Christa D'Souza has discovered the secret behind Sam Taylor-Wood, Helena Bonham-Carter and Sadie Frost's 'rich skin' glow - Charlotte Colwell and her SKINGYM facial. Begrudgingly Christa tells all...
An observation. Do people in Primrose Hill have better skin than in, say, W14? If they do, then I think I know why. It’s because of someone called Charlotte Colwell who has just launched a tiny treatment centre called Beauty on The Bridge, at the back of her friend’s fabulous, mad antiques store Tann Rokka on Regents Park Road. Oh dear. I’d almost rather not telling you about her. She’s very young and very new and very hot (Sadie Frost, Helena Bonham Carter, Sam Taylor Wood, they’re already in on it, of course) and I just KNOW this time next year I’ll not be able to get near her. But there you go, dear reader, that’s the just selfless kind of person I am.
Why is she different from anyone else? Well for a start you get an awful lot for the money. Facial Reflexology, Reiki, micro current, LED light therapy, massage it’s all included. For a second thing all her products are so organic and “clean”, you could eat them. For a third thing, the brand she uses, Eminence, is used religiously by Jessica Biehl. Seen Jessica Biehl’s skin lately? Okay, so there you go, say no more. Write this product down.
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The facial Colwell has concocted, which she calls SKINGYM, has been 11 years in the making. As a pre-teen growing up she’d give massages to the clients in her Dad’s Eastbourne hair and beauty salon, for £2. Oh yes, facials, massage, skin, it’s in her blood.
I arrive with one of those migraine-y type headaches that make you feel slightly sick, not the best mode to be in for a facial, but my friend Nadia who has beautiful skin said I had to get in there while I could, so here I am.
Readers, the treatment, which lasts just over 90 minutes is a small slice of heaven. Drifting away to Ludavico Einaudi on the ivories, my skin is cleansed with a potion made of Bulgarian roses, then exfoliated with an Almond, paprika, honey and ground ivy mixture to digest dead skin cells and stimulate blood flow. After being massaged with some sort of delicious coconut unguent there's a bit of micro-current to tighten everything up, (particularly round the jaw area) and then a bit of LED therapy (to stimulate the production of collagen within the fibroblast cells and give you that ‘rich skin’ glow) with a layer of Strawberry Rhubarb Hyaluronic Serum, supposedly one of Madonna’s favourite ever products. This is the bit when I usually get a bit fidgety, but guess what, while that’s going on, you get an unbelievably spoiling shoulder and foot massage.
Now. I never want a treatment to end, but when she taps me on the shoulder and asks how I’m feeling, I almost burst into tears. I don’t even care if it was effective or not it just felt so good I never want it to end. As it happens I do look a hell of a lot better than when I walked in (the bottom line, don’t you think?). Perhaps even more importantly that sicky head-ache is gone. GONE. Like I said. You’d better get in there quick.