Review: Cowshed Spa

I seem to be finding it very difficult to have my full-time job and post at sensible intervals! :( New challenge for myself, I think every Sunday I will try and post something new. Once a week is probably about right and hopefully will get me into a routine :)

Also, exciting news! I am so close to my 100 follower giveaway! This is super exciting for me as this blog was never set up as something that people would read, but rather for me to put my thoughts down and enjoy a little bit of writing. I feel truly blessed that so many people have deemed my blog worthy of following, so thank you everyone :) I reckon my next Sunday I'll be writing my giveaway post, eh? ;) Let's hope so!

So today I wanted to share my experience of going to a Cowshed spa. I'd never heard of them before, but after doing a little research I found that they are a rustic style chain of spas that have locations all around London (see the picture below) as well as some in the USA, Germany and Istanbul. If you live outside of London, they have one in Somerset and one which will soon open in Oxfordshire too. They use their own products at their spas, which are also available to buy in store or on their online shop. Their range is full of "honest, natural and therapeutic plant-based" products that aim to ensure to enjoy a spa like experience even in your own home.

I was given a gift card from my beautiful Alex as a congratulations present for finishing university. He was also about to go away to New York and wanted to give me something that I could use to relax when he was away. They gave him a full treatment menu too so I could look at home what I wanted and then phone up to book. They offer various treatments for everywhere on your body, including hair removal, and they also offer a few mens treatments too.

After looking through it all, I decided to go for one of the Cowgroom's, which brings together a facial, manicure/pedicure and an eyebrow tidy. I went for the Cowgroom Indulgent as I was having it done a few days before my graduation, so wanted to go all out and look and feel wonderful for the day.

On the day that I got there, everyone was really friendly and offered me a seat. They did tell me that they were going to bring round a health form as I hadn't been there before, but that never came..

Anyway, I picked my colour for my manicure, which I chose to compliment my dress for graduation and then they took me into a dimmed room where I would be having my treatment. After taking off my top (as part of the treatment includes a shoulder massage) I laid down on the bed with a towel over me and they adjusted the temperature, light and music to a comfortable level for me. They do everything together, which means two therapists work together as one does the facial and one does your manicure/pedicure.

I have mixed feelings over the facial. The actual parts of the facial was really nice, they used lots of moisturisers and oils and then used hot towels to massage it into your face. The setting was super relaxing and the massage was quite nice, though a warning about the scalp massage, the use of oils/moisturisers make your hair look quite greasy and obviously full of product. After having a manicure, it was almost impossible to do up my hair and I had to go back on the underground! Having a friend to give you a hand would be super useful at this point! The massages were nice, though a bit awkward as the therapist was trying to reach my back/shoulders, which I was laying on.. but overall I quite liked it. The steam session was also really nice and I honestly felt like my face was being rejuvenated. At the beginning, the therapist asked me if she could 'extract' if she needed to. I've never had a facial before so had no idea exactly what that entailed, but as this was for my graduation I knew I wanted everything that could possibly make me look better. However, while the therapist was 'extracting' parts of face, the pain was honestly excruciating. I have no idea what she was doing as my eyes were covered, but she was using her nails and pushing/squeezing my face. It was particularly painful around my nose and I honestly thought I would open my eyes to blood all over my face, that was honestly how painful it was!! Before finishing, you get a short consultation where you are asked about your daily routine and your skin is checked and recommendations given as to what you should be doing everyday. Handily, they give you a booklet showing you everything they used (which are ticked) and then everything that they recommend (which are starred).

While all this was happening, I was also having to try and keep still for my manicure, which was being done at the same time. Despite everything, this is the one part of my experience that truly disappointed me. It's quite difficult to concentrate on what the therapist is trying to do with your nails, and the make sure you don't do anything to smudge them, while you're trying to relax and have a facial. I honestly have no idea why they weren't done separately, like they would be if you booked them separately!

The eyebrow tidy isn't really worth mentioning as despite being asked whether I would like them waxed or threaded at the beginning, all they did was pluck them a little. I had let them grow considerably so that I could get them shaped nicely for graduation and I even had to pluck them myself before as they had not really done anything to them. I know it was only a tidy, not a shape, but there were still hairs all over the place, so I'm not really sure what should have been achieved.

After it was all finished I was a little underwhelmed with my experience, but it nice to know that I would look good for graduation, which was only 2 days away. I was extra careful with my nails over these 2 days and I even mentioned to the therapist that I needed them to last until Monday, which she assured me they definitely would. However Sunday night I was looking at chipped nails! The top picture was how my nails looked the same day. The bottom was just two days later (please excuse the picture quality, these were taken to show my Mum, I was not expecting to use them here!)

You might be thinking that the damage wasn't that bad and you would be quite right, it was only really the tips that were chipped. However, after paying £110 and having the experience I had and even after telling the therapist that I needed these nails for Monday, I was extremely upset to find they had chipped so easily. And after I had been so careful! I didn't have a matching colour at home so put a glitter coat on top and made the best of them.

After graduation and a little rant on Facebook(..) everyone was telling me to tell Cowshed, so I decided to tweet them. Their customer service was good and they rang me to talk everything through. Even after missing a few of their phone calls, they still kept trying to get hold of me and once they did they apologised and offered me a polish change the next week, saying that they could have chipped so easily if they were not cleaned properly. In my dimly lit room that wouldn't have been surprising.

I went back and chose a different colour and although they looked after me very well, the same thing happened again with this set. After 3 days they had begun to chip at the tops and as soon as they do this they start to chip really badly, so I knew they wouldn't last well either!

After reading about the spa's on the website and seeing how beautiful they looked I was really disappointed to have such a negative experience with them. I even know of a few people that have been and they have really enjoyed it. I don't know anyone that has has a Cowgroom and if I'm honest I would definitely not recommend it, mainly because of the way two therapists work around you and it is just not relaxing. I thought a pedicure would have made it better as the therapist could have just sat at my feet, but I honestly think just trying to have two things done to you at once just doesn't work. And for £110 I would expect them to take the time out to do them separately.

I know this is a super long post and hopefully you'll be able to just read the parts relevant to you but I truly hope no-one has an experience like I did and feels let down on what should be such a relaxing and peaceful moment!!

I'd love to hear if anyone has had any different experiences, at any spa, and I'd especially love a few recommendations as to where is good to go! As always, let me know below! :)