Thalgo launches Terre & Mer facial

As Cate Blanchet’s skin therapist once told me, ‘You only have one face, so look after it’ – which is indeed a motto one should bare in mind when debating on whether to spend money on  having  a facial – especially during this winter of our discontent. 

With the up-coming party season and winter firmly on our doorstep, now is the best time to pamper The Face. Facials, like encounters with strangers, usually fall into the following four genres: The Uber, The Good, The Bad and The Damn-Right Ugly. 

Here is the break down........
The UBER FACIAL: The texture of your skin is dramatically enhanced and people comment on how good you look weeks after the facial.  Your skin has been totally re-hydrated and plumped up – you look good and you feel good. Putting foundation on is a breeze, as it just glides on, without the need for a  primer.

The GOOD FACIAL: You leave with a nice glowing complexion, ironed out frown lines due to  the massage, minimised pores and less or no congestion around the nose or chin. Your partner comments on how good you look for 2-3 days after this.

The BAD FACIAL: Your imperfections have been commented on and extracted by unskilled hands, and you have red marks on your face because they were done during a mini facial (like a 30 minute one).  You signed up for the ‘glowing facial’, and instead you leave with red blotchy marks due to overzealous exfoliation. (This happened to me on my birthday many years ago and I had to face all of my guests with red patches).

The UGLY FACIAL:  All of the elements of the bad facial plus the ‘beauty’ products they used reacted badly with your skin and you have red, dried out patches around the cheeks because the mask they used was too strong.  This goes on for a few days. Oh, and they tell you that your skin is really bad and congested before they started.

FACE/OFF SYNOPSIS

Having experienced the full spectrum of facials over the years - I have become very wary of who I entrust my sensitised skin too.

And up until now, I only trusted Dr Haushka for the delivery of a Good Facial and Creme de Le Mer for a Uber-Facial experience. 

Recently however, I experienced the TERRE & MER Organic Facial by THALGO at the The Patrick Ludde Salon and would place it  firmly between a good facial and an uber-facial. It also comes in cheaper than the others at £65 in London and £55 in other parts of the country. My beauty editor friend is also raving about how good a facial it is, when we compared notes at the weekend.

The Terre & Mer Organic Facial

Although a facial is about The Face, it is always a welcome relief when the skin therapist massages your back  and shoulders first, to help ease out the tension. It also demonstrates that the therapist is well versed in how the body heals itself. And this exactly how the Thalgo therapist launched the  facial: with a 15 minutes massage using lavender oil.

After an analysis of my skin (which was luckily not carried out under garish lights), all makeup was removed and the skin was cleansed using their new line of beauty products, which  includes a Marine Cleanser and Marine Scrub  containing  organic almond shell and algae. 

My particular favourite was the Orange Blossom Toner, which I am seriously starting to favour over my Caudalie Elixir. After completing the cleansing ritual, the therapist carried out a sophisticated face massage using a pouch filled with  dried lavender dipped in hot oil. 

This was DIVINE– as she used expert hand techniques to roll out the tension and stress from my PR face. The massage was  followed by a thick, double peel mask, which cocooned the skin for about 10 minutes while my digital extremities were massaged. I even got an ego massage, as the therapist complimented me on how youthfull I looked for a 30 year old. To finish everything off, my face was slathered in concentrates containing essential oils and an olive-derived face cream.

If you would like to find out more about where you can have this facial,  call  0207 512 0872. I have traced down a small video in French, which you can access here, which demonstrates the various steps. 

Organic products from land and the ocean
Now, I was given some products from the new organic Terre & Mer skincare range to take home with me, and I absolutely love the Soothing Concentrate with its juniper smell, which helps me achieve a radiant glow every morning and wakes my skin up.