Release your inner Beyonce at LeeVal’s Beauty Spa

Has sleeping on a silk pillowcase and massaging your face with ice cubes failed to reduce facial wrinkles and the crow’s feet around your eyes? Is regular petroleum jelly ineffective in smoothing out the frizz in your hair, and is your home made honey face mask attracting bees rather than compliments? If so, pay a visit to LeeVal’s House of Beauty in Swan Drive, Alexandra Park, a holistic beauty spa that promises to restore harmony to body, mind and soul.

LeeVal’s did not spring up overnight, and motorists who ply the Borrowdale Road will have watched the slow transformation of what was a terracotta coloured double story house into the present spectacular glass house, surrounded by green lawns and landscaped gardens. Curiosity got the better of me, and last November I decided to discover what lay behind the palisades and tinted glass walls of this unusual establishment.
Friendly staff welcomed me, and took me on a tour of the beauty spa, hair studio and gym, spread over three floors. Christmas was around the corner, but I would wait until January 2014, when everyone comes up with life-changing resolutions, to book myself in for a makeover.

Now, whether you have in mind a six week beauty countdown treatment to prepare for your wedding, whether you need a stress relief massage, a facial, manicure and pedicure, or help in reducing the extra padding that appeared over the festive season, you will find a treatment to suit you. On the advice of the Spa manager, I began my journey into well-being (and with luck, some beauty) in the steam room.

Clad in a spotless white towelling gown with matching slippers, I padded down marble and granite corridors to the hammam-style steam room, for cleansing and relaxation. I was given two bottles of chilled LeeVal’s own mineral water. Distant music was heard, and starry ceiling lights gleamed through the swirling steam. Towelling gown abandoned for towelling boob tube I surrendered to the soothing vapours and tried not to think of desert journeys or water rationing.

After a cathartic cold shower it was off to the massage room, for a Swedish massage. Boob tube on again, I lay face down, and my masseuse, applying stress relief oil, began exerting pressure on the soles of my feet, working all the way up to the neck. Back, shoulders and neck were under assault, as the masseuse persuaded taut muscles and sinews to relax, counteracting the hours spent in front of a computer screen, or peering between the pages of a novel. Background music of faint pipes became louder, to be joined by a strumming guitar and birdsong, as massage pressure increased. As endorphins kicked in and blood rushed down to my toes, I felt a great sense of relaxation. I was informed that Deep Tissue massage, which exerts much more pressure, is particularly popular, but is definitely not for sissies.

Dermalogica skin care, developed in America, prides itself on skin health fitness, so I looked forward to a Dermalogica Age Smart anti-aging facial. Deep cleansing and facial scrub were followed by face masks and an anti-aging serum applied with a gentle micro-current. One can’t turn back the hands of time, but the result was a glowing, smoother complexion that I hope will last until my next treatment.

To complete the makeover, I returned the next morning for a manicure and pedicure. Seated in a pistachio green pedicure armchair with built in foot bath and optional massage for back and posterior, I relaxed while I was scrubbed, massaged, nails cut and filed and finally a paraffin foot mask was applied, leaving my feet soft and moisturised. So if you’re ready to release your inner Beyonce, or just want to make the most of your natural beauty, LeeVal’s will show you the way.