ARK Skincare Derriere Facial

By Laurin

When I first agreed to contribute to Get Lippie at the beginning of this year, I imagined filing some light-hearted musings on perfume each week, maybe with a few words on moisturiser here and there. I did not expect to spend my mornings rollerballing napalm onto my bottom, or my evenings applying thigh creams that caused my flesh to stick together like sweaty plastic cheese slices. And so it was last week, when I found myself en route to the ARK Salon in Putney to test their brand new “Derriere Facial”, that I realised that I had unwittingly become Get Lippie’s Official @rse Correspondent. I’m updating my CV even as we speak.

Obligatory Disclaimer: Quick fix creams and treatments work for those who are either blessed with good genes, or those who already put in the work at the gym and need a bit of extra help. For anything greater, you need a plastic surgeon or a sorcerer, and I got kicked out of Hogwarts for lewd behaviour during Charms lessons. Sorry.

The Ark Salon sits on a busy stretch of Putney Bridge Road, flanked by a gourmet burger bar and a Brazilian barbeque joint. High quality skincare and delicious meat snacks pretty much covers all my basic needs, and I immediately begin making mental plans to relocate to SW15.

Inside, the spa is an oasis of calm and cool. I am greeted by Judy the spa manager, and spend the obligatory five minutes filling out forms of the medical variety. On the dot of 2:45pm, my therapist Georgina ascends the stairs to collect me for my treatment. Before she begins, she asks me what I’d like to achieve that day. The treatment can be adapted somewhat, depending on whether your main concern is cellulite, sagging or skin tone in general. I explain that I’d be happy to leave with smoother, more even-toned skin, and she leaves me to get undressed.

On my own in the room, the first thing I notice is the small shelf beneath the head of the massage table. It is, I am later informed, for resting your arms during the treatment. Hallelujah and praise be. At this exact moment, I know this is going to be great. I am convinced that it is these tiny concessions to a client’s comfort, these small, well thought-out gestures that ultimately make a treatment worthwhile. I always find massage tables slightly too narrow to accommodate my arms, so they usually end up tucked awkwardly beneath my body, where they start to fall asleep halfway through the treatment.

I remove my skirt and put on the Tarzan-chic paper knickers provided to spare the client’s blushes. It’s less the thong I anticipated, but more of a hospital style banana hammock. The treatment itself follows the general format of a facial, but on your bum. It begins with gentle body brushing on the full length of the leg, after which Ark’s own cleanser is applied to the area and buffed away with a body scrub. The treatment then moves on to steaming and a gentle massage with a personalised blend of serums. At this point, I start to nod off. This almost never happens when I have a massage or facial – the circus of my mind is open for business twenty-four hours a day. Again, I am impressed. A masque is applied, and Georgina massages my feet while it does its business. The treatment ends with the application of a light body lotion and you’re left to get dressed in peace.

Telling your friends that you’re off to let a stranger rub ointments into your bum sounds like a confession best left to the wee hours of the morning and the bottom of a bottle of Bombay Sapphire. I was a bit apprehensive that the Derriere Facial would be awkward and maybe a bit embarrassing, but it turned out to be one of the nicest beauty treatments I’ve ever had. The entire experience felt tailor-made with the client’s comfort in mind, from the aforementioned arm-shelf to the serene yet unobtrusive music that played in the treatment room. My only complaint was that it was over after 45 minutes. I would have been happy to lay there in a state of quiet repose until dinner, when I would at least have a legitimate excuse to pop next door for a burger.

I felt so relaxed when I left the spa that I would have been pleased to think of it as a happy hour spent on a sunny afternoon. A week later though, I looked in my mirror and realised that actually, my bum was looking Mighty Fine, thank you for asking. I felt others ought to experience the benefits of this, but sadly I was alone in my house.  If you’re off on holiday soon, or you’re just really vain (hi!), or you just like beauty treatments in quiet rooms that smell gorgeous, Ark is a hidden gem in South West London that is absolutely worth a visit. Go now. Your bum and anyone who has the pleasure of walking behind it will thank you.

The ARK Derriere Facial is £49 for 45 minutes. Details on how to book can be found at http://www.arkskincare.com/find-a-skincare-centre/ 

The Fine Print: Laurin was a guest of Ark Spa. Pictures courtesy of Victoria Waite at Ark.  

This post: ARK Skincare Derriere Facial originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper

Ark Skincare: Ark at Home

It's not every day you have an ARK Angel in your house, but a couple of weeks ago, I was privileged enough to have Shula Starkey, founder of ARK Age Aware Skincare giving myself and a few friends (both blogging-, and work-friends) an outline of how their new enterprise, ARK at Home, works.

A home-selling concept, essentially, you invite an ARK Angel along to your home, get a few of your mates together, have a glass of wine (or two, or fruit juice, if you're that way inclined), one of you gets a facial, you get a great introduction to a skincare brand, and a chance to test out many of the products for yourself, all in the privacy of your own home.

Founded in 1998, in Fulham, ARK is an all-British brand, dedicated to nasty-free skincare, with an innovative approach to skincare, having ranges of skin-care devoted to various age-groups, rather than individual skin concerns.  You select the range most suitable for your age, then customise it to your particular skin via a selection of targeted SkinResponse serums.

There are three ranges, Age Prepare (teens to thirties) Age Maintain (thirties to fifties) and Age Repair, which is for fifties and beyond.  Each range consists of a cleanser, moisturiser, mask and exfoliator, but you can also add in a "pre-cleanse" which is an oil-based product (and the one I happen to love most out of everything), for those times when you need a double-cleanse.  There are also bathing products and room scents, but the ARK at home concept really concentrates on skincare.

We really enjoyed our party- and we greatly enjoyed watching Product Pixie getting a facial! -  and I know that at least a couple of our party have made purchases since too.  


So, what's in it for you?  Well, as the host of an ARK at Home party, you get a free facial, and a free skin serum of your choice (if your guests make purchases more than £100, that is), and if your guests make further purchases, you get either half-price or free shopping from the entire ARK range!


All the ARK Angels are fully trained in both facial techniques, and the product range, so if you're thinking about a way to make a little money for yourself, then you might want to consider becoming an ARK Angel yourself- the outlay for the initial kit (and full training!) is only £99, and you make commission on sales made at any parties you might attend.  I admit, I've given it some thought since.


ARK products are top-quality (I wouldn't let just any brand through the door of Lippie Mansions, believe you me), and I think this is a lovely idea both for customers - there's no "hard sell", the products speak for themselves, for better or worse - and it's a great way back into work, to make a new career for yourself or just make a little extra bill-money in these straightened times.  Don't think I haven't given it a thought ...


If you want more information, then click the ARK at Home link.


The Fine Print: My ARK at Home party was arranged by PR. Literally, I did nothing.  I'm a TERRIBLE hostess.


This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Not, quite, beauty products ...

... but still beautiful.

I love candles, I was lucky enough to be made a gift recently of some from Jonathan Ward ones recently.  I have them in Nightingale's Jasmine, which is a delicious scent that makes the entire bedroom smell wonderful - whether you've lit them or not! They're paraffin-free, and made from an organic wax base.  There is a special offer on several of the candles at the moment where you can get two for the price of one!  If you like candles, you'll love these.

Another range of home-scents that I like is from Kenneth Turner who also makes body products.  I, in particular adore the scent of Blue Tangerine, which has to be one of the sexiest scents I've ever noticed in a candle.

Or a shower gel. Or body lotion.  Or air freshener.  Or hand cream ... I buy this stuff by the bucket load, the range isn't organic, and it doesn't promise anything amazing will happen if you use the products, but, the scent!  Oh, how I love it.  I have a tube of the handcream in my office, and I adore it. If the reed diffuser was in stock on the website, I'd have them all over the house! Even though reed diffusers strike me as the middle class alternative to Airwick these days ...  The range has an orangey-minty smell, but so much more that paltry description implies, deep, sexy and clean.

Finally, I had a chance to pop over to ARK Skincare on Kensington Church Street recently, and have a sniff of their "Loving" range of spa products, unlike many spa scents, this one is warm and spicy, and wonderfully cosy, it strikes me that it's a perfect scent for these wintry days.  This scent is available in everything from reed diffusers to a very luxurious-looking bath oil that I'm dying to try:

I'll be popping back to ARK soon, they have an offer on at their Kensington Church Street  store at the moment, where if you book a facial you get one free, the staff are super-friendly so I'm looking forward to trying their services out!  In the meantime, if anyone wants to get me anything for Valentines day (and before you all groan, there are Creme Eggs in the shops at the moment, and that's not till April!) I'll be happy with anything from this page here  hint, hint.

How do you keep your home smelling sweet?