LIGHT UP YOUR SMILE
One of my biggest complaints is that my teeth look dull and drab. After a few cups of coffee each day, everyday, call them dingy. I try to whiten them at home a few times a year, but the results last a month or so at best. And, I’m not willing to give up my red wine or coffee just yet!
Dr. Daniel Aneszko and Dr. Rana Stino are the resident experts in winning smiles at Chicago’s Water Tower Dental—and they assured me that bright white teeth are a sure-fire way to get noticed and look more attractive.
That’s why I signed up for a Zoom! Whitening treatment. After one appointment with Zoom!, teeth are brightened up to 8 shades whiter. The brightening system works in two parts: A special PH-balanced hydrogen peroxide solution is applied to the surface of teeth, followed by a low-heat light, which activates the stain-lifting solution.
So the results may be pretty fantastic but you know what I’m going back for? The spa-like experience. All you have to do is sit in the chair, comfortable as ever (when did you ever think you’d say that about going to the dentist), then relax and watch CSI or The Real Housewives on your private TV. Okay, so that’s what I did, but you could also use one of the iPads with WiFi to get some work done. All together, it’s a luxury spa experience.
If you really do want to whiten at home, they offer an at-home teeth-whitening treatment. They’ll send you home with custom designed bleaching trays and professional-strength whitening gel. After two weeks, teeth will be six to 10 shades whiter.
I know I’m looking forward to bright, beautiful teeth for life.
A SECRET GARDEN AND SPA IN LONDON
Nestled in the leafy suburb of Muswell Hill, North London, a beautiful under-the radar pocket of residential bliss inhabited by actors, radio DJs and other well-known faces, sits the tranquil Laboratory Spa and Health Club. Surrounded by beautiful grounds, the club boasts glorious spa facilities as well as its award-winning gym and a gem of a swimming pool, which is cleaned with UV so there’s no need for large volumes of chlorine – great for saving your skin and hair.
Pad around in a thick, fluffy robe and slippers and trial the warm whirlpools before heading to the chill out area where you can slump into a reclining chair that over-looks the swimming pool with its natural lighting (a rarity in London spas and health clubs) and sip some refreshing cucumber water or the club’s exotic Juice of the Day. You’ll be pleased to hear that this peaceful area is exclusively for the use of lucky spa-goers.
The nail bars look like something out of a boutique hotel spa with the high-impact white finish decorated in rows of Essie’s finest and latest colours. Unlike so many combined spa and health clubs, the menu of treatments is varied and geared towards all tastes. For holistic-lovers there’s ear candeling, Reiki, Meditation, Craniosacral Therapy, Acupuncture and Alexander technique all on-site. In fact there are over 36 holistic therapies and treatments on offer – you could trial something different every week. Add to that all the primping and preening treatments you would expect, this is a seriously equipped spa – plenty to keep you distracted from working out.
New to the spa is IPL for hair removal. In addition to getting rid of fuzz, IPL can help increase your skin’s collagen to reduce fine lines and wrinkles, and improve acne and spider veins. Intense Pulsed Light brings a flash of light onto the skin within a very short time and the melanin in the formerly shaved skin absorbs the light to convert it into heat energy. This heats your hair follicle and destroys it so it cannot re-grow. After a course you may be inclined to dip into the pool to show off your smooth pins. The Lab is offering free consultations and patch tests if you are keen to find out more. Book a course of six treatments and you get 20% off of the cost.
If a spa experience is something you look for when you are choosing a health club to join, look no further – this place isn’t playing around, it’s no wonder they have so many celebrity members all looking so beautifully groomed.
IPL at the Lab Spa starts from £50. For more information about The Laboratory Spa and Health Club and a list of treatments please log on to www.thelabspa.co.uk.
LONDON’S MIRACLE FACIAL
At BITB, we are bombarded with opportunities to try the latest/greatest/most effective/expensive/unique facials and so it’s no surprise that we are pretty selective about what we try. If we said yes to everything we would spend 24/7 in spas and clinics…nice as that sounds it’s just not practical!
HydraFacial info landed on the desk and there was something special about this one. Yes it has celeb fans, and Beyoncé and Eva Mendes are enough to sway most people…and it’s new…but for us it was the promise to take dermabrasion (which I’m not ordinarily a fan of) to a whole new level. Vacuum suction and abrasive action combine to remove dead skin and unblock pores all at once in one slurping action.
The machine’s clever handpiece does its mechanical job but also delivers serums at each stage of the treatment; cleanser for stage one, a light peel for stage two then there’s some extraction (my favourite) followed by a hyaluronic serum to help repair and plump the skin. Amazingly, post-treatment you get to see what’s been extracted and sloughed off in the waste tube (not for the faint hearted).
A previously unsightly blackhead-ridden nose now gleams with health. The entire face and neck is left looking fresh, even-toned, revitalised and the appearance of light wrinkles lessened. Why didn’t we have this in the UK years ago? Like most great beauty secrets us Brits are always the last to know!
A course is recommended and prices start from £80. ‘A’ for effort and an ‘A’ for attainment. HydraFacial is amongst the best we’ve tried – a future hall of famer.
For your nearest clinic log on to www.HydraFacial.co.uk and click on ‘Find a Clinic’. Prices start at £80 but vary dependent on the practitioner. BITB tested the treatment with Charlotte Carter at the Dr Rita Rakus clinic in Knightsbridge, London
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