Su-Man Chi Flow Facial

It is a l-o-n-g time since we first made the pilgrimage to Su-Man's studio in the wilds of North London, and discovered what the magic fingers of this super-talented facialist could achieve, with her hands-on re-sculpting treatments.

She long since moved on from that garden studio, though its location never put off the global superstars who beat a path to her door. Today, Su-Man can be found much more conveniently at the Away Spa at the groovy W Hotel just off Leicester Square. And oh, are we pleased to have made a return visit.

Su-Man just launched this truly astonishing facial at the hotel – and Jo went along to check it out. There's the usual skin analysis (Su-Man creates a personal skincare regime to use in the facial, some from her signature Su-Man line), before rolling up the sleeves of her white coat and getting down to business.

It's the massage, once again, which is quite extraordinary. She has now introduced Gua Sha (skin scraping) techniques into what was already an incredibly effective treatment, using the very smoothest jade stones to stimulate the meridians and drain puffiness and toxins. 

To be frank, it's a mix of pain and pleasure – but ultimately Jo left feeling utterly relaxed, already thinking 'I need to do this more often'. And then she looked in the mirror. Wow. Other than a swoosh of mascara, the make-up bag she'd lugged to the treatment with her was completely redundant: skin was glowing, almost lit from within, and little pouches of puffiness (top of the cheekbones, under the eyes, jaw) had literally vanished.  

Literally world-class – and we completely get why rock gods and movie stars are returning time and again for this. (She'd have to kill us if we told you their names, but consider us s-e-r-i-o-u-s-l-y impressed.)  

So we'll be back. And there's no higher compliment than that.

£220 at Away Spa @ W Hotel/020-7758 1071

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