Beauty

Gleneagles has a lovely new space for hair, beauty, make-up and nail treatments

Gleneagles opens its new spa offering, Bob & Cloche

The treatment

An Oskia Signature Glow Facial, £115 for 75 minutes, a Shape and OPI Gel Colour, £38, and a Blow Dry, £43 for medium length hair, all at the new Bob & Cloche salon at Gleneagles.

Why go?

To check out this five-star hotel’s newest spa venue. For those who want a more holistic experience, there’s still The Spa at Gleneagles by ESPA. However, they’ve moved their hair, beauty, make-up and nail offerings from the shopping arcade to a cute detached cottage, done up in an uber glam art deco style, just a few metres from the hotel. It’s perfect for prenuptial sprucing, if brides want to get ready in the dressing room here, before making a grand entrance, or for groups, as there’s a chic lounge (pictured), mani and pedi space, and a hair salon.

Our spy says

I’ve got three appointments and in-between each one, I slump in front of the fire on the cream sofa in this place’s glamorous lounge, reading Vogue, admiring the Christmas tree, and, you know, pretending I’m all fancy.

First up is my facial, using products from luxe British beauty brand Oskia. Once I’m lying on the treatment bed, with jazz playing and a sweet scented Rose de Mai candle flickering, my slap is removed using their Perfect Cleanser, I’m exfoliated with a Balm, and each fragrant product that’s used is gently towelled off with warm flannels.

There’s a richness to the products, but they don’t feel heavy. I love it when a warm mask is painted on with a brush, and left to saturate my epidermis while my hands and arms undergo a similar scrubbing and moisturising treatment.

Once I’m suitably glowing, I dress and head to the mirrored nail bar, where I decide to go for a festivelooking gold colour, to see me through Christmas (the OPI Gel shades can last a couple of weeks). After a shape (to a neat oval) and a cuticle tidy (I have a LOT of excess cuticle), around six layers of lacquer and colour go on, and my paws are baked in the UV box between each one.

Finally, with fingernails pristine, we finish up with a blow dry. My hair is washed in the back room, while I’m lying in a massage chair, then I‘m towel dried and dropped off in the salon area, with its vase of ostrich feathers.

Clair, who previously worked at the Cipriani Hotel in Venice, swiftly sets to work, giving me bouncy waves and, essentially, transforming my hair from what resembled a well-used doormat, to something as soft as the velvet curtains in this spa.

The results

I feel like the glam fairy on top of one of Gleneagles’ many Christmas trees. n