Margot's offers a new line of products called ME or Mineral Essentials, made of natural minerals drawn fr om the Mount Clemens Mineral Basin.



Margot Kohler's spa at 280 N. Old Woodward is the only place in Michigan where the products are sold.

The ME line contains anti-aging sprays for the face, body washes and lotions, foot pampering products and even bath salts that one woman credits with keeping her mobile.

Carey Dejazghere, 26, was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis when she was young. Her whole body hurt. Doctors told her she would be in a wheelchair by the time she was 18.

Then, her dad gave her a gift certificate to take a healing bath in the mineral water at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital. It made all the difference in the world, she said.

The minerals seem to lubricate Dejaeghere's muscles like oil worked for the Tin Man in the, Wizard of Oz.

"Ever since I started taking the baths, I've felt fantastic," said Dejaeghere of New Baltimore, "It revitalizes you."

Dejaeghere, a spokesperson for Jeep, does commercials and car shows. Before, she said she could, barely stand up all day. Now, her new energy and attitude keeps her working much more, she said.

And she doesn't have to visit the spa or hospital for the baths; she can take them at home using Mineral Essentials bath beads. Dejaeghere said, she's trying get her family to give it a try.

Sue Gans owns the well from which the highly concentrated mineral water is pumped. It is said to have the highest mineral content of any body of water in the world.

In addition to arthritis, the minerals

from the basin, which was first discovered by

Charles Steffens in 1865, are said to alleviate the pains and symptoms of eczema, rheumatism and other aches and pains.

Whereas the Dead Sea has anywhere from eight to 21 minerals, Gans said Mount Clemens, mineral water has 34. The water is so concentrated with minerals, in fact, that the water comes out of the pump looking like black sludge.

There's no danger of the basin drying up, Gans said.

Gans, a real estate broker from Bloomfield Hills, learned, about the well after talking with a chemist in Oak Park about starting a line of beauty products. The chemist's next door neighbor happened to own the well and was in failing health. Gans bought him out.

That was seven years ago. Two, years ago, she developed a line of products called Ache Away and then got into the beauty business.

"People are really funding out about minerals and they are so good for your skin," Gans said. Cosmetic companies have started infusing minerals into their products, she said.

The products are formulated by the Mardale Corporation of Troy and sold by the world renowned Greenbrier Spa in West Virginia.

Kohler said she is excited about the new line of products.

Kohler has diplomas and certificates from around the world. She was medically trained in skin care and worked in Ann Arbor before opening her spa in Birmingham 21 years ago.

"Our (focus) has always been on well-being in conjunction with beauty," she said. "It's all about the quality,"