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Teen treatments
Not all spas offer teen treatments. Some of the spas that do only offer treatments to teens over 16. Other spas have a lower age limit but ask that a parent stay on the premises while the treatments are carried out. So, if you're thinking of booking a Mother and Daughter spa day, check with the spa first as to their policy on "teenage".
Here at The Good Spa Guide, we're not in the business of making teenagers feel bad about their bodies or their looks. What we do like to encourage is taking teens suffering from exam stress for a massage so they can relax, or taking teens who are the proud owners of classic teenage skin for a deep-cleanse facial so that their skin is clearer and they learn some useful cleansing habits. Teen skin is still growing, so it doesn't need any more invasive procedures.
Great teen spa treatments
Advice to teens with acne
Spa don'ts...
Teen Spy's favourites
Thalgo spa products
The Treatment Rooms, Brighton
Aquitaine at the Runnymede Hotel
Great teen spa treatments
We spoke to Champneys spa training manager, Jane Quenault, to get the low-down on what every teen should know about skin-care and spa treatments.
"Champneys don't treat anyone under age 16. Before that age, you're still a child, and your body is growing and going through changes. When you go through puberty, you experience all kinds of hormonal changes which can affect your skin. I think the most important thing that teens can do is get a basic skin-care routine, and focus on natural beauty."
Teens and their tastes will vary but these are Jane's recommendations: "Manicures and pedicures are great for teens. There is some incredible nail art around these days, and MINX nails are very popular. MINX uses transfers directly onto the nail so it doesn't chip, won't smear and lasts for weeks. There are hundreds of different designs to choose from and the silver and gold MINX nails are extra-shiny, too.
To beat exam stress, I'd recommend a good scalp massage. A scalp massage will include the neck and shoulders, and should soothe hunched shoulders and unlock the stress from those areas."
Advice to teens with acne
"Don't over-use products," Jane says. "Sometimes, when people experience breakouts, they over-use exfoliation products to try to 'clean' their skin. This can actually make things worse, by encouraging over-production of sebum which can make your skin oily.
* Keep exfoliating to just once a week, and use a face mask once a week, too.
* Cleanse and moisturise every single day.
* Have a skin consultation so you use the right products for your skin.
Don't forget, it's a myth that you shouldn't moisturise if you have oily skin. Again, this will only encourage over-production of sebum and make your skin more oily."
You can take a different approach to breakouts if you're dealing with adult acne.
Spa don'ts...
"When you're in your teens, you need to keep things as natural as possible. You don't need any anti-cellulite treatments, any anti-ageing treatments, and absolutely no injectables such as Botox or dermal fillers! If you're worried about cellulite, then get into the habit of dry body brushing, and applying a good body moisturiser, which will keep your skin supple and soft, and also help with skin-tone in the future.
If you're concerned about premature ageing, stay out of the sun and always wear a good SPF moisturiser. Any wrinkles you see at this age are not from age, but from dehydration, so drink plenty of water every day, and get into the habit of taking regular exercise. If you can do these simple things, you'll have great skin for years to come!"
Teen Spy's favourites
Some teens are happy to spend a day at a spa, dipping in and out of the pools and steam rooms. Our resident Teen Spy has a firm limit on how much of that she can take, as she wants to go off and climb mountains instead, but she is becoming an expert in what spas can offer to a discerning teenage customer. Here she tells us about her favourite treatment, her favourite products, and her favourite spas.
Thalgo spa products
Some of my favourite spa products are from French brand Thalgo. I love their face wash in particular as it works! It leaves my skin clear and clean. Their facials are thorough - and again involved extraction, as well as cleansing, toning and moisturising.
The Treatment Rooms, Brighton
I went to The Treatment Rooms for a facial and a massage. The facial was very effective but I personally liked the massage better because they first asked me to choose which kind of oil I wanted, which was nice of them, but I also found it much more relaxing than the facial. It was an ESPA massage so before my therapist started, she let me smell two of the signature oils, the Energising and the Soothing and I chose the Soothing. It worked, as I think I may have fallen asleep during the massage. (I can't really remember because if I did then I woke up before it was finished, so no-one had to wake me up, which was good.)
The cleansing Dibi facial was also relaxing and it did make my skin feel soft afterwards. My skin looked a bit weird for a bit because the therapist had done some extraction, but it felt clean.
One thing I liked about this spa was that even though it doesn't have a pool, you still get changed into a robe, so you feel like you're having a special time. (The only robe they had for me was huge, and trailed behind me when I walked along the corridor like I was getting married or something.) There is no natural daylight in this spa, but the relaxation room is quiet and welcoming. It's decorated with curtains and cushions. After my treatments, my therapist took me along there and brought me some tea in a glass, but I didn't really like it since it tasted a bit like wood to me. This spa introduced me to my favourite treatment: the ESPA Massage.
Aquitaine at the Runnymede Hotel
This is the nicest spa I have been to. My mum and I stayed overnight at the runnymede-on thames and then went to the spa in the morning. In the main part of the spa, there are three pools: a little kids' pool, a Jacuzzi and a normal one. Unless you can think of a 100 different ways to use a float, then there isn't much to do in these pools except swim - which some people like, whereas I get bored after a while and try to find something else to do but there wasn't much else to do there. I also went in the steam room for a while, which was large and hot.
We changed into our spa robes and had lunch outside and then went down to Aquitaine, which is the private day spa. Here there were sofas and pastries. I liked the different teas you could choose from and chose a green tea as that's supposed to be very good for your skin. There's also music, cool drinks in the fridge, and a plasma TV, with headphones so that if you wanted to watch something that no-one else did then they didn't have to listen to it, which is nice, but they were not plugged in and, since there was music on, they had turned off the sound on the TV as well and I didn't turn it up for reasons unknown to me.
The treatment is carried out in a double treatment room through some glass doors. The room has soft lighting that changed colours and some dreamy music. My therapist introduced herself to me and said that she would be carrying out my facial, which was the special Teen Facial they offer at the spa. The stuff they used was Clarins which is quite good.
I liked the facial as it involved cleansing and lots of massage on my arms and scalp. I find head massage very relaxing. I liked lying and looking at the colours changing.
So I think every teenager should have one of these treatments on the day their exam results come out! (Or afterwards, or before - you choose!) Afterwards, we went back to the spa and had a fantastic tea before we left. It came on long plates that had fresh fruit and sandwiches. It was a very relaxing day and I would like to go here again.
See also:
* Where can I get an American facial?
* I spend all day on my computer. My neck is permanently stiff. Will a massage help?
* If I have an "all body" massage, will it literally be my whole body?
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