The Blurb:
The continuous battle of trying to find the right balance between hydrated skin and a greasy t-zone is a headache for me. This problem is what intrigued me about the Sibérian Petals Facial as it was promising hydration but in a natural, organic and delicate way using products I had never tried or even heard of before.
The Process:
Tucked behind a back street of the ever-busy Shepherd’s Bush is the shiny post-modernist K West Spa, juxtaposed against its residential area. I slipped in with an over-sized beanie on and the biggest sunglasses I could rummage, for feeling a little tired on a bank holiday Monday.
I asked at the desk where the spa was and was directed to take the lift two flights down. A very smiley therapist greeted me and issued me with a robe and flip-flops and showed me to the changing area. I was a little early so I took a wander around the wet room, which had a big hydrotherapy pool, lots of individual saunas and little resting cubbyholes and, to my delight, a snow room. I then mooched to the waiting area, which was a soothing green, with foliage-clad walls, plush leather loungers and herbal tea facilities. As I sat on my lounger sipping ginger tea I noticed a certificate on the wall which read ‘Best UK Luxury Hotel Spa at the World Luxury Hotel & Spa Awards 2011’; I hadn’t even had my treatment yet and I wasn’t surprised.
I then followed my therapist Lyudmila to the therapy room, which followed the same sort of décor as the waiting area’s natural earthy tones, wooden sculptures and pebbles. I sat for a while and we discussed what my skincare regime was and I explained my previously-mentioned skin issues.
I changed and lay on the heated massage table and Lyudmila started by removing my make-up, with a solution that smelt of peaches and apricots. The Sibérian Petals Facial uses only Russie Blanche products that use the natural properties of plants to aid the skin. In this facial delicate Siberian orchids are used alongside powerful plants such as Siberian Ginseng and Siberian Golden Root that apply their native resilience to the skin.
The treatment starts with a deep cleanse using a silky Pearl Jelly and White Toner to open the pores using the beloved hot towels to remove the products, before a gentle yet effective exfoliating cream made with bamboo is applied to purify the pores. After a really thorough hydra-rose elixir facial massage eliminating all the strain around my head and eyes, she then applied a soothingly cool mask to tighten up my pores and while leaving this to do its magic, she gave me an arm massage which was as methodical as the facial massage. Finally she slicked on a serum and moisturising cream. As you can probably tell, this was much more than just a steam and an exfoliate; this facial was unbelievably relaxing and most importantly comfortable, so many times I have been to facials and they have squeezed and poked me or the room hasn’t been warm enough, but this was bang on.
Lyudmila then escorted me to the relaxation room, which for any spas reading this – GET ONE. It’s simply a darkened room with leather loungers, each with their individual voile partitions, with magazines and headphones piping out relaxing rainforest music, which allows you to unwind further while your treatment soaks in. It completely eradicates that awful awakening you get when having to hop on the tube instantly after a therapy.
When I had finished in the relaxation room I popped into the herbal steam room for a little while and then plunged into the snow room where I was encouraged to rub snow onto my skin – sounds insane but it felt amazing.
The Result:
My skin was springy and not greasy at all. As for K West Spa, it’s a slither of heaven.
