After consulting me about my diet and skin issues – which include breakouts seemingly due to face masks – James recommends I reduce my wheat and coffee intake (to reduce inflammation and stress, respectively) in favour of more greens, and gives me a facial massage. ‘The muscles and tissues of the face can be transformed through the power of massage. [It] really is a key component of glowing skin – and one of the secrets to ageing well. I work with tissue reasonably deeply to rejuvenate it.’
The techniques themselves stem back 5,000 years to the beginnings of massage in India; it is the idea of doing it for aesthetic purposes that is new, James tells me, comparing the treatment to sports massage for the face. So it transpires. Vigorous, energetic, I can feel the muscles in my profile working and loosening. It is decreed that I have very tense muscles in my ‘upper face’, and James duly begins smoothing them out. My ‘middle face’ is then pinched hundreds of times over on each side, and I can feel it turning pink. After she has finished one side, my skin is so taut I feel as if I’ve had half a face lift. Finally, my ‘lower face’ gets a pummeling. She works out the tight knots in my jaw, which she notes is not unusual – rather, a modern-day malady for the eternally stressed young office worker.
A face workout is all well and good, but there are limits to what can be achieved by pushing and prodding – and, as James writes in her book, ‘If you smoke or spend hours in the sun without applying SPF, then I’m afraid no amount of massage is going to counteract the damage to your skin.’
Every client’s treatment is bespoke and often technology comes into play: ‘I’m a huge fan of radio frequency, which puts controlled heat into certain layers within the dermis to tighten collagen fibres and stimulate your collagen production,’ she says. Meanwhile, microcurrent treatments stimulate cell energy, and James swears by HIFU, ultrasound technology that is a miracle fat reducer. ‘What it does for someone’s confidence is amazing.’
For me, the treatment concludes with an enzyme exfoliation, swiftly followed by a shock of cryotherapy with James’ newest gadget: a cryo face mask and wand. The brain freeze was intense, but it left me feeling very fresh. Apparently, the thermal shock on the skin stimulates new cell activity, meaning it’s great for tricky skin issues such as acne and eczema.
I leave my appointment blushed and lifted. The next day, my skin begins to emit a glow, which intensifies on day two. To the touch, my face feels plump and dewy; and I appear to be slightly more contoured. It might just be the elusive Rich Girl Glow.
This article was originally published in the April issue. Subscribe now to get 3 issues for just £1, plus free home delivery and free instant access to the digital editions.
