Body & beauty

Natural Facelift: 7 fantastic facials

Want a facial to boost radiance, plump out wrinkles and banish imperfections? Here’s our pick of some of the best treatments in the country

Want a facial to boost radiance, plump out wrinkles and banish imperfections? Here’s our pick of some of the best treatments in the country.

Como Shambala Purify Holistic Facial

Best for balancing

Based on the treatments at the exclusive Como Shamabla retreats in the Maldives and other exotic locations, this gorgeously restorative facial works to purify and detox the skin as well as bring a sense of balance and harmony. My treatment at The Alchemy Centre in Islington used Asian-inspired relaxation techniques to gently detox the skin while therapeutic herbal compresses compresses and ayurvedic-inspired acupressure massage helped me drift off into a state of deep relaxation. Supremely gifted therapist Rekha Gopal works her magic with a combination of Purify facial oils, cleansers, masks and moisturisers to soften, hydrate and repair the skin. This is interspersed with healing head, neck, shoulder and arm massage while the essential oils of grapefruit, fennel, cypress and lime essential oils used in the natural botanical products help to harmonise and balance your mind nd body. The result? You emerge with rejuvenated skin and a thoroughly revitalised spirit.

Costs £95 for 90 minutes at The Alchemy Centre in Islington, London. For details call 020 7267 6188, or visit alchemythecentre.co.uk

Natural Lift and Sculpting Facial Treatment

Best for lifting

Emma Hardie’s restorative facials at her Oxford clinic have been something of an insider secret for quite some time but now lucky Londoners can benefit from her healing hands too. And if you don’t live near either location, then jump on a train – it’s worth the trip. Emma’s unique manual massage technique helps to releases any restrictions and tensions held in the face, enabling the flow of energy, blood and oxygen to be redistributed to all parts of the skin and muscle. As the rejuvenated tissue becomes ‘thermally-charged’ and more elastic, Emma then uses gentle finger pressure to mould and sculpt the facial tissue to encourage the newly soft, energised tissue into its original, more youthful contours. Teamed with her award-winning, holistic skin products, it’s a potent recipe for rejuvenated, healthier-looking skin. Results are immediate and left my skin looking visibly plumper and more radiant. A firm favourite.

Costs from £85 in Oxford or £130 at The Hale Clinic in Regent’s Park, London. Call 01865 516027 or visit emmahardie.com

Hydro Lift Intense

Best for radiance

Who needs to go under the knife when you can experience the benefits of this great natural anti-ageing treatment? Combining hydrodermabrasion and Japanese facial lifting, this two-step process leaves skin feeling ultra-smooth and toned with no nasty chemicals in sight. Hydrodermabrasion first blasts the skin with a combination of oxygen and pure water from a high pressure air jet to leave skin softer and smoother. Next practitioner Rupert French performs his Japanese facial lifting treatment – a process derived from a more health-based treatment called facial reflexology – which uses a combination of Japanese acupressure, reflexology and lymphatic drainage techniques, using pure rosehip oil to encourage the lifting of the facial muscles and promote a brighter, healthier complexion.

Costs from £110 for 90 minutes at Hydro Healing, London. Visit hydrohealing.com or call 020 7727 2570.

The Organic Pharmacy Facelift Massage

This starts with a skin consultation to pinpoint problems with the complexion followed by . gentle breathing exercises using rose and jasmine oil for relaxation. Skin is thoroughly cleansed with a delicious carrot butter cleanser and exfoliated with a flower petal mask in preparation for the facelift massage, which incorporates acupressure, lymphatic drainage and deep muscle stimulation. Skin is then quenched thanks to the marine collagen complex serum while a honey and jasmine mask help to nourish and firm up the complexion. Finishing with a generous application of rose plus anti-ageing cream, skin is left reborn. After a final breathing exercise, using refreshing eucalyptus oil, you’re left with soft skin and a rosy glow.

Costs from £60 for 60 minutes. Visit theorganicpharmacy.com or call 0844 800 8399

Dermalogica Face Mapping Analysis

Best for flawless skin

You emerge with skin glowing, radiant and wrinkle free

If you haven’t had one of Dermalogica’s top notch facials yet, believe us, you’re missing out. My one-hour treatment included a thorough diagnosis of the skin while therapist Manuel inspected every different zone of my face for moisture hydration, oil secretion, follicular congestion, pigmentation, sensitivity, tonicity and inflammatory disorders. Once the diagnosis is made, a customised treatment follows, including steaming, extractions (if required), cleansing, exfoliating, multivitamin face masks, serums and moisturisers. And while this treatment is clearly focused on getting results, the pampering element was a huge bonus too, as I was treated to one of the most exquisite head massages I’ve ever had. A few lotions and potions later, I emerged with skin glowing, radiant and wrinkle free. The treatment concluded with a ‘de-brief’ from Manuel who prescribed a system of products which have completely transformed my skin.

Costs from from £60 for one hour across the UK. For details 0800 591818 or visit dermalogica.co.uk

Lush Validation Facial

Best for pampering

This aims to make you beautiful on the inside as well as on the outside so expect lots of nice little touches like specially composed hypnotic music and treatment rooms decked out to look like a country cottage. First you choose your products from a tempting smorgasbord of sumptuous creams, refreshing scrubs and nourishing masks – all hand-made with fresh fruits, herbs and essential oils. Your choices are dependent on how you want your skin to feel and how you’d like to feel in yourself – so, for example, relaxed, happy, confident and so on and so forth. This is followed by an hour of utterly delicious pampering, which leaves you looking – and feeling – a million dollars.

Costs from £75 for one hour plus consultation time. Available in London, Leeds, Poole and Kingston. For details call 01202 668545 or visit lush.co.uk

Deluxe Ling Oxygen Plasma Facial

Best for anti-ageing

One of the best facials on the market, this oxygenating treatment created by New York uber-facialist Ling Chan promotes healthy cellular turnover while targeting the delicate area around the eye and lip areas. First, the brilliant senior therapist Rachna Patel pinpoints areas of concern beforelaunching into a blissful hour of dedicated rejuvenation. This involves cleansing, steaming, exfoliating, fruit peels, extractions (if you want them) and then some thoroughly indulgent massage techniques including manual lymphatic drainage to detoxify the skin. Then, just when you think it’s all over, she follows this up with clay cleansing masks, eye and lip masks, oxygenating masks and moisturusing serums before the high-strength oxygen plasma potion and cell repair serum is applied using an ultrasound machine. You emerge transformed, with skin looking soft, dewy and wrinkle-free. Thoroughly recommended.

Costs from £115 for an hour and 15 minutes at Beauty Works West. Call 020 7221 2248 or visit beautyworkswest.com