Spas We Love: Sarah Chapman Skinesis Clinic, Chelsea
We dithered over how to categorise this: it’s not exactly a ‘spa’ – but we figured: it definitely is a spa for your skin. We’ve championed superfacialist Sarah Chapman for years and seen her grow from a small Draycott Avenue venue to this palatial destination just off Sloane Square. (Literally one minute from the Tube. Very convenient, that.) It’s a symphony of beige, clever lighting, bleached wood – and as utterly pristine as you’d hope a skincare destination would be, but isn’t always.
Downstairs is almost a ‘playroom’: tucked away in the corner there’s a Skin-Glow LED Light Pod, where you can have some skin-tightening light treatment, products to dip, dab and explore – and in the ‘Diagnostic Hub’, an utterly fascinating high-tech machine which evaluates your skin and benchmarks it against other women of your age. (A life of sunscreen seems to have paid dividends: Jo did really well for her age on pigmentation, wrinkles and skin resilience.)
We very much like The Theory Bar, where Skinesis’s resident ‘dermal experts’ can demo products so that you can get the most out of them.
It’s up the sweeping staircase that the real magic happens, though: the hands-on, bespoke facials which have put Sarah on the map. (Some of her extensive team of practitioners are also able to offer dermal fillers and even Botox – not that we’re up for that, but it’s worth knowing.)
The treatment Jo enjoyed involved deep cleaning (including a steam cleanse with clay), and literally a ‘flash’ of gentle lactic acid, for brightening, followed by extractions (painful but necessary)! These were followed by a vitamin infusion and Ionzyme galvanic current, and – oh, the best bit – a wonderful, deep, tension-busting facial massage, concluding with a rich mask. Once that was removed, it was time for a final application of SPF – and out into the world.
Planning a revisit, regularly.
Sarah Chapman Skinesis Clinic/259 Pavilion Road, Sloane Square, London SW1X 0BP/020-7589 9585