Spa review: Hot Stones massage therapy

Hot Stones therapy is a great way to enjoy a massage with a twist. Bernadette Fallon visited a new London spa offering the treatment

 

Once upon a time I hatched a plan with a friend to create a beauty treatment for women that would also have medical benefits. We thought about combining the relaxing and rejuvenating properties of massage therapy - his area - with the powerful qualities of the natural world - er, mine? Stones - with their compression of natural minerals over a long long time - seemed like the perfect way to marry the two disciplines.

 

So it's an awful shame the ancient Native America Indians stole a march on us abut a million years ago! Hot Stone massage is a very popular treatment in spas throughout the country now, and I visited one of London's newest venues, Nougat at Westbourne Grove, to experience it for myself.

 

You might be familiar with the Nougat brand already? Particularly noteworthy for its pretty packaging, this really is beauty product as eye candy. This is the first spa opened by the brand, and you enter through the Nougat shop. It's like wandering into the ultimate girlie bedroom with laden dressing tables. Tip - if you're in the west London area, it's a great spot to pick up eye-catching Christmas presents.

 

What's Hot Stones therapy?

 

Opened just six weeks ago, the spa offers a full menu of treatments from facials to massage to waxing and grooming, including its signature Hot Stones massage. This combines the benefits of water therapy - the stones are heated naturally in hot water - heat therapy and massage techniques. Advocates say the benefits are many, including improved circulation, improved blood flow around the body and elimination of toxins.

 

A word of caution though. This is not deep tissue massage, so if you want heavy pummelling, look elsewhere. This is a balancing treatment, designed to re-connect us to the earth and nature from where the stones came. The stones used are Basalt as it absorbs and retains heat better than other stones. And it is very pleasant to have the benefits both of the heat and the massage at the same time. I imagine this treatment would be particularly beneficial for muscle aches and back pain; it's also a great natural de-stresser and tension reliever.

 

Seamless treatment

 

My therapist is deft - and I'm left wondering how does she constantly introduce fresh hot stones into my massage without me ever noticing her reach for them? The treatment is seamless; after each stone does its work, they are placed on a different part of my body so that I continue to benefit from both the heat and balancing properties even as the fresh stones begin a new massage. By the end I am surrounded by them, am holding two - there's even one right in the curve of my bottom! - a therapist's trick I'm told with a smile.

 

She is very knowledgeable about my treatment and we have a good chat afterwards, touching briefly on body chakras, which I have a bit of an interest in, and, again, which the treatment is ideal for. The stones align and balance chief energy centres in the body.

 

Then it's back upstairs to all the pretty things and home. Outside it's very Notting Hill on a Saturday, crowds are drifting through from the nearby Portobello market and the street is full of children with names like Alfie, Forest and Nettle. It's a lively place to be, and I feel all the better from having had some restful and restorative chill-out time.

 

There's nothing like a massage to make you feel relaxed, and if you can combine it with some rebalancing healing stone therapy as well, so much the better. If only I had thought of it first ...

 

Prices and contact details

 

Hot Stones Therapy, 40 mins - back, neck, shoulder & scalp, £50

Full body therapy, 85 mins, £95

 

Other signature treatments include Crystal Clear Microdermabrasion designed to naturally refine your skin, a holistic body scrub to revitalise skin and Leighton Denny manicures and pedicures. All products used in treatments are available to buy, as well as the Nougat loungewear collection - perfect for your own home spa experience.

 

The Nougat Spa, 227 Westbourne Grove; contact 020 7792 3574 for appointments or visit www.nougatbodytohome.com for more information.

 

Read last week's spa review - revolutionary anti-ageing facial

 

 

---

 

More health and beauty news

 

Readers' favourites - your 30 best beauty buys

 

Are your feet hurting? Read this

 

Live-longer secrets from around the world