Fortnum & Mason Bespoke Facial

I had an amazing facial this week. You may think Fortnum & Mason is good for hampers and tea - but their Beauty Rooms are a hidden treasure tucked away at the back of the second floor.

I saw Sarah Brown - their Salon Manager - and was not disappointed.

Sarah has been with Fortnum's since the Beauty Rooms opened and is my kind of facialist.

This is a proper, traditional, maintenance facial where you go to get your skin sorted. No whale music, chiming of bells *shoots self* or incense.

Sarah uses a mixture of Sisley, Aromatherapy Associates and own-sourced products for the treatment. She took a full history via a questionnaire and actually read it before the treatment - again - rare. She then asked every question I wanted to hear: How was the bed? How was the temperature (heated bed obviously..)? Was I happy with the music? Would I prefer it off?

The sequence is roughly as follows:

· Sisley Cleanser with Sage and Grapefruit toner - beautiful.

· Double Cleanse using rose exfoliator, contains damask rose and jojoba beads which gently remove dead skin. Follow with toner.

· Exfoliation using dermabrasion- very mild setting to improve skin tone, brightness and complexion. This will assist with penetration of other products and improve texture - best dermabrasion I've ever had.

· A layer of Aloe Vera gel onto the cheeks to protect capillaries and avoid sensitivity under the steam - added Lavender essence to the steam - took care of my face whilst making sure I had every opportunity to relax.

· Gentle extraction over cheeks and nose. Sarah also removed my milia. JOY!

· Cleanse to clean and refresh skin, remove excess crystals.

· Apply Sisley eye contour mask to barrier the eyes whilst using oil to massage. Massage with Aromatherapy Associates supersensitive facial oil with chamomile - amazing - can't believe I haven't used this before.

· Remove with hot mitts and lavender essence.

· Apply Sisley express flower gel mask- during this she used high frequency over congested areas- this will have an antibacterial and germicidal effect on the skin to heal and prevent further break outs - spots dried up next morning.

· Apply Sisley Sisleya firming serum , Ecologique moisturiser and All Day All Year Sun Protection.

I'm regularly contacted by students or people looking into doing beauty therapy. Those of you in college or just starting out would do well to use the above as a 'How To'. It was pretty much perfect.

Her station was so perfect I asked her if I could take a picture of it to show as a 'how-to' for would-be facialists before I left.
Above you can see steam machine, immaculate trolley, high frequency and dermabrasion to give you the basics. Out of sight is the mag lamp, hot towel cabinet *bliss* and sink. You may think 'Why is she going on about this stuff?' Because it's important. Everything in that station is designed to give your therapist the best tools to work with to fix your face - at arms length.

I've had some dire facials recently - this was just what I needed to restore my faith.

Bespoke facials at The Beauty Rooms start at £85.00 for an hour. Go for the 90 minutes though. Trust me.

More info here.