The Blurb
‘Pioneered in Beverly Hills and coveted by A-listers globally, this infamous intensive treatment is clinically formulated with the purest pharmaceutical grade ingredients and designed to rapidly and safely resurface the skin, reduce fine lines, address problematic skin and encourage cellular renewal. Treatment includes Rejuvenating Yellow LED.’
The Process
Young LDN is a fab addition to Westbourne Grove, which is currently slightly ridiculous, due to Goop, Daylesford Organics and endless overpriced shops for ugly fashion, baby clothes and swimming trunks. It’s like entering a surreal universe when you walk past such retailers, peer in the windows and go WTF (and I live here). So Young LDN has to be doing well to occupy such a prime location, and as far my experience went, it deserves its success.
Inside, it feels modern and zeitgeist-y; the therapists have uniformly perfect skin, which is encouraging. I’m told it was set up by the mother of a 13-year-old boy with stubborn acne – she wanted to create a place where he would feel comfortable having treatments, and the Teen Facials and Skincare Treatments are unavailable to anybody older than 19.
Sadly 19 is but a distant memory for me, but happily, there are several options for slightly more – ahem – lived-in faces, and I liked the sound of the Fire & Ice Resurfacing Treatment, developed in Beverly Hills and loved by Hollywood A-Listers pre-red carpet shindigs, including Halle Berry and – yes, Gwyneth Paltrow, who I suspect, with grudging admiration, might be starting to colonise this particular corner of West London.
When it comes to beauty procedures, I’m afraid I’m not of the ‘no pain, no gain’ mindset (i.e. I’m a total wimp). Much as I like to look better – don’t we all? – I’d prefer anything done in pursuit of it not to hurt. When I told my therapist about my very weedy fear of the first mask/peel (the ‘Fire’ bit) she was reassuring, charming and told me she’d tone down the active ingredients, so I wouldn’t burn for days after. Silly of me really, as it probably would have lasted longer if I’d gone for the full whack.
Anyway, she asked me what sort of music I’d like as she worked her magic, played it (easy listening, so definitely not only aimed at teenagers), and soon, after some exfoliation, my face was covered in the Intensive Resurfacing Masque, formulated with sugar cane extract, Vitamin A & Vitamin B3. It tingled a bit, but that’s all I felt and I started to regret having asked her to dumb it down for me.
The following Rejuvenating Masque, ‘formulated with strong antioxidants, hyaluronic acid, aloe vera, green tea, grape seed & rosemary extract’ was equally painless, after which it got even better, with a facial massage with weird cryogenically frozen stones. I could almost feel the hungover hollows under my eyes looking less sepulchral, my face starting to wake up. I was left for another ten or so minutes under the warm LED light with soothing moisturiser and oil, which felt a bit like sunbathing in the middle of winter.
The Results
Immediately afterwards: extremely good. Invisible pores, slightly shallower lines around my eyes, the look of a very well-rested woman, possibly hint of a facelift. I’d highly recommend it before a big party, wedding, or indeed the Oscars. It didn’t last for long though – a few days later I was back to my rough old self. But that could easily be because I was too much of a scaredy-cat for the proper ‘Fire’ part of the process (and maybe, just maybe, my not-terribly-wellness-oriented-lifestyle). Ah well. Next time.
