Most spa treatments do not begin by sitting at what looks for all the world like a kitchen table in an old wooden barge, shuffling a pack of ‘planet’ cards and being asked to choose the accompanying word on the card you feel most affinity with… But then, as with everything they do, a Lush Spa is far from ordinary.
Lush Say: ‘…the new indulgent, evocative and affirming treatment from Lush Spa. The Planets is a 3-phase treatment looking at the past, present and future. Inspired by 7 of the planets in our solar system, the whole experience has been developed to allow the client time to explore their inner space.’
Having chosen Jupiter (‘release’ being the word on that card) my spa therapist explained that certain things during the treatment would change according to what I’d chosen. Led into a delightfully cosy cabin-like room, also clad in wood, lit with scented candles and mirrored reflections of the solar system circling the ceiling and walls – I lay on a heated massage table and was slowly slathered with a Lush massage bar (made of Shea butter and heaped with gorgeously scented natural oils, the bar acting as a massage tool itself – gliding over the skin as it begins to gently melt on contact).
As she reached points of tension (I have many) my therapist explained I could talk about what I felt I was still carrying from the past… Well, where to begin, but I named a couple of things and she pressed down hard to release the tension and smooth it away – ‘We can shut that drawer, now, and move on…’ she said soothingly.
At this point I become something of an unreliable narrator, for one minute eased into the next and the next, and I was wafted with fragrant smoke that billowed from a teapot she held aloft and circled me with, fanning as she went. Asking me to breathe in deeply and let myself drift, breathing out all negative thoughts and focusing on the smokey lavender and rosemary that surrounded me like a little perfumed cloud… I think I may have fallen asleep. Certainly I awoke with a snort (so elegant!) and was asked to don the world’s largest, most luxuriant bath robe covered in stars and crescent moons. I felt like an extremely glamorous wizard.
Thence to tea (a fruity mango number) a pink chocolate shaped like Jupiter, a palm reading that told me lots of incredibly flattering (and therefore highly accurate) things about myself, and yet more deep relaxation – each phase accompanied by its own unique (spa exclusive) fragranced massage bar, a rose and lemon face-mask that smelled good enough to eat (I resisted), scented serums and layer upon layer of increasingly invigoratingly perfumed gorgeousness.
I was blissed-out, slightly drowsy yet somehow uplifted; giggly, silky-limbed and glowing of face – intoxicated by relaxation and exuding all manner of spa-scented delights.
Their most indulgent (and therefore costly) treatment by far – The Planets treatment – just launched in conjunction with the opening of the truly extraordinary Lush Oxford Street store – is an ‘out of this world experience’, alright, and I’d suggest booking the rest of the day off to maximise the comforting afterglow you’re left with…
- Phase 1 (1 hour 25 minutes) ‘A full body massage offering a truly unique and personal experience. On areas of tension you will be invited to talk if you wish, allowing the time to reflect on the past and release it from both mind and body.
- Phase 2 (30 minutes) A tea party involving a hand and arm massage and a Lush palm reading. A fun uplifting phase, looking at what’s there in the present moment.
- Phase 3 (1 hour) Spinning forward into the future, you will end your treatment with a lifted facial which used clever techniques to lift the skin and the facial muscles, but most importantly, to lift the spirits. The magic and music awaits…’
The Planets three-phase Lush Spa treatment: £285 for 180 minutes.
At select Lush Spas
Written by Suzy Nightingale
