Relax in the City

In New York relaxation is a valuable but not easily achievable commodity.

The hustle and bustle of day and night is great for the social life but plays havoc with your face.

So with sleep clearly not an option (hello it's the city that never sleeps for a reason) the next best thing to hibernation is to fabulise yourself with an indulgent spa treatment.

On a recent visit to New York with the constant cycle of shopping, eating, parties and no sleep I wanted to make sure I felt and looked suitably Sex and the City fabulous to take on the Big A so I booked myself in to the Cornelia Day Spa for a classic facial and a 'blow out' (that's blow dry to you and me)

Stepping into the spa, which is nothing more than an incospicuous door on 5th Avenue, I was immediately transported away from the pace outside into a serene hide out. New York's buildings hide labyrinths inside and this building is no exception with hallways leading to other hallways and a maze of differently themed treatment rooms.

I was led first to the changing rooms to slip into a robe, then to the relaxation room where I sipped on jasmine tea before being led again to the room where I was to have the facial. After changing into just a towel I was given a spoon full of honey (which the sweet 'esthetician' excitedly told me was from Yorkshire upon hearing my accent) to cleanse the system before my facial began.

I'd never got the idea of calling a facial a pampering treatment. Every time I'd had one it had been a painful, claustrophobic experience and I'd come out looking pink and lumpy. But this facial was pure and utter indulgence lasting one hour.

While my face was steamed and covered in an array of creams and lotions my shoulders, arms and legs were massaged with warm stones. My hands and feet were given a paraffin treatment and I drifted away into a state which was the close to meditation.

The only point I stopped relaxing was in the five minutes where the beauty therapist started squeezing the bits that needed to be squeezed and I thought of the lumpiness to follow.