A facial at Harvey Nichols may make you sparkle again

Beyond Medispa at Edinburgh's branch of Harvey Nichols opened a few months ago and, since then, it's become a hot destination on the beauty map.

However, I've postponed my visit a little longer that I should have. That's mainly because I imagined that Botox was the main schtick of this spa, and needles give me the heebiejeebies.

However, after a flick through its brochure, I was rather tempted by its signature Bespoke Facial, a treatment that's tailor-made to your skin type. The most frightening element of this beauty therapy seemed to be potential microdermabrasion and/or a peel, depending on whether your skin needs it or not. I can handle that, I thought.

Once you've zipped up the Harvey Nichols escalator to the first floor, bypassing silky wisps of fabric by the likes of Lanvin and Stella McCartney, you'll find the little nook that houses the Beyond Medispa reception.

First, I had to have my skin "assessed" by a sci-fi-esque scanner. This took an "extreme close-up" of my face and highlighted (ruthlessly, in neon squiggles on the computer screen), areas of sun-damage, sagging and wrinkles.

I didn't fare too badly on the first two counts (phew), but my crinkle score was rather bad, especially around my eyes.

My therapist's decision, then, was to rehydrate these dry areas, and carry out a deep cleanse. She led me into one of the surprisingly spacious treatment rooms, through the back of Beyond Medispa, where I disrobed and hopped up onto the bed.

"Have you had diamond microdermabrasion before?" she asked. "Yes," I lied, as she sanded my face with a contraption, which also sucked away dead skin cells. She then applied a glycolic peel, which stung a little, before removing this and getting to work on the relaxing stuff.

There was massage with scented oils, soothing potions and a gentle scalp massage, all performed to tinkly music.

I won't go into too much detail about the extraction element, however. "You won't like this, but it's my favourite part of the job," said the therapist, as she put some elbow grease into squeezing the pores on my T-zone (sorry).

Afterwards I felt as if I'd enjoyed all the therapeutic aspects of a beauty treatment, but with the addition of results-based procedures. This place isn't as scary as I thought it'd be, and it certainly made my skin glow.

Beyond Medispa at Harvey Nichols (0131-524 8388).

Bespoke Facial, 150 for 90 minutes

This article was first published in The Scotsman on Saturday, 4 September, 2010