KEY POINTS:
Winter brings some pleasures, yes - boots, gloves, hot chocolate, carbohydrates and so on - but for me, they are outnumbered by far by the season's disadvantages: it's cold, it's dark and the weather is miserable.
And (what's more) it's hell on your skin. My poor visage, which has still not recovered from the aggressions of summer - that dehydrating combo of sun, salt and sun - now has to put up with chapping winds and drying cold. Which was all the excuse I needed (more excuse than I needed, to be honest with you) to book a facial, especially a Sothys autumn/winter facial, a treatment devised by the elite beauty brand specifically to repair your skin from the damages of summer, while preparing it for the ravages of winter. (They release these limited edition professional facials twice a year. This one is on offer just through autumn and winter.)
The winter facial 2007 is a real fruit smoothy of a treatment, using mulberries, figs, grapes and chestnuts. The idea, says Kim, owner of the salon and spa Tonic in Glen Eden, is that it's both good for you and nice to have. "There are more intensive treatments,' she says, "and often they might be more therapeutic. But they won't necessarily smell nice. This is designed to be a fun, fresh, yummy treatment that everyone will enjoy and that suits every skin type.'
Kim started off by cleansing, toning and exfoliating my skin - so far, so normal. But then she slathered me in mulberry gel, a light, fresh serum, which contains magnesium, copper and zinc to re-mineralise the skin after summer and which is rich in the antioxidising vitamins A, C and E to brighten dull and lacklustre skin - plus it smells amazing.
With this facial you get to take home what's left in the tube to use in your skin care regime. As well as the ongoing antioxidising benefits, it means you can have little facial reminiscences every morning and evening for about the next 10 days.
But, back to the facial itself. Kim then applied a chestnut cream containing shea butter and olive oil, rich and unbelievably thick and creamy, which was, she said, perfect for restoring the skin after summer and hydrating it in preparation for winter. Then the final step was a so-called "rubberising mask' containing figs and grapes - a cream mask that sets on the skin and peels off in one whole piece. This stage, Kim explained, adds its own fig-and-grapey goodness to the skin, and, because it sets, helps the skin to absorb all the nutrients from the previous stages.
To allow the final cream to work its fruity magic, Kim left it on for a good quarter of an hour.
To make sure I didn't get bored (just lying there absorbing nutrients can be dull) she filled in the time with a head massage and a hand and arm massage. Then she peeled off the now-solid pink mask (I think Weta could use this stuff), and I emerged - if not ready for anything - then at the very least, ready for winter.
