Juniper
Thanks to the Biotherm workshop, I had the opportunity to try out the Biotherm express facial. Truth be told, I wasn’t even aware that Biotherm at Robinson’s offered facials or had a facial room located on the same floor as the counter.
This was an express facial which basically means a no-frills facial. It’s like a sampler facial so that you can see whether you like the products used or the beautician’s skills. It’s the ideal facial to go for if you are unsure about whether to sign up for a facial package.
Surprisingly, the facial room is pretty spacious, much more spacious than the facial cabines in Isetan KLCC anyway. What I liked most about the room is that it has a separate changing area with a curtain as a partition so the beautician doesn’t have to wait for you outside the facial room. The changing area is even big enough for a chair, very nice! There are magazines on a side table should anyone be waiting for you while you’re having your facial.
The facial began with the usual cleanse and scrub. The products used during the facial were from the Aquasource and Skin Vivo range. I won’t go into detail here about each product but suffice to say, the Aquasource range provides the much needed hydration to my skin.
My favourite part of the facial was the massage. Ordinarily, the express facial doesn’t include a shoulder & neck massage but the beautician very kindly offered to administer it to me, which I appreciated more than I can say because my shoulders and neck have been feeling sore lately, part of the “joy” of spending too much time in one position in front of the laptop.
Prior to the massage, I was asked whether I liked a soft touch or a firm massage. Being a hardcore pain tolerant person, I said “bring it on” or words to that effect. It’s firm strokes for me because my tired muscles badly needed to be kneaded (no pun intended!).
During the shoulder/neck massage, I could feel all the tension ebbing away. The beautician is very skillful as she has had more than 10 years’ of experience. She did a really great job even though I wasn’t in the best position for her to massage the knotted mass of muscles there. I should’ve been lying on my stomach instead of my back.
For the shoulder/neck massage and face massage, the beautician used Aquasource Non-stop Hydration Cream which is the “sister” to the famous Aquasource Non-stop Hydration Gel. The Hydration Cream is pinkish in colour and its heavier and richer texture is for drier skins. Like the Hydration Gel, it can also be used as an overnight mask.
After the massage (which included pressure point massage around the eye area and cheeks), a thick layer of Aquasource Non-stop Hydration Mask was applied on my face which was then covered with a sheet mask soaked in lotion (toner) to intensify the hydration effect. This was left on for 15 minutes, bliss!
Although this facial didn’t include any “steaming” to open up pores or extraction of blackheads, it was more than satisfactory as I enjoyed the massage thoroughly. My joints felt a lot more flexible after that session.
There are several types of Biotherm facials to address different skin concerns, be it hydration, anti-ageing or whitening. The facial packages start from RM600 for 3+1 facials (Biotherm members’ price) while for non-Biotherm members, it’s RM750 for the same number of facials.
Available in May is the 20 minute Hydration Bath Facial which offers deeper and more intense hydration. That sounds interesting and is worth checking out. Hopefully, I’ll be able to give an update on that.
