By Chrissy Iley
You could say that I’m quite obsessed with Face Place. I’ve been to the one in the Rosewood Hotel, the one in LA where I heard some actress talking about her Oscar and was desperate to open the curtain and look in. Their signature facials are for both men and women. They’re clinical, powerful and deliver radiance and have been doing for the past 40+ years. And now, there’s another one in Soho, it’s downstairs at the Alex Eagle studio.
They’re the ones that have Galvanic currents and a miniature tepee over your face. You can get an express treatment for only 40 minutes so you can literally have it in your lunch hour and still have time to pick up something to eat. And as it’s situated in the heart of Soho, I imagine they are hugely busy with the express facial. It’s right by the Soho Hotel and the Ham Yard hotel so you might even get the odd Oscar winner popping in to be expressed before the red carpet.
I decided I was going to try a back facial though I’ve never had one before. It’s basically everything that you’d have done to your face but on your back. A lot of people have back acne and back eczema – I have the latter and as it’s party season, and as my back might be coming out, it seemed like a good idea.
My therapist was Carla and she inspired confidence straight away. You could tell she had healing, knowing hands. First off, the back is cleansed and a mask applied with heat which opens pores to prepare for extraction. Then you get this body brushing. The brush is made from cactus bristles for skin brushing, it has to be quite rigorous. It promotes lymphatic drainage, circulation and getting rid of toxins as well as dead cells. I’m told if you do a body brushing every day for 2 weeks you will lose approximately 2 pounds just from brushing.
I quite like the sensation of skin brushing. It was firm but at the same time healing and done in a gentle way. I could feel my circulation moving. Then a Salicylic treatment is applied to decongest and resurface the back. Then the same little vacuum hose that’s used on the facial is used on the back. Suck suck suck it goes and then you get the back extractions and breakout control.
Because I have eczema I couldn’t have the acne treatment but instead, I had a further hydration mask and then my back was swaddled in a light moisturiser. My back had never felt so good. The skin was plumped, silky, firm and without any breakouts or dry patches.
The whole thing takes 60 minutes and the price is £125