Elemis SpaPod
With the promise of glowing skin in 30 minutes and a full-body massage courtesy of a mechanical chair, Wahanda just couldn’t resist trying out one of the famous Elemis booster facials, (especially seeing as though we’ve got two of the treatments up for grabs this summer).
Performed in a unique SpaPod, we were expecting to be greeted by a round, egg-shaped contraption, but instead, we were led into a small, but perfectly formed treatment room. Bearing in mind these SpaPod’s are slap bang in the middle of department stores, they have been totally transformed into pods of peace and quiet. With sweet-smelling candles and soft music, you soon forget that ten minutes ago you were frantically trying to push your way past hordes of shoppers to get to the escalators.
Once ensconced in the pod, your therapist will tell you to slip off your shoes and hop onto the massage chair. Although no de-robing is required, there is the option of a neck and shoulder massage whilst the face mask works its magic, so you might want to remove your top or avoid wearing high collars. Administering treatments for over twenty years, our therapist - Shirley was fantastic and practically bouncing of the walls when we told her we’d never experienced the massage chair before.
After explaining what would happen and how it would feel, the chair was switched on and immediately began taking our body weight, measuring the length of our spine and customising our body massage programme. Just as Shirley said, it used all the regular massage techniques (long strokes, kneading, pressing and rubbing) to work out any knots and niggles while sending you into a state of relaxation. Your legs don’t get left out either and are manipulated by the chair to stimulate your lymph flow and boost your circulation.
Unbelievably, while all that was going on, Shirley was getting to grips with our face. Keen to leave the pod looking as fresh-faced as possible, we opted for the Skin Radiance facial, although there were five to choose from. After a thorough cleanse and tone, a thick mask was spread onto the skin to help hydrate our features and regenerate skin cells – great for when you’ve been burning the candle at both ends, and unlike some masks that can leave skin feeling taught and dry, from the moment it was applied, it felt lovely and rich. As it dried, Shirley proceeded with a manual massage of the neck and décolletage area then, once the no-mess mask was ready to be removed, it was peeled off slowly. A quick moisturise with the Marine Cream pro-collagen moisturiser and we were good to go, with the chair finishing it’s movements in sync with Shirley’s – that’s what we call impressive.
With no redness or shine afterwards, our skin felt super-soft and silky, and if you can face the crowds with no make-up, you’ll definitely feel like you’ve been given your second wind, ready for shopping spree number two.
The Elemis Power Booster Facials are available at department stores throughout the UK. We had ours at John Lewis, Oxford Street. Each session costs £45.
