The House of Kalmar isn’t quite like any other retreat-slash-spa-slash-therapy-room that we’ve ever visited. Tucked away in a low-key way in a Belgravia Mews, it feels honestly more like visiting someones’s house. Someone’s house… which happens to be beautifully decorated, and has a very spiritual, peaceful vibe.

If you aren’t already familiar with Kalmar’s products, here’s the intel. Working with a ‘nose’, they were created by founder Karen Ruimy, who believes that scents '…have a potency to disconnect you from the energy you are in and to connect you to something else. If you choose the right one, the effect is amazing. It’s easier than reading a book, or trying to meditate – it’s almost like music, which can lift your spirit in a second. It has been proven that scent can carry you, instantly, to another energy.’

We’re totally with her on that, and if you’re a regular reader of BeautyBible.com, you’ll know that scents are really important to us, too. (And to you, obviously: the Kalmar Love bath oil actually scooped a Beauty BIble Award 2021 (you can find it here).

So, scent was always going to be an integral part of any The House of Kalmar treatment – on which Jo reports back after her recent visit, below…

Writes Jo: ‘The session actually begins with the questionnaire above. It helps the Kalmar therapist – in my case, Sam, who has an incredible spa pedigree (including running the famed Anassa spa, in Cyprus) – to determine which ‘soul state’ you’re in, and help nudge you to a more positive state. I rather wanted to be Joy, whose treatment is based around zingy, uplifting essential oils. But what Sam picked up on was that I needed to feel grounded and centred (as usual I’d been living in my head, not my body), and instead, she prescribed Calm.

Calm is a really soothing blend of rich oils (argan, grapeseed and jojoba),infused with iris, lavender and soft amber; it smells suitably spa-like, and very nurturing. (It isn’t just available as a body/massage oils, but also candle, body lotion etc., as you can see below.

Sam’s wasn’t a deep massage, but there’s a lot of (unexpected) energy work involved. I’d love to be able to report on exactly what Sam did, but as with all really, really good therapies, I was lost to the world – for well over an hour, actually. I didn’t exactly fall asleep, but I did descend to a state of utter relaxation, which for someone who has frequently found herself longing to leap off the massage couch and get on with her day, is the acid test, for me.

House of Kalmar describe it as ‘a treatment to harmonise your "second brain”, the digestive system, which allows you to release any worry or concern whilst reconnecting deeply to your body. Using specific reflex points on the feet combined with a deep abdominal massage, this treatment is targeted to emotionally de-stress, aid digestive issues, as well as ground your mind, body and soul to promote optimum health and wellbeing.’ (I was literally too away with the fairies to take in what Sam was telling me about the treatment, so am grateful to them for the explanation!)

What really made the treatment special, meanwhile, was the setting. Oh, my, that matters to me! As someone who has her own therapy centre, The Wellington Centre (in my home town of Hastings), which I set up 15 years ago, I am really conscious that the setting for a treatment is actually part of the treatment itself. With its squishy velvet sofas, impressive crystals, Zen-ishly-displayed artefacts and piles of glossy and self-help books (including quite a few that I have on my own shelves, and rate highly), I honestly felt completely at home. (The home I’d love to live in, that is!)

I could have stayed for hours longer, frankly, and will be booking in again, under my own steam. And honestly, from someone who’s been lucky enough to enjoy – or in fact, not always enjoy – countless treatments around the world, at some of the ‘greatest’ spas, I reckon there’s no higher compliment that I can pay!

I took home a bottle of Calm oil, though, and regularly anoint myself with it meanwhile, to recreate the feeling. You know what…? It works!’

One-hour treatment/£140; 90-minute treatment/£180. To book, call 0207-201 0720 or e-mail info@kalmar.uk.com

kalmarlifestyle.com

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