Just a minute’s walk from East Dulwich train station, Holistic & Beauty Therapy – or just ‘Therapy’ as it’s, aptly, known by its regulars – is a therapeutic spot indeed. It has a lovely warmth and cosiness about it, making it a refreshing change from your average bleached-out, slightly sterile pampering parlour. Decor is charmingly noughties-boudoir complete with purple walls and plump velvet Louis XV armchairs. And not only is this place beautifully maintained, it’s totally spotless and squeaky clean. Clearly its staff take great pride in it, as they should. Because it provides top notch service and treatments, with fantastic attention to detail that’s present in everything from the aromatherapy wafting through the treatment rooms, to the scented foot baths that precede every full body massage.
Massage is the speciality here, and quite rightly – mine worked out about three months’ worth of knots in mere minutes. I then opted for Therapy’s version of beauty journalists’ latest obsession: the ‘bacial’ (or ‘back facial’ for those averse to speaking in hashtags). Here, it’s more sensibly called a Back Cleanse, and honestly, it’s totally divine – particularly because of the array of sumptuous natural products used.
The back’s an oft-neglected area of the body, so treating it to a deep scrub, clay masque and steam was a rare indulgence and left me with possibly the softest skin ever. For this blissful treatment alone, Therapy, I’ll be – er, back