Review: Ishga Facial at Blythswood Square Hotel

By Amy Anderson If you’re forever spending days rushed off your feet and stressing about meeting deadlines, it’s likely that your skin won’t always look as glowing and radiant as you’d like it to. Blotchy, dry and troublesome skin is a frustrating side-effect of feeling rundown and, every now and again, a good facial is all you need to kick-start a new skincare regime. Not only do facials make an instant difference to the look and texture of your skin, but they also prepare it for future treatment so  a facial will, essentially, ensure you get the most out of any new products you’re set to start using. As my own skin has been somewhat of a riot lately (dry one day and oily the next), I booked myself in for a facial at the Blythswood Square Hotel Spa. Conveniently located in Glasgow’s city centre, the five-star hotel and spa is housed in an elegant, Georgian townhouse and offers a lovely, relaxing escape from the hustle and bustle outside. I found the dark colour scheme of the spa to be incredibly chic and definitely preferred it to the cool-toned treatment rooms that I’m used to. The hotel itself seemed lovely and the staff could not have been more welcoming or friendly when I arrived, feeling stressed and harassed after rushing to make it on time due to a delayed train. It’s somewhere I would definitely consider staying the next time I’m in Glasgow. Always one to champion home-grown Scottish beauty brands, I was really excited to try out one of their signature ishga facials (ishga means “water” in Gaelic). As the brand is fairly new to me, my lovely therapist, Amanda, explained that the range was developed on the Isle of Lewis and contains natural spring water and Scottish seaweed, which is known for its natural healing and therapeutic qualities. Apparently seaweed contains many minerals, vitamins, trace elements and natural antioxidants so is perfect for helping you maintain youthful and healthy skin (who’d have thought it?!). After telling Amanda, in great detail, the woes of having such temperamental skin, I lay myself down on a ridiculously comfy heated treatment bed to enjoy my facial. Amanda gently exfoliated my skin and applied a luxurious facial mask before gently massaging my arms, neck, shoulders and head whilst it was left to work its magic. For the duration of the facial, I felt incredibly comfortable and relaxed. The ishga products felt really gentle and soothing on my skin yet my skin was left glowing after the treatment. I particularly liked the Exfoliating Face Mask (£35) as it effectively removed all the dead skin cells from my face but didn’t feel harsh or abrasive in any way. I have a feeling we’ll all be hearing a lot more about ishga in the near future! I really enjoyed my appointment at The Blythswood Square Hotel and will definitely be going back to try out one of their massage treatments next time I need to take some time out to recharge my batteries.