Love thy skin!

The Spa at Raffles Dubai delivers 
the mother of all facial cleanses

When it comes to skincare women have never been so spoilt for choice. We have different kinds of products for every square inch of our skin. We have cleansers, toners, scrubs, peels, masks, balms, moisturisers, eye-creams, under-eye creams, plumping creams, lifting creams, anti-aging and –wrinkle serums, fairness creams, hydrating creams… the list is long enough to make one dizzy. It comes as no surprise then that instead of feeling empowered, most of us just feel confused.

So at a time when each beauty products range is trying to outdo the other by bombarding us with more and more pretentious and complicated products, Eve Lom’s minimalist, less-is-more approach to skincare comes as a welcome relief.

Eve Lom is one of the finest facialists in the world with Hollywood A-listers like Kate Hudson, Eva Mendes and Lauren Bacall for clients. The Czech-born skin expert’s mantra for skin maintenance is as simple as it gets — Cleanse. Exfoliate. Moisturise.

Sounds like something you could do at home, you say? My sentiments exactly! So then what’s the hoopla 
all about?

To find out, I land up at the spa at Raffles hotel, one of the select places in Dubai offering the bespoke Eve Lom Signature Facial.

With seven treatment rooms, including a couple’s spa suite and the spa replete with its own private whirlpool, up-to-date gym, sauna, steam rooms and a swimming pool, Raffles Spa offers sublime tranquillity and a luxurious haven of relaxation for tired, aching bodies, minds and souls.

After a fairly thorough consultation with the therapist, I relax into a state-of-the-art massage bed. My therapist adjusts the bed’s inclination and temperature (yes it has internal heating system so that I’m not left feeling like a cold turkey!) to my comfort. So far so good.

The therapist begins the 90-minute long facial with a thorough cleanse using the legendary Eve Lom cleanser that Vogue once dubbed “probably the best cleanser in the world”. It smells of eucalyptus, cloves and all things good and feels gentle and soothing on the skin.

Next, a paraffin wax mask is applied layer by layer that gently opens up the pores, enabling the therapist to extract blackheads more easily and thoroughly. The process has none of the painfulness that follows the steam extraction in other facials that makes me want to bolt.

This is followed by a half hour of lymphatic drainage and acupressure massage to the face, arms, back and chest. The massage unblocks the lymph nodes and drains congestion and puffiness under the eyes. The process is slightly painful but the instant lightness that I experience post the stretching and kneading makes it well worth it.

After the massage, a refreshing camphor-based rescue mask is applied, which is removed with a muslin cloth soaked in hot chamomile. An ice-cold muslin cloth is then applied to soothe and revitalise the skin and to close the pores. The process is topped-up with an application of Eve Lom’s day cream containing the goodness of wild flower oils, and I am good to go.

I come out feeling superbly relaxed and my skin looks squeaky clean.

Okay, so I am probably not looking anything like Kate Hudson, but the facial does deliver the ultimate cleanse that it promises. Less is certainly more!

(Eve Lom Signature Facial (90 minutes) costs Dh729 and Eve Lom Ultimate Cleanse (60 minutes) is priced at Dh529. To book at Raffles Spa, contact 04-3149869 or email spa.dubai@raffles.com)

megha@khaleejtimes.com