I had the best celebrity facial in Scotland at sybaritic Edinburgh underground spa
This facialist is popping up at five-star hotel
Kate Moss is just a year older than me, but she looks a heck of a lot younger.
That’s what happens when you’re wealthy enough to have all the beauty tools at your disposal.
One of them must be Kent-based facialist-to-the-stars Nichola Joss, originally from Aberdeenshire and whose other A-list clients include Margot Robbie and Jennifer Lopez.
According to Joss, she was the first to do the buccal facial - a massage inside your cheeks, nearly 30 years ago, and I can still remember the media kerfuffle when she launched this technique.
Now, she’s offering it in Edinburgh, as part of her Bespoke Buccal Inner Facial™ residency, which is available for one week every month until February 2027 at the new Spa at The Edinburgh Grand. I’m here to try the 60-minute £300 version of the treatment, and I hop up onto the heated bed.
Joss whips off my makeup, with a double cleanse using the spa’s inhouse brand, Skeyndor.
Then, because I mentioned that my skin looks dull, she does a sweep with an exfoliating peel. It’s only on for about a minute, before she whips it off with warm flannels.
Then, on goes a cooling vitamin C mask, and an LED mask, while she presses across my body, from feet to shoulders in order to ‘stimulate the lymphatic system’,
After the masks have been removed, it’s time for the famous massage.
Joss uses her own brand Hopothecary’s Divine Face Oil, which contains rosehip, black seed and camellia oils. Her fingers speed across my face, like she’s weaving a tapestry.
She presses under cheekbones, and finds a huge knot under my right side, which is satisfyingly smoothed out, and works right into the ‘fascia’ around the edges of my scalp. There are other knots in my top lip - who knew? - and, though this massage is firm, I’m finding it very relaxing, especially the smoothing and kneading motions along the side of my neck..
Now, her gloves go on for the ‘inner’ part of the facial. I’m told to let my jaw go slack. She rubs inside my cheeks, and lifts from the top of my upper gums. It is a very alien sensation, but not painful. She tells me to relax, as she’s working with the tissues, not against them.
Then, we’re done, and a dab of lip balm goes on.
She leads me through to another room, where there’s a mirror, so I can look at the immediate results.
Really, I’m blown away. My jowls have practically vanished, and any puffy-ness has vanished. I’ve got some actual contours back.
I’ve never had results like this, post facial, and I’ve tried a few over the decades.
Now I understand how Kate Moss looks so much better than moi.
The facial is available from November 11-13; November 30-December 3; January 11-17, and February 8-14, at Spa at The Edinburgh Grand, 42 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, spaattheedinburghgrand.com
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