Health & Beauty: Kohler Waters Spa, The Old Course Hotel, St Andrews

Earlier this year, it was reported that actress Mila Kunis had a facial that cost over £4,000. How could a treatment have such a price-tag? Apparently, ingredients used included powdered rubies and diamonds. For that amount, you’d certainly expect dramatic results – although, I’m not sure how dramatic they could be on an already fresh-faced twentysomething starlet.

I do like a good facial. Not because they make me look ten years younger (although I love the dewy post-treatment glow), but because they’re so relaxing. This in itself can be rejuvenating.

Kohler Waters Spa offers the Carita Diamond of Beauty facial, which promises to leave complexions looking flawless and feeling firmer. It’s the only spa in Scotland offering it to their customers, and only one of 11 in the UK. At £210 a pop it’s pricey, but your skin is treated to luxurious lotions containing extracts from precious gems as well as rare plants – such as blue lotus and sequoia buds.

It starts with a welcoming foot ritual. My tootsies were bathed and rubbed, then wrapped in towels; this was followed by a shoulder, neck and scalp massage. During the latter, I’m surprised that the therapist uses an “Orgasmatron” – the pronged head-massage gadget. I have one at home and think they’re great but it’s unusual to utilise one when adept fingers can do the job.

However, once I’m on the couch it’s not long before I’m feeling settled, thanks to the gentle strokes while my face and decolletage are cleansed and massaged. As I’m about to go under, I’m suddenly jolted back to reality. The therapist told me earlier that she’d be using the Carita Ideal Pro Lift machine, but I hadn’t given it much thought until now. This device features small metal balls through which electric pulses are sent to the skin. The idea is that the current helps the products penetrate the epidermis, while re-educating the muscles to sit higher. It’s used all over my face, with special attention paid to the jawline, cheeks and forehead. I’m told it’s normal for this to feel uncomfortable as it passes over bony bits of my face. However, I don’t think all the grimacing I’m doing will help my wrinkles disappear.

Once the therapist has finished working on one side of my face she hands me a mirror. I open my eyes, but find it difficult to see due to the low lighting and can barely make out my face, let alone any difference between the two sides. Apparently other clients have seen dramatic results at this point. After she’s finished the second side, a soothing mask is applied. I’m able to relax again and am treated to an arm and hand massage. For a few days after the facial my skin is glowing.

It seems like what they say is true – no pain, no gain.

CLAIRE HAY

• The Carita Diamond of Beauty treatment costs £210 for 1 hour 45mins

Kohler Waters Spa, The Old Course Hotel, St Andrews (01334 474371, www.oldcoursehotel.kohler.com/spa/services/spa_treatments.html)