Although I wouldn’t go so far as to say I was vain exactly, I have been known to take over the bathroom with my various lotions and potions, and according to friends, I am an advertisers dream due to my willingness to believe the claims of each new ‘miracle cream’ launched on the market. Somehow though, I managed to make it to my mid twenties without ever experiencing a facial, assuming that one wouldn’t give me anything I couldn’t achieve myself at home...
Spurred on by the horrified look on my friends' faces when they learnt of my abstinence, I headed to Austin’s Beauty & Grooming to take advantage of their January offer, a Guinot Beaute Neuve facial for £25. And so, in a bid to rectify this apparent large error in my life thus far, I came to find myself lying in a dimly lit room with soft music playing, wrapped up in blankets, thankful I was wearing matching underwear. My being a novice, I hadn’t even thought about the fact that I may have to get undressed for a facial. The reason why is divine… but more of that later.
The process began by Hayley thoroughly cleansing my face of make up and pulling out the one thing if I’m honest, is perhaps the real reason I have shied away from facials – the magnifying glass! To be honest, it wasn't half as scary as I had imagined, but actually interesting to hear a professional opinion and advice on my trouble spots. Skin assessed (I’m quite sensitive, so Hayley promised not to leave certain products on for too long) a gel of fruit acids was applied, which it was explained to me helps to separate the dead cells from the healthy ones. This tingled slightly, which I found be rather refreshing and reassured me that the treatment was working. After Hayley removed the fruit acids, a foaming mousse was rubbed carefully into my face, helping to exfoliate the dead cells away and therefore restore the skins natural radiance.
Following this, I enjoyed an utterly relaxing face and shoulder massage (hence the need to remove most of my clothing) at which point I could very easily have fallen asleep to the soft music playing in the background. If I’d realised facials included this, I’d have become a convert long ago.
Come back to my senses I did though, so that we could move on to the next stage of the facial, the papaya fruit mask. Once applied, I was left to relax by myself for ten minutes, which I had no problem doing. I’m not sure if this is normal or not, but once or twice I would wiggle my toes, just to remind myself I could move if I wanted to, so relaxed I was…
After Hayley came back into the treatment room, the mask was removed and a soothing eye treatment plus moistuiser was applied. And voila, forty five heavenly minutes after I first walked into the room the process was complete. So will I become an old facial faithful? Indeed I will! My skin was so radiant and felt so smooth for the rest of the day, and days after, that I was happy enough to wander about with no make-up on my face at all, something I have to admit I am vain enough to not do that often. To any fellow facial virgins, I fully recommend you too take advantage of this offer. A regular devotee already? Just see it as an excuse to go more often!
To book an appointment, telephone Austin's Beauty & Grooming on 020 7534 7719