A post exam treat

Our exams are over, we’ve partied to celebrate, time to start the term with a bit of relaxation. A beauty treat day can be fabulous whether at home or in a spa, what counts is taking the time out to pamper tired, revision weary you.

One fabulous part of writing for The Mancunion is the occasional freebie — and this week I got a goodie — a reinvigorating spa package at the QMS spa in The Lowry Hotel. An hour long facial and an hour long pedicure that included: masks, creams, massages, hot stone massages and red shellac toe polish. My version of beauty heaven.

Initially I wasn’t wowed by the spa, it has a clean, white, almost clinical feel that I wasn’t sure I would find relaxing — however, I was wrong. Sandra, my beauty therapist for the day, was lovely and chatty, the experience was all about what I wanted, and I left feeling like a very lucky gal indeed.

The package I enjoyed was definitely one of the more expensive deals available at QMS  but prices for a basic manicure start at £25 and from there go up depending on the treatment. One of the best value treatments is the No Time To Prep package, £60, 90 minutes 4 treatments.

However, unless you have a birthday/kind acquaintance/valentine/healthy bank account to fund luxury spa days, the DIY method may have to do. If I were to attempt to recreate my QMS experience a sheet mask would be a definite must, Garnier’s moisture bomb sheet mask is 99p and works a dream. Pop it on for 15 minutes while you sit and relax, or terrorise housemates — you will look ridiculous and they will want a photo of it.  Afterwards your face will be left feeling soft and rejuvenated.

The second easy update to take your beauty regime up a notch would be to introduce foot cream to your pedicure. I can’t claim to be the best when it comes to pedicure up keep, in winter I generally paint my toe nails red and leave that on until it’s nearly all chipped away, come summer I maintain the red polish to higher standard. However, I loved the foot rub part of my pedicure, so have treated myself to a foot cream to recreate my silky soft feet.

For now my DIY substitutes will have to fill in for luxury spa days… until the next offer comes along.