Beauty

Be energised by Clarins’ new Wellness Treatment

The treatment

One of Clarins’ new Wellness Treatments. There’s Beauty Sleep or Rise & Shine, both 1 hour 25 minutes, £70, at Clarins Skin Spas, including at John Lewis, Edinburgh.

Why go?

Clarins doesn’t launch treatments very often, and these have been a couple of years in the making. I choose the Rise & Shine, which is suppose to make you feel relaxed yet energised.

Our spy says

My therapist, Amanda, meets me on the Clarins counter and takes me through to the treatment room. To set the scene, we choose one of the colours that will light up the room and promote an energising vibe. I go for orange.

She leaves, so I can settle on the treatment table. From the waist up, I’ll be lying on a heated water pillow. I wibble for a bit, until it settles, and I feel super snug and make a mental note to get one of these for my own bed. To suit the reinvigorating theme, Amanda uses Clarins’ Tonic Body Treatment Oil, which smells amazing and fills the room with the scent of three of my favourite ingredients – rosemary, mint and geranium. I inhale deeply, and she gently presses my solar plexus as I breathe out.

Some cooling pads are placed under my eyes, then a mask on top, and my make-up is gently removed. There are lots of pressing and lifting movements, especially around my eyes and along the jawline. She applies the best-selling Double Serum and some gorgeously scented Blue Orchid Face Treatment Oil, which smells like praline, though the main ingredients are rosewood and patchouli.

Then we’re onto the body bit. This experience features a new move that Clarins calls “lemniskate”, which is a sort of rhythmical and fluid figure-of-eight. She starts with one arm, making those flowing gestures extra long, so a hand is slipped right under my shoulders, then she moves onto a leg, my stomach, another leg, then my arm. I love when the soles of my feet are rubbed using smooth forearms.

Anyway, it’s not a conventional massage routine, which helps to heighten awareness, since you’re wondering what’s coming next.

Eventually I turn over, hugging the watery pillow, and the back of my legs are worked on, with massage that moves from my ankles to waist.

There are some snaky figures of eight across my back, then I turn over onto my back again.

As instructed, I take a big stretch, as if just waking up, and my arms and décolleté are anointed with a little of Clarins’ classic Eau Dynamisante fragrance.

The results

“How do you feel?” asks Amanda. Fab. Although I am relaxed, I manage to cycle home, go to an exercise class and have a great sleep that night. When I wake up – rise and shine – I can still smell mint and rosemary on my skin.

John Lewis, Leith Street, Edinburgh (0131-226 4645, www.clarins.com, www.johnlewis.com)