A world away from the bustle of Covent Garden’s main thoroughfare, Thai Square Spa is an oasis of calm and serenity that hides on sleepy Shelton Street.
What was once a Victorian warehouse is now a blissful day spa, with low lighting, white orchids scattered around the place and subterranean treatment rooms. The Mother of Pearl Body Scrub is one of the newest treatments on the menu, and easily one of the most luxurious. We were too intrigued not to try it out…
The concept behind the new Mother of Pearl Body Scrub follows the idea that pearls are the image of simplicity, beauty and perfection. Not to mention luxury too. These beautiful beads that we often overlook on strings of necklaces are formed in one of the purest biological processes in the world, protected by the elements when sealed inside the shell of a mollusc. Thai Square Spa are translating this idea to the body; replacing the salt or sugar crystals that are ubiquitously used, crushed pearls along with a Shea butter base exfoliate, regenerate and stimulate the skin, resulting in purer skin, that has a luxurious pearly glow. The treatment itself with a scrub and moisturising massage is soothing, encouraging relaxation and mood enhancement.
After being welcomed in and offered tea, we were taken downstairs to the changing rooms to remove our shoes and change into a robe. Though spacious down here it was quiet when we visited and we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. Once in our treatment room which smelt of beautiful jasmine, the first step was soaking our feet in a bowl of warm water before having them scrubbed and cleansed with a salt-based scrub — a treatment that always makes me twitch but does wonders for tough soles.
StyleNest always love to see what different spas put on the floor under your face for you to look at when you’re face down; here it was a traditionally Thai and enchanting choice of floating white orchids in water. On the bed we were face down as she rubbed the warm, exfoliating Mother of Pearl scrub into our tight calves and thighs, before moving to our lower back and shoulders. Moving down our arms, even our palms were scrubbed (great, because we definitely had remnants of fake tan!) — nothing was left unscrubbed. On our front, ever the professional, she knew exactly which bits to concentrate on, scrubbing harder on the shins which always go like snakeskin in the dry, winter months, whilst being much softer and slower around the décolletage and lower stomach. The inner part of my upper arms always tends to be a weird mottled shade as a result of lingering tan that never seems to fade, and without even being asked she tackled these bits thoroughly with the Mother of Pearl concoction. The thing we like most about this scrub is that it’s not at all harsh on your skin. She was thorough and scrubbed roughly in places but at no point were we wincing or thinking ‘please stop’, which can often be the case with some scrubs. That’s not to say we didn’t feel the benefit afterwards. As we rinsed off the scrub in the shower within the treatment room, our skin felt like silk, so soft, and once we’d dried off we could see the snakeskin like texture from our shins had disappeared – rejoice!
Back on the bed we were moisturised from head to toe using long, soothing massaging movements — not like our usual moisturising routine which is hopping about the bathroom, doing it as fast as possible because we’re cold and the other half needs the shower. She focused on tired muscles, making our tight calves feel amazing after a week full of cycling and completely relaxing our whole upper body by thumbing the neck and shoulders.
After 45 minutes of pure bliss, StyleNest left the room in a state of pure Zen, floating to dinner, where we were greeted with, “wow, you smell like holiday”. Aha, one of the best things about going for a treatment is when someone else can tell you’ve been for a treatment; this was thanks to the beautiful jasmine smell that lingered on our skin all evening. The next morning, our skin still felt like silk and without the dead cells and dry patches I’d had the day before. Summer, we’re ready for you now!
The Mother of Pearl Body Scub lasts 45 minutes and costs £65; visit Thai Square Spa website to book and see what other treatments are available.