TRIED & TESTED | Suqqu Gankin Massage

 

Do you get a stiff jaw from holding tension in your face? I know that’s where a lot of my stress goes but it only occurs to me on the odd occasion I have a face massage (usually as part of a facial) how springy, relaxed and plumped my face looks afterwards 9and how tense it was before). So why I never thought to isolate the massage bit and implement a bit of DIY, we’ll never know. There's no need now because luxury Japanese beauty brand Suqqu (make-up artist Mary Greenwell says their “cream foundation is still the best foundation out there.”) has done it for us and created a three-minute facial massage technique which, when used every day at home, is said to banish muscle tension, drain lymph nodes and enhance blood circulation all with the long-term goal in mind of preventing sagging and wrinkles.

The Suqqu counter, currently exclusive to Oxford Street’s Selfridges, is in the store’s Living Beauty section (just past Clarins turn right). On arrival the pretty assistant manageress Nagi Kawakata explains the Gankin facial massage was developed by ex-Suqqu beautician Yukuko Tanaka (who now runs Y Method) to animate and enliven actors’ features on camera. Integral to the massage is a thick, creamy oil-based Musculate Massage Cream (this year’s limited edition is a potent jasmine scent) to protect the skin from the intense pressure of the massage. I assume any good face massage oil will do, but Nagi assures me this is not the case. 

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Flashback to trad Brit beauty at Neal's Yard Remedies on the Kings Road

How could I have forgotten what great products Neal’s Yard Remedies do? Funny how, as you wend your way through lotions and potions, falling for the excitement of the new and unknown, the ones you formerly loved become distant memories.

Good news, then, that a facial appointment at the new Neal’s Yard Remedies Organic Beauty Day Spa on the Kings Road not only introduced me to their lush spa treatments, but put me back onto the products – beautiful classic packaging, high natural ingredients content and reasonably priced to boot.

Welcomed into the shop with a cuppa, I was led downstairs to the treatment rooms to meet therapist Bernadette. As well as facials, the spa offers sugar waxing, body, and hand and foot treatments, using ingredients like orange flower, bergamot, grapefruit and jasmine. There’s also a Hot Box Detox – a 15-minute Far Infra Red rays sauna (£10) to help clean the system of bad chemicals and toxins.

Deciding on a Damask Rose Radiance-Boosting Facial to revive my perennially dehydrated skin, Bernadette wrapped my hair back to cleanse my face and eyelashes, relaxing my facial muscles with a fingertip massage before preparing for blackhead extraction (thorough and painless). The aromatic scents of damask rose oil, lavender and orange flower sent me into a blissful doze. More relaxing facial massage was followed by a Rose Formula Anti-Oxidant Facial Mask (cue more neck and shoulders rubs), which left my skin refreshed and plumped, my mind relaxed and pampered.

A recent convert to the Neal’s Yard Remedies range (after having worked with Dermalogica for many years), Bernadette shared a good beauty tip: I could get rid of the little white milia pimples under my eyes by using a light Rose Formula Hydrating Eye Cream (10ml for £21), which wouldn’t clog the fragile under-eye skin; she was horrified to hear I used my regular day cream under my eyes. While my milia entirely haven’t disappeared in two weeks, there are no new whiteheads popping up and, overall, they seem less noticeable.

My dehydrated skin has been kept at bay with the weekly clay-like Rose Formula Anti-Oxidant Facial Mask (50g for £21.60) and (another fantastic discovery-of-the-month) Shikai’s Borage Dry Skin Therapy Facial 24-hour Repair Cream, which I found at the High Street Ken Whole Foods.  After two weeks with this cream (just a dab each time), day and night, not a spot of dryness in sight. The final note of my 2009 autumn skincare opus is Neal Yard’s Remedies Beautiful Skin Tea (£6.50) with a mix of goji berries, rosehip, bilberry and hibiscus flower to up the chances of achieving a radiant autumnal glow.

Visit Neal's Yard Remedies Organic Beauty Spa  or print this voucher for a 20% discount on all first-time treatments and 15% off products bought after your treatment until October 31st, 2009.

Damask Rose Radiance-Boosting Facial, £65 for 60 minutes or £85 for 90 minutes at NYR Organic Beauty Day Spa, 124b Kings Road, London SW3 4TR (+44 (0)20 7225 2050).

Written by Julia Rebaudo for www.beautywoome.com.

Take a trip to the Village Barn with Abigail James

The Organic Therapist Abigail James has just announced that she'll be giving treatments at a lovely little wellness center in the English Countryside: The Village Barn. I mean... an anglophile worth their salt must be quivering in their wellies at the mere mention of such a quintessential English wellness experience... Visions of health spas like Pennyhill Park and Grayshot dancing in their heads.

Abigail's been in the business for years, most recently as the senior therapist at The Haybarn for Daylesford Organic for the last two years. She's an expert in both face and body treatments (Swedish, deep tissue, thai, ayurvedic, a variety of face rejuvenation methods, Japanese face therapy, manual lymphatic drainage, etc.) and she'll be offering signature treatments, Dr. Alkaitis (WAHEEE!) and Dr. Hauschka treatments at The Village Barn.

If you can't make the trip to the home counties, never fear as Abigail is decamping to North London's favourite beauty spot on three separate occasions this fall. Lost In Beauty will play host to the Organic Therapist on the following dates: October 7th, November 4th, December 2nd.

More about The Village Barn... this sort of place my absolute most favouritest type of beauty place to visit. Housed in a 300 year-old barn (how sweet and quaint!) in the countryside (no urban terror upon leaving the front door), it offers all sorts of treatments, workshops, programmes and consultations for a multitude of sins. There are nutrition and cooking courses, yoga classes, face and body treatments. Whether the treatments work or not, I'd come away feeling rejuvenated and refreshed. 

So, two new British beauty finds today: Abigail James (aka The Organic Therapist) and The Village Barn.