'Did I fall asleep?' I asked Nicola, the Scottish girl at the five-star Blythswood hotel. 'Yes', she smiled, bringing me a glass of cold water. Normally I don't have facials because I would rather have a massage and truly relax but with this facial at the Blythswood I got the best of both worlds.
I wholeheartedly approve of spas using local ingredients. I have had a wine treatment in Argentina, a volcanic pummeling in Lanzarote and a lavender massage in the South of France. But a Scottish spa treatment was a new and welcome one on me. The Blythswood offers holistic signature treatments using organic indigenous Scottish ingredients in its series of ‘Turus Experiences’. A Turus Seaweed Bath offers a uniquely Scottish experience which involves being immersed in a hot bath infused with mineral sea salts containing over 85 natural trace minerals with fresh, hand harvested seaweed from the Hebridean coast. The result is a naturally healing, vitamin-rich, moisturising and anti-ageing treatment.
‘Turus’ is Gaelic for journey. My hour-long facial certainly took me somewhere else. As soon as Nicola, the sweet young thing who enthused over all the products, placed her hand on the top of my chest – on my heart chakra she later explained – I began to unwind. A potent mix of essential oils, including lavender, began to work their magic. ‘Take a deep breath’. I did, exhaling almost immediately. ‘Take another one’, Nicola instructed gently, ‘this time waiting before you exhale’. My breaths got slowly deeper, as my other chakras – the third eye and the crown – were skillfully and deeply worked on. I don’t remember much more than that.
Almost an hour later I came to, asking ‘have I been asleep?’ ‘Yes, I think so’, Nicola beamed. My skin felt gorgeous – soft, fresh and plump. Organic milk thistle extract, aloe vera and lavender were used, my face was gently cleansed with an organic oatmeal scrub and after being massaged, a warm oatmeal and Scottish herb poultice was applied. It seems the result is not just a cleaner face, but awakened meridians and improved drainage of the lymphatic system. I may have no memory of what went on during my anti-ageing facial but I do know I felt amazing.
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