Abigail James Natural Healing Facial

Abigail James Natural Healing Facial

Immaculate, gentle and adept, Abigail James is an intuitive facialist who has acquired a devoted following among celebrities and beauty industry luminaries. Abigail has "the touch" – hard to define but you know it when you feel it.

I visit Abigail at the Chelsea outpost of Lomax, the ultra hip bespoke health concierge company. Preternaturally pretty, she is the apotheosis of an advertisement for her profession. Abigail opines instantly that I sleep predominantly on my left-hand side (true). Whilst the odds of her correct divination of this fact are admittedly pretty high, her levels of perspicacity surpass those of any facialist I have previously visited. She confidently (and accurately) surmises that I cleanse with a Clarisonic, and even identifies my brand of toner (Guerlain’s ‘Super Aqua’). This before I have divulged any skin secrets in the comprehensive questionnaire with which she subsequently presents me. Pre-treatment, I am already impressed.

Abigail’s approach towards skincare reflects her predilection for natural products: she believes that biotic treatments are more simply synthesised by the skin than often abrasive chemical compounds. Whilst employing the purest organic skincare unguents (Live Native and Dr Alkaitis), however, she is not afraid to incorporate state-of-the-art elements to optimise anti-aging effects. These include anti-inflammatory LED light to “clean” skin peels (comprised of fruit acids) and a dermal roller. “I think you can step up your facial without traumatising the skin,” Abigail declares. “I use some more high tech elements on clients with troubled skin to get them to a nice base and from there I turn them onto organic products to maintain their skin health.”

Each of Abigail’s facials contain multifarious manual skin manipulation techniques – rhythmical massage strokes that induce a state of tranquilisation, holistic therapies such as facial reflexology, craniosacral therapy and myofacial release (which unlocks tension in the connective tissue), and Vodder school manual lymphatic drainage (to resculpt and tone the facial muscles). The upshot is a treatment that not merely revives the face, lifting the contours and imbuing the skin with luminosity, but one that also revitalizes the client internally. Abigail is adamant that internal emotional blockages manifest themselves outwardly, and contends that muscle has a mental memory besides a somatic one, maintaining, “there can be a definite response that’s not physical from my facial.”

Unlike many other facialists who send you on your tod blotchy and oleaginous, Abigail ensures that you leave looking luscious. Undoing the thick cotton wool bandeau she has wrapped around your hairline – et voilà: radiant skin and no oil in your hair, either. Perfect for pre-rendezvous primping.

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Abigail’s treatments are available in London at Lomax in Victoria and Lomax, Chelsea (www.lomaxpt.com) and OSKIA Spa at Good Vibes, Covent Garden (www.oskiaskincare.com). Home visits are available in the Cotswolds and London and Abigail is also one of the experts at the award-winning Village Barn detox retreat in Oxfordshire (www.village-barn.com). www.abigailjames.

To book please contact a@abigailjames.com / www.abigailjames.com

38 Degrees North, Ibiza

I’m the kind of girl who considers a canter up the Tube escalator sufficient daily activity, but the promise of a clear mind and body and a little weight loss in anticipation of my wedding was enough to encourage me to don some trainers and embark upon the 38 Degrees North Ibiza Fit Camp. Crystal-clear waters, quiet beaches, and fitness may not be the first things that spring to mind about Ibiza, but the legendary nightlife is only one aspect of this exquisite Mediterranean island. Ibiza villas and hotels have long been luring a cool, cosmopolitan crew. Following in the footsteps of the Phoenicians, Romans, Moors and Catalans, visitors present and past are drawn to the tranquillity of the rural interior and the natural beauty of the island's lesser-known coastlines.

Based in the Revival Wellness Club of the ultra chic Hotel Aguas de Ibiza, 38 Degrees North is run by Kelly Morgan and James Davis, a delightful English couple who took up the mantle from the prior proprietors in 2011.Their holistic approach to fitness combines hiking, exercise sessions and yoga with healthy eating. And there’s no denying it’s hard work; a typical day begins at 8am with a strenuous aqua-spinning class followed by a delicious breakfast (including stratified smoothies, local organic eggs and an abundance of fresh fruit). Next a challenging abdominals circuit on the beach followed by a nutritionally-balanced lunch before a coastal run with an optional sea swim. A relaxing yoga class at the end of the afternoon and light dinner wind down the day’s activities. The programme is engineered in such a way to allow for some unstructured free time, which most people spend languishing by the pool or enjoying the impressive array of spa treatments on offer, including Clarins face and body treatments, underwater and volcanic rock massages. I would also recommend booking an appointment with the in-house chiropractor and life-coach, Dr Abigail Elizabeth Woodward. Sylph-like, almost otherworldly in appearance, Dr Woodward uses a combination of pressure point activation and therapeutic methods to mentally ‘reboot’ her clients. After my session I felt as though I’d been transported to another realm – the treatment was eerily good.

It might sound intimidating, and admittedly, waking up every morning with sore muscles was tough, but time flies due to the impressive variety of exercises – no day is the same – and the enthusiasm of the principal trainers, Brian Talbot and Faye Maloney. Brian formerly worked as a chef under Angela Hartnett and The Connaught Rooms, then caught the fitness bug and retrained as a personal trainer. His background in the kitchen means that he is also a nutritional expert. Faye’s background was originally in dance, but she moved into martial arts and was twice female UK kickboxing champion. In addition to these accolades, she was featured teaching kickboxing in 2011 on the MTV programme Plain Jane.

The Fit Camp regime is both enjoyable and eye-opening; during the course of the week I tried a mixture of beach training, yoga, pilates rock-climbing, boxing, circuit training and hill walking. Though my muscles were often screaming, 'Stop!' no one else was yelling at me: the staff are unfailingly encouraging, and adept at tailoring the programme to different abilities.There is an assortment of ages, abilities and reasons for being there: the odd chief executive enjoying not making a single decision all week; some, like me, there to shift pounds for a special occasion; and others who wanted to kickstart a new healthy regime.

The twin highlights of the week for me were the excursions organised by Kelly and James. First was the hike to Es Vedra, the third most magnetic place on earth (after the North Pole and the Bermuda Triangle). After a strenuous three hour hike ably led by Kelly and her adorable Pomeranian, Otto, we reached a gorgeously secluded beach where we enjoyed a well-deserved private picnic and swim. The second expedition was led by James and involved a trip into the island’s interior on mountain bikes, stopping off at various scenic junctures. There was also a diverting trip to the Hippy Market at Es Cana, where stalls huddle beneath the shade of pine trees in the winding paths between white bungalows and ‘I heart Ibiza’ branded souvenirs are juxtaposed with marijuana paraphernalia.

This is a programme that gets results fast; even after just three days I felt my shape starting to change. At the end of the week I’d lost half a stone and inches from my waist. Best of all, the programme has expanded my fitness horizons hugely, and I feel inspired to continue several of the activities upon my return. Having booked my trip with Electric Bloom, maintaining my healthy regime was even easier thanks to the company’s fabulous ‘Home Bloom’ service, which equips all clients with a list of wellbeing professionals to use upon their return.   
 

To book, please visit: http://www.electricbloom.co.uk/ or phone +44(0)20 8442 1364

The Metropolitan Hotel

Praising a hotel restaurant is like complimenting a fat person on their footwear; you focus on the positive, and try to ignore what's going on upstairs. No one actually wants to eat in a hotel, apart from residents who can't be bothered to put their coats on. Hence the proliferation of big-name chefs recruited to reinvigorate London's grand hotel dining rooms. Without a Ramsay, Ducasse or Wareing, it's hard to capture the feeling that here, right in this very dining room, you've found the most vibrant spot in town. Especially when disoriented tourists are straggling around with wheelie cases. The best you can usually say about the experience is, "I completely forgot I was in a hotel!"

Nobu, perched on the first floor of the Metropolitan Hotel, is of course a destination in its own right. So much so, it might be contended, that its fame overshadows that of its alma mater. Indeed, the first time I ate at Nobu, I had no idea that it was inside a hotel at all; having been whisked up to the restaurant through a separate entrance on Park Lane.

Even this time, when the hotel was the principal focus of my attentions, it was hugely understated. I was shown up to my room on the tenth floor, which had wonderful views of the Eye, and past the glittering dome of St Paul’s and the Gherkin to the monoliths of Canary Wharf.

Décor is simple – minimal without the coldness of minimalism. No art, no gimmicks, just soft pale wood and neutral tones. The room had all the required gadgets – DVD and CD player, Bose sound system, free internet including access through the television, iron and ironing board and a comprehensive entertainment system that was easy to work.
In fact everything seemed to work as it should without being too fiddly – an on-time alarm call, quiet and simple air conditioning and a well-stocked bathroom.

Breakfast costs from £20 depending on which package you choose or less if you go for individual items from the a la carte menu. I liked the healthy breakfast (£26), which included porridge with manuka honey and goji berries, a smoothie and egg white omelette, or there was the more indulgent champagne breakfast (£47) including eggs royale or pancakes with marscapone, nutella and berries – an inspired combination. It’s served 6.30am-11am in the White Room off Nobu.

The hotel has a gym and treatment rooms offering facials from £80 for 75 minutes and massages from £75 for 60 minutes.
Service almost resoundingly got the thumbs up from recent reviewers, and many commented on the good cocktails and the location. Where the hotel lost points among the site's users was for its decor - "tired" said some users, "lacking in atmosphere" was another comment, while one or two users complained that their rooms were small.

Travels on Horseback

When Kathryn Davies founded Travels on Horseback in 2007, she wanted it to be a trail-riding experience with a twist. In contrast to the ubiquitous group trail holiday, Kathryn offers intermediate and experienced riders the unique experience of enjoying a custom-built expedition across miles of countryside, encompassing woodland, field and beach. The spine of the Quantock Hills, running for about 15 miles north-west from Taunton to the coast of Quantoxhead on the Bristol Channel form the majority of the backdrop for the experience. They offer a fantastic riding environment; first because they are located in the principal designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England, and second because the whole Area is open-access countryside. This means that it is possible to cross heather-covered plains, grassy slopes, verdant forests and bluebell woods without worrying about either traffic or rights of way.

The great thing about Travels on Horseback is that riders have free reign over all aspects of their experience. You can go it alone (with a route clearly marked by Kathryn on an Ordnance Survey map), or you can take Kathryn with you as a guide. You can either bring your own horse, or ride one of the five in the Travels on Horseback herd.  There is also complete autonomy in terms of the length of the trip; Kathryn will arrange anything from an hour’s hack (for £40) up to a week’s trek, with horses carrying your luggage in saddle-bags. The longer rides offer guests the opportunity to experience a true trail-riding adventure, spending the days exploring the Quantocks, and the nights in hand-picked local accommodation. There is also flexibility as regards pit-stops; Kathryn knows all the best places to stop for a pub lunch en route, but is also happy to arrange picnics instead.

Helpfully, Kathryn offers a pick-up service for all of her guests, so I met her at Taunton train station (remarkably under one-and-a-half hours from Paddington). After catching and grooming the horses (Kathryn is keen to provide as holistic an experience as possible, which includes pre and post ride horsecare), with assistance from the stable-hand, Sophie, we set off on our three hour hack.  I was, to be frank, initially trepidatious about the whole enterprise. I had not ridden for over four years, and most of my childhood and adolescent experiences had been on riding school ponies, not thoroughbreds, as some of Kathryn’s horses are. As it turned out, these fears were completely allayed, both by Kathryn’s calm, clear guidance, and Victor, a stoic Welsh pony of 14.2 hands. He was a delight to ride; keen, but not overeager, responsive to the reins, and did not spook once.

As we travelled across fields and through woods, with a particulalry exhiliarating gallop up what Kathryn has christened ‘Jane Austen Hill’, turf flying under hoof, she explains the guiding aims of the business. An underlining principle is her stress upon preserving the environment and helping the local economy, for instance by keeping transportation to an absolute minimum (and patronising local guesthouses en route)  Moreover, having worked in a high-powered job in London for some years, she is acquainted with the kinds of pressures that city-dwellers face, and has designed her holidays in order to provide them with a form of total refreshment and escape. Interestingly, although her client demographic is highly variegated (including mothers and daughters, siblings and groups of friends), 20 percent of her clientele are currently lawyers (so she must have got something right for the legal eagles!) but there is no particular hypothesis as to why this is the case.

I felt thoroughly invigorated after my three hour ride, and it has certainly whet my appetite for the full experience.

www.travelsonhorseback.com

47 Farringdon
North Petherton, Bridgwater, Somerset TA6 6PF
01278 438 794

The Spread Eagle Hotel, Midhurst

Hillaire Belloc described the Spread Eagle in one of his farragoes as "that most revered of all prime inns of this world" – high praise indeed from one so well-acquainted with the subject, having stayed at innumerable establishments whilst famously walking from the midwest of the United States to northern California in the courtship of his wife.

An inn has stood on this site since the early 17th century, when Midhurst was a popular resting stop for stage coach passengers. The hotel has a fascinating history that includes tales of smuggler's hideaways, royal visits and the “ghost of the Golden Lady”. Evidence of the hotel's past adorns the walls in framed letters, oil paintings and drawings, as well as the architecture. There’s even a history book about the hotel that you can buy at reception, but you would do just as well to talk to the ebullient General Manager, Ted James, whose knowledge of the hotel’s heritage is encyclopaedic.

Exposed beams, wood pannelling, wonky floors and doors and curious features abound. At one point upstairs, the hall splits into three corridors with a balcony looking over the hallway occupied by a huge suit of armour. In a couple of places you can still see the wattle and daub of the original walls, while in many of the rooms, uneven leaded windows overlook the pretty streets of Midhurst. The oldest part of the hotel is the bar, which dates to 1430 and has all the hallmarks of a hostelry that has been honing its charms for centuries. In the Queen's Suite, the hotel's largest, and oldest room, a huge four-poster bed stands on a crooked polished wood floor and an ancient door leads to a wig room, the polite name in Georgian society for a toilet, and the only one of its kind remaining in Britain.

Notwithstanding its age, there is nothing geriatric about the Spread Eagle. Under Ted’s able steermanship, the hotel is just as relevant in the 21^st century as it was in the 17^th. "We're very much the heart and soul of the village," Ted explains. "Local people get married here, celebrate christenings and birthdays, or just come here for a drink."

As part of its effort to remain contemporary, the hotel offers a number of packages. I was asked to experience the ‘Ladies Who Golf’ experience, which includes an hours’ golf lesson with Katie Dawkins, a former England player-turned-PGA teaching professional based at Cowdray Park Golf Club, lunch and a hour’s spa treatment. To date, my golf experiences have been somewhat below par, including being banned, age 6, from a golf-course in Derbyshire (after hijacking a golf buggy whilst on a family holiday), and a similarly ignominious experience in Morocco when I managed to overturn a golf buggy – no mean feat). Despite my lack of experience, Katie was incredibly patient, and taught me creative and helpful ways to approach putting and chipping, to the extent that I now feel that I would be able to hold my own on a golf course.

After golf, we returned to the hotel for a quick and delicious lunch (morel soup and crab cakes), then it was time to be pampered. Extraordinarily, for a hotel of its age and style, the Spread Eagle has a spa, plus a pool, sauna, steam room and hot tub. Built in 1997, it offers a modern departure from the historic surroundings of the inn. Treatments using Elemis products and techniques cost from £37 for a facial or a massage, and there's a host of beauty treatments including waxing and manicures and pedicures. As part of the Ladies Who Golf package, I enjoyed a 55 minute deep tissue massage, which was pure, unadulterated bliss. 

Packages can be enjoyed intraday or with an overnight stay. We stayed the night beforehand; I was delighted to find, besides the usual creature comforts (plasma screen, WiFi and roll-top bath), that The White Room, which I had been allocated, contained a cubby hole, used to hide priests during the English Civil War.

At dinner, far from encountering a moribund mid-week evening scene, we found the restaurant to be packed, and was, if not exactly buzzing (the sotto, elderly atmosphere precludes this), at least lively. The menu is changed quarterly and has a succinct but appealing offering including fish, vegetarian and meat options. I had the home-smoked salmon with warm potato bread and sour cream, which was good, and the grilled lemon sole, which was excellent. The only disappointment was the pudding; the strawberries were stunted, semi-frozen and sticky; not at all as I had expected, given it was June, after all. Three courses cost £39.50, which was good value, and the portions are big enough not to need any side orders, offered at £2.50 each.

Breakfast in the same room was hearty, with a big buffet of delicious fresh breads and pastries, fruit, muesli and cereals. I particularly enjoyed the poached eggs and home smoked salmon.

I would unreservedly recommend the Spread Eagle, and the Ladies Who Golf package in particular. It would suit any group of women keen to escape London or the daily routine, and the whole experience is a perfect cocktail of pampering, activity and (by virtue of the hotel’s unique history),culture.

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