Beauty Fix: Flawless spa's Hydr8 Facial
Flawless is a newly opened spa on Wyndham Street, specialising in bespoke facials, nail grooming and make-up services.
It's quiet when I arrive, and the Edith Piaf music playing in the background and vintage-style furniture lend the place a classy edge. It has a predominantly black and white interior, broken only by the odd splash of colour, such as the hot pink door that leads to the treatment rooms. I'm led through one of these doors by my therapist, Angela, who gives me a whispered tour of the facilities.
The treatment rooms are simple, spacious and white - there's a double room for couple treatments - the highlight being the bed which is deliciously comfortable and padded, and comes with a soft, cosy white duvet instead of just the usual towel to cover you.
The spa uses three product lines for facials: Aromatherapy Associates, Medik8 and Refinery. Rather than pinpoint a facial before I arrive, I'm encouraged to wait for a consultation on the spot to determine which is best suited to my needs.
Angela begins by asking what kind of "concerns" I have about my skin. Everything, I reply. In this humid heat, my skin somehow manages to be simultaneously oily and dry.
After taking a quick look at my face under an unforgiving light, she seems to agree, and suggests the Medik8 Hydr8 facial for dehydrated skin.
This starts with a double cleanse - first with a thick, creamy citrus-smelling product, then some foamy stuff. Both are removed with lavender-scented hot towels. Hot steam is applied during this, and a fine bamboo powder is used to exfoliate.
I expect an extraction or some kind of deep-cleansing mask at this stage, but the therapist instead uses oil to perform a gentle lymphatic massage on my face, neck and décolletage. This is then washed off, and - tutting about how dehydrated and sun-exposed my skin is - she applies a gentle fruit-enzyme hydrating mask. The final touches are a serum to lock in moisture, and a day cream with sunblock.
It all seems to be over quite quickly, and at first I'm disappointed that the usual pore-cleansing steps were missing. Upon leaving, though, my face looks quite clear around the T-zone, perhaps due to the buffing. It also looks surprisingly radiant and firm - apparently thanks to the draining facial massage.
Angela encourages me to buy one of the Medik8 products when I leave, but doesn't push the point when I decline. While I needed to wash my hair when I got home (the scalp massage made it oily), there is a shower on the premises, and other than that, this is one of the few facials that would be great to have before going out, as it doesn't leave your face puffy or greasy.
