Massage treatments
There’s something quite wonderful about being in the hands of a great therapist. It’s that moment when, regardless of how tense or worked up you may be, your body melts into those hands that know where to press and rub to make everything go away. But you can help yourself:
Massage in something grainy and/or salty to get the circulation going, make skin sparkle and your body cream absorb better. Try Spa Find Renewed Radiance Anti-Ageing Cranberry Salt Brushing, £18 for 500g, or Jo Malone Vitamin E Body Treatment Scrub, £59 for 600g. This smells so good it’s almost a shame to rinse it off! I have a real softness for Clinique Sparkle Skin Body Exfoliator, £12.50 for 200ml.
Choose ingredients that work with your body to get it moving. For instance, Clarins Anti-Eau Body Treatment Oil, £32 for 100ml, with its essential oils of broom, geranium and marjoram, is an effective diuretic. It proves that massaging stimulating oils into the skin can benefit the body from the outside in. I’ve been loving Omorovicza Firming Body Oil, £45 for 100ml, an invigorating, firming body oil with plum, apricot kernel oil and healing calendula, plus the scent of sage, rosemary and rose geranium essential oils.
ESPA Detoxifying Body Oil, £26.50 for 100ml, with uplifting lemon, cypress and juniper berry, helps to rebalance mind and body. Decléor Aromessence Circularome, £40 for 100ml, with lavender, angelica and cypress, revs up the circulation, and you’ll enjoy the exquisite aroma of L’Occitane Grape at Home Beauty Bath Oil, £25 for 150ml. Gorgeous!
For the face, the greatest difference you can make to your skin is with massage. Just once a week, get your moisturiser or an aromatherapy oil, and spend five to ten minutes massaging. It doesn’t need to be deep, just small, circular movements – always out to the hairline, to the ears, down and right round the back of the neck (you have lymph nodes there, right down to the collar bone). This will encourage drainage and toxin removal from the skin, and is the key part of any facial. Do it yourself to reveal a lighter, brighter complexion.
