Why you should head beyond the pale for glowing skin …
Sometimes a facialist has to be very, very good to relax you and your skin. On the hottest day of the year so far, I headed to Maynooth to Sarah Warren Skin, set in the centre of the Kildare town for the past three years. The heat was pounding and the traffic ridiculously slow (usually Dublin to Maynooth only takes 40 minutes, as does a train from Connolly). And the parking machine wouldn’t work.
But step inside Warren’s stylish monochrome setting and you’re transported to a calmer, cooler world. Upstairs in a restful white room, there’s a fan and refreshingly funky music (what a relief not to have the ubiquitous bland piano spa soundtrack!). In the thorough form I filled in before visiting, I requested “firm” pressure, and suggest you do the same: Warren is a trained masseuse as well as facialist, so she knows her way around a tight jaw, neck and shoulders. You know immeditaely that you’re in expert hands. In fact, I’d drive to Maynooth purely for the blissful scalp massage, which erased every remaining vestige of road rage.
Warren explains how she’s adapting her treatments for the unexpected heatwaves – while she always avoids hot water on the face, at this time of year the towels are blissfully cooling. I loved the cool hydrating face mask, and then chilled cryo sticks used over the top, smoothing and sculpting, like spoons of ice. It’s life-giving for the skin and you feel that you’re levitating. Add in a stint of LED – which feels like basking in the sunshine, minus the damage – and a hand and arm massage, using a silky Sothys Paris oil, and you’re transported to a different realm.
For this facial, Warren used Raeso, an “active botanical” New Zealand skincare line that she stocks exclusively. I wrote about it a while back, when it was called Raaie, since updated. The glass packaging is absolutely unique. Yes, the round bottle of Sun Milk Drops does look like Makka Pakka from The Night Garden, and this is a good thing. It really stands out from everything else, so while Raeso still has a semi-unpronounceable name, you won’t forget it. Everything I experienced was as good as it sounds: the Golden Nectar Manuka Honey Enzyme Cleanser, for example, and the Sun Milk Drops, a lightly tinted SPF50.
Facials start from €100 for 30 minutes, while a bespoke facial (45 minutes) including LED is €170. There’s a follow-up after your treatment, something that’s rarely offered. In the days afterwards, my skin felt renewed, more resilient, brighter. Sarah Warren’s online store is an interesting edit of carefully selected items from brands including SkinBetter Science, US brand Vivant and Sothys Paris. I’m intrigued by the Lymphatic Brush, to encourage lymphatic drainage, and the Adipeau Volume Cream, designed to target volume loss in the face (so good for semaglutide-induced lower-face gauntness, as well as the under-eye area and nasolabial lines). Like other skin experts, she rates Irish brand The Skin Diary.
The clinic also offers laser facials – Warren swears by the Laser Genesis – as well as LED, IPL, Mesotherapy and Exion Radiofrequency. There are three facialists available to book in with. If you want Sarah herself, get on the waitlist now for appointments in August and beyond now (she tends to run on a month’s wait). 3 The Courthouse Square, Maynooth, 01 628 5766; sarahwarrenskin.com.
