Health & Beauty: Good vibrations

Published on 09/04/2012 00:00

FEEL heavenly with a facial that promises a spiritual edge

I’M under a leafy canopy, dozing like a sloth on a comfy branch. Zzzzzz.

Awake and back in the treatment room, with its flickering tea-lights and thrumming music, I realise that this dream was induced by the most soporific therapy that I’ve ever experienced – the ila Rainforest Renewal Facial.

This hour-long treatment is a bit of a showcase for skincare brand ila’s new range of Rainforest Renew products, which contains various natural oils, seed butters and extracts of plants, barks and roots, some of which have been derived from the Brazilian Amazonian rainforests.

Ethically obtained, you’d presume, as planet-friendly and sustainable is this beauty brand’s schtick.

As is the fact that their lovely potions are created in barns in the Cotswolds, to the sound of the staff’s spiritual chanting which, they say, can imbue the products with positive vibrations.

I’m not sure about that, but I am definitely getting sleepy vibes, as my therapist rhythmically strokes my forehead, and slowly presses and holds acupressure points on my face. It’s utterly hypnotic.

The most stimulating element of the treatment is when a thick and tacky scrub is rubbed across my freshly cleansed face, before being removed and replaced with an exfoliating gel. The latter contains cactus extract, and feels vaguely tingly as it sloughs off layers of skin.

Five minutes later, it’s removed with a hot towel and a mud mask containing Himalayan salts is slicked onto my skin.

“That ingredient means it can penetrate seven times deeper,” says my therapist, as I envision my epidermis sooking it all up.

Post-mask, and it’s all about the gentle massage strokes for lymphatic drainage, before an application of ila’s Rainforest Renewal Eye Serum for Cellular Regeneration (£43 for 15ml) and their Rainforest Renewal Face Serum for Radiant Skin (£56 for 50ml), the latter of which contains babassu oil, cactus oil and an exotic-sounding concoction that they’re calling Amazonian Elixir.

Afterwards, my skin feels plumped up and looks fresh.

According to ila, this treatment is gentle enough to be taken in the first trimester of pregnancy, and the products have a low oil content, so it’s ideal for treating acne prone skin. This therapy is also perfect if you want to catch some Zs, like a sleepy sloth on a rainforest branch.

• Blythswood Square, 11 Blythswood Square, Glasgow, 0141-248 8888, www.blythswoodsquare.com