Cellcosmet Facial at Aldo Coppola, London

When you step past the 35 mark on your birthdays chart, you generally realise two things:

– hangovers last a week,

– you start caring about your skincare more than you’ve ever cared about make-up.

Gone are the days I was able to dance until 7am, go home to have a shower and be at my desk at 9am (maybe with dark sunglasses on). Now if I have a little too much fun on a Thursday night, I feel like someone sellotaped the entire cast of Hellraiser (all films) into my head. In case you haven’t seen the movies, let me sum the feeling up for you in one word: ouch.

I also noticed that every excess or stress shows on my skin pretty damn fast. Which doesn’t mean I decided to live the life of a nun at 37, it just means I learned to care for my skin in the best possible way. Of course, caring for your skin starts at home with a solid day/night routine (read about some of my recent skincare favourites), but sometimes you need help from a professional.

Fret not, there’s a Swiss saviour for that: Cellcosmet, hailing from Le Mont-Sur-Lausanne, on the shores of Lake Geneva. All the products in the range are created using the the latest findings in cosmetic science. These aren’t just “beauty products“, they are “cosmeceuticals” (pharmaceutical + cosmetic). This alliance between beauty and science is at the origin of their “Science of Staying Young” slogan.

I headed to Aldo Coppola on Sloane Avenue just two days after my visa interview, which was pretty much the culmination of a year’s worth of anxiety. There I met Sharon, one of Cellcosmet’s leading therapists in the UK. In her capable hands, I received the Anti-Stress Facial with UltraCell Intensive for an extra boost and the ProCollagen Eye Mask. The treatment lasted 90mn but it seemed as if I was there for 5. Each step felt better than the previous one and I could feel my skin relaxing and getting plumper by the minute. I seriously never expected it to be quite so efficient. 

I left the therapy room with a healthy glow – which was a welcome change from the dull, grey skin I’d been sporting all year. I was pretty pleased with myself when I got home, but the best was yet to come… Two or three days later I started seeing real changes in my skin (I kept using the products at home). Redness almost disappeared, fine lines were smoothed over and just like that I decided I didn’t really need to wear foundation anymore.

I still cannot quite believe it only took one facial to restore my skin to its former glory! If you want to try it for yourself, head over to Aldo Coppola in London.