Youth ahoy!
Fancy taking ten years off your face? Er, yes please. Well I reckon I may have found just the person to do it. Follow me.
THE LOCATION
I think Wiltshire has more home-based beauty therapists than any other county, and here’s another one – Harmony Holistics is the baby of Yvette Baker and is nestled in her gorgeous home in Calne. Within a stone’s throw is one of our faves, Bowood Hotel, so after you’ve had your beauty reboot head down there for a round of cocktails (you might want to book a room afterwards so you can just totally, y’know, chillax.)
THE VIBE
It’s a family home so the vibe is, er, well, like going to someone’s house for the first time. But once you’re in the treatment room it’s a relaxing neutral space, with a central treatment table, dimmed light, pretty relaxing stuff. I always feel calm in home beauty rooms and I have to say that Yvette is particularly smiley and natural so would put most people at ease. And the tranquil surroundings means there’s no phones going off or other clients chatting loudly throughout the treatment.
THE TREATMENT
Well, this is why I am here. To relax, of course, but also to have ten years shaved off my face just like that! (Cue snapped fingers.) The Zone Face Lift is the non-invasive answer to, obvs, a face lift. In fact, I’m told it’s the very coolest non-surgical face lift in the whole of Wilts. A 12-week course of treatment will magically wipe that decade away but as a one-off it is also divine, promising to make me look and feel great.
The Zone Face Lift is designed to relax and lift the face, mind, body and soul – a unique fusion of facial reflexology, pressure point massage, lymphatic drainage and advanced face lift massage and, for those of us who haven’t got a monkeys what all that means, it feels mighty fine! Over the course of 90 minutes Yvette works her magic, starting with a head massage and moving on to a classic facial using hot towels. She moves south to the feet, using reflexology like a detective to discover and unmask my worries, anxieties and stresses, and then goes onto the facial reflexology which both stimulates and relaxes at the same time. Specific tools are used on the skin, from quartz crystals to cooling jade to little wooden rollers – it all sounds like hard work but it’s really rather wonderful, so much so that I nodded off and only my own snoring woke me up.
THE MUDDY VERDICT
Good for: Anyone needing a pick-me-up (or even just a nap!); those looking for excellent customer care – Yvette’s manner is a winner. Anyone looking for a bargain – home beauticians are competitively priced and in my book £75 for a 1.5 hour facial that guarantees to knock the years off is great value.
£££: Excellent value. Foot reflexology from £40, facials from £20, massage from £30, Zone Face Lift from £50.
Harmony Holistics, 23 Salmons Leap, Calne, Wilts SN11 9EU. Tel:07850 414271. Email: yvettelbaker@gmail.com. www.harmonyholisticscalne.co.uk