to help users connect with nature through technology and access a state of heightened mindfulness, PlantWave is a device which translates a plant’s electrical variations into music.To bring PlantWave’s breakthrough concept to life, Tatcha collaborated with long-time partners Syn World to create a song from the hero ingredient of its latest formula, Japanese indigo. The timeless botanical has long been regarded for its deeply soothing and calming effects on skin, but the teams wondered what it sounded like, and if its music could impact the brain. To find out, Tatcha and the Syn World team travelled to an indigo farm in the Tokushima prefecture in Japan to record the sound of the plant and its environment using PlantWave.

Composed over a span of two months, each note in the final 'Song of Indigo' composition is an expression of a change within the plant from moment to moment. When producing the music, the Syn team incorporated calming elements such as slower tempo (36.46 bpm), mellow timbre (bass clarinet), and smaller amplitude (-10 dB) to help listeners de-stress. Samples of instruments and other sonic textures such as bird song and a babbling brook, elevate the score’s calming effects. Utilizing additional audio materials recorded in Shikoku and Akita Shirakami Sanchi, Syn World added pink noise: frequencies found in nature sounds like rain, wind, or leaves rustling, to create a sense of calm. Tatcha, PlantWave and Syn World also selected keys, scales, and tempos that are purported to improve the state of relaxation. 

Tatcha and Syn World will continue to build a plant-based soundscape library based on the primary botanical ingredients in each of Tatcha’s skincare collections. Created by Tatcha with top scientists, research labs, and universities as well as respected spiritual and well-being leaders, key collections will come with a corresponding curation of sound (Syn World soundscapes), sight, feel, scent, and taste to bring the skin and mind into harmony. These rituals and soundscapes will continue to launch over the next 24 months.

“We all know from experience that music has an incredibly deep and personal impact on our life, but how do we prove it?” reflects Nick Wood, Syn creative director and CEO. “This project shows  music’s neurological effect on the listener. It’s the first time that we’ve been able to collaborate on a project where research and scientific data demonstrate what we’ve felt emotionally. It is an absolute honor to be a part of this incredible journey and experience.”

“At Tatcha, our philosophy is rooted in the Japanese phrase hinou doukon which means ‘skin-mind same root,’” says Vicky Tsai, Tatcha Founder and CEO. “We’ve long believed that the skin and mind are deeply connected, and that caring for the skin requires care of all of you, inside and out. With the launch of The Indigo Calming Ritual and ‘The Song of Indigo,’ we can bring our clients the benefits of nature’s healing symphony wherever they are and allow them to find harmony from skin to soul.”

“Plants are often used for their power to help us heal, yet it’s rare they’re acknowledged as active participants in our lives,'' says Data Garden Founder and CEO Joe Patitucci. “PlantWave helps to expand our awareness of plants by letting us listen in on their biological process in the form of harmonious music. Working on ‘The Song of Indigo’ was a welcome opportunity to connect with a plant with wonderfully therapeutic properties and discover how the resulting musical patterns facilitate health and relaxation.”

The five senses are just the beginning. We live in a world made up of energy, and there are infinite ways we can bring harmony to our lives and the world all around us.