ELLE TESTS
EXFOLIATING TREATMENTS
By Amy Lawrenson
Exfoliating in the shower is a love or hate thing, you either see it as a treat or a chore. Either way regular buffing is one of life's necessities, a must for summer dressing and essential preparation for a long lasting, golden tan - fake or real. A skin sloughing salon treatment is the most luxurious and the least tedious way to indulge and the ELLE team have been scrubbed, sloughed and exfoliated to bring you our pick of the best buffing treatments, here's the results...
Cowshed
Salt Scrub, £45 at Cowshed, Clarendon Cross, London (also available nationwide)
The spa
My scrub takes place at the Cowshed spa in Notting Hill. The spa is really lovely – clean, fresh and not at all intimidating as the staff are very friendly and helpful.
The treatment
The treatment itself begins with a brief massage and body brush followed by exfoliation of my whole body – I'm given the option of having my stomach and bust treated, which I do, but if you’re quite modest and don't want to reveal too much then you can skip the bust bit. Once I shower the exfoliator off, I'm moisturised from head to toe and given a lovely head massage. The scrub itself is quite coarse without being too harsh and I feel like it's really done the job. It's also quite oily so it helps to moisturise my skin as well as buff it.
The result
Once the treatment is finished my skin is super soft and beautifully polished and I smell lovely. I really like all the products that are used at Cowshed and you can buy all of them in the salon should you wish to. The treatment lasts for 45 minutes which is just right – long enough to be thorough. I really enjoyed the treatment and the effects that it had, I would definitely go back for another one.
Best for: A thorough scrub with a luxurious ambience.
Rating: 4/5
