Tucked away on Motcombe Street in Knightsbridge is a tiny spa that does one of the best beauty treatments I’ve ever had. And I don’t say this lightly — I have a long history of visiting spas behind me after going for my first spa weekend at the tender age of 19. The spa is Glow Urban Spa and the treatment was their La Prairie cellular resurfacing facial.
The Glow salon is a chic, calm oasis — wooden floors, top-class therapists and glass shelves full of enticing products by La Prairie, Dermalogica and natural ranges from Hema (Liv Tyler’s favourite), and new Hungarian range, Omorovicza.
Glow was set up by Philip Davies, a leading acupuncturist and reflexologist, and so as well as the usual manicures and massages, alternative therapies such as craniosacral therapy (a light massage through clothes to correct ‘imbalances’) are available. There’s also a maternity and postnatal spa, offering another 22 treatments, and a men’s spa that has a menu to rival the women’s.
Being in Knightsbridge, the treatment rooms are small, but they’re perfectly formed with cool white and soft green interiors. And there’s no whale music — instead it’s the uplifting chanting of Buddhist monks.
My therapist, Becky, explains that elements of each treatment are adapted to make them bespoke for each customer. For my facial, Becky starts by thoroughly cleansing my skin. Twice. It’s definitely not one of those softly, softly facials and next my skin is analysed under a frighteningly bright light. The lovely Becky declares that my skin is soft, but I fear she is lying, or at least exaggerating. Then it’s steaming and extraction, followed by exfoliation with La Prairie’s microdermabrasion which, rather extravagantly uses pearls and diamond crystals. Apparently diamonds are also a girl’s best friend when it comes to diminishing wrinkles and pepping up dull winter skin. Then we’re onto a divine eye massage, which must have lasted 15 minutes — my eyes have never been so pampered — followed by a face massage, all using fantastic La Prairie products.
At £120 for 90 minutes, it’s expensive, but the results are worth it. Lots of treatments claim visible results, but this delivers. Glow had made me, well, glow. My skin felt amazingly clean, was softer and looked velvety. The best bit? My fine lines had diminished. It seemed like a glimpse of what Botox could do for me. A day later, although the plumped look had gone, my skin was still rejenuvenated. If all my past treatments had been this good, I’d probably still look 19.
8 Motcombe Street, London, SW1X 8JU (+44 (0) 20 7752 0652; glowurbanspa.co.uk)
