The change in weather, the stress caused by the pandemic (which has had the knock-on effect of seriously upping our cheese and cake intake) and now mask-wearing…it’s all one big recipe for an unhappy complexion.
Skin & Sanctuary in Victoria Park Village has the solution with its range of radiance-inducing facials. We managed to sneak in there just before lockdown for a Super HydraFacial, which as the name suggests, is a super-charged version of the classic HydraFacial that the S&S team have developed themselves. The treatment is a mix of machine-led and hands-on techniques and it’s totally tailored to your skin type.
After a good cleanse and lymphatic drainage done with the machine’s wand, our therapist Fatma did a relatively light chemical peel to minimise any irritation. Our fave part is the exfoliation using another one of the wands; it’s like a little hoover running all over your face and sucking up the dirt. Then it’s manual extraction, our least fave part, but it’s worth a little pain to get all that congestion gone.
The second half of the treatment is much more relaxing. A bespoke mask is applied (Fatma actually did a mix of two on different parts on the face on us) and whilst that sinks in, it’s arm and shoulder massage time – the wfh hunch is real. Once that’s taken off another wand comes out, this time to absolutely drench the face in hyaluronic acid and peptides. The last part is an LED mask using blue light to repair the skin. Normally this is done using an attachment on the HydraFacial machine but S&S have got their own mask that covers the entire head to ensure maximum coverage. Then it’s a final sweep of vitamin C serum, more hyaluronic acid to lock in the goodness and some SPF 50 for the road.
The Super HydraFacial is a medical grade treatment so you get all the targeted results you’d expect but the extra additions from the Skin & Sanctuary team really up the relaxation value, so leave feeling as well as looking good. At £185 for 90 minutes, it ain’t cheap but it sure does the job, and we all deserve a treat post-lockdown.
170a Victoria Park Road, London, E9 7HD
skinandsanctuary.com