There is something wholesome about the Liz Earle brand. A squeaky-clean sense of well-being that comes with every wipe of those famous muslin cloths.
The company’s beachy HQ is in the Isle of Wight and a sense of that fresh-air location is brought to bear in the centre of Leeds at the Liz Earle Spa in the city’s lovely Victoria Quarter.
The store has bleached wood surroundings and bright seaside blue and mauve fittings. It feels light and welcoming over its three floors.
Every Friday it’s cake day, so you’re invited for a tasty bite of a chocolate brownie or some such sweetness to enjoy with a closer look at the latest products, plus some ‘playtime’ with them.
The store covers three floors and is a vast space. The ground floor is a ‘dash-in and grab your hot-cloth cleanser’ area. Head to the first floor and there’s a more expansive shopping area with low seating, lots of well-being books, a botanicals ingredients bar and more browsing space – plus those Friday munchies.
Stairs take you to Liz Earle: the next level in every way. There you find an airy reception area for pre-treatment consultations and then four treatment rooms.
The beachy theme continues in the rooms with seascape prints on the walls as you drift away into treatment heaven.
As you would expect, the treatment menu is all about the company’s products, offering a neat selection of six treatments from a quick-fix back massage to an indulgent 90-minute results-driven signature experience.
And it was this Signature Facial that we tried out. I have to say, it was one of the best treatments I’ve had: not least because it felt very like a targeted one-off.
This isn’t a softly-softly treatment. It is intense and you literally go under the microscope to let the therapist really see what’s going on.
After a good cleanse (of course), your skin goes to the next level with real deep-cleanse treatment that includes steaming and then manual extraction – words to make the heart sing in a beauty salon. After all, it’s great for an expert to get to grips with their tools and really dig deep to reach the parts you don’t reach with your nightly home ritual (if indeed you have one of those). Yes we’re talking serious pore-probing here.
With the help of steam and suction, skin gets a new life thanks to this mix of luxurious pampering and technical expertise. It’s a good approach for skin of all ages too – I imagine it would be great for young skin.
You’re lying there with your eyes closed while all this magic is happening. There’s a session of high-frequency antibacterial cleansing then the pleasant sensation of vacuum suction to plump the life back into your skin – especially good if you’re a victim of dehydration.
While a mask works its magic, you get a ‘pampering’ shoulder massage. I use the term advisedly. I had very crunched up shoulders – I always do – so a shoulder massage is one of my go-to treatments. Boy, was this firm. Be careful what you wish for I thought as I whimpered through the rigours. But it works and it’s why you’re lying on that nice warm bed.
Once you’ve had the massage, the treatment goes back to the realms of lie-back luxury and pampering as reviving treatment products are applied to your now brilliantly-clean and glowing skin.
This was a really thorough treatment and one to be recommended. The whole store has been open a few years now which I didn’t realise – it’s certainly worth a visit.
Treatment, 90 minutes, £12 | uk.lizearle.com
