Last week I popped into Urban Beauty anti-aging spa to experience their Urban Cool Ice manicure (R260). This includes a scrub, file, buff, cool ice mask, massage and nail colour application.

Urban Spa itself is a lovely little spot tucked away in Dock House in Portswood Close (just off Portswood road) near the V&A Waterfront. The therapists are friendly and welcoming and the decor is nice and chic.

Brand-wise, the spa used Essie and SpaRitual nail polishes. I was going to opt for a hot pink SpaRitual colour but got talked into going for a nice, zexy red, Essie’s Apertif.

Anyway, the mask bit of the Urban Cool Ice mani involves having a cooling gel slathered onto your hands. My therapist, Tarryn, said that this is supposed to help boost circulation. ‘It’s amazing on your feet when you have a pedi’, she says. ‘You walk out feeling light and refreshed’.

While the cooling gel did feel nice and fresh it wasn’t as tingly or exciting as I’d imagined. For me, the treatments real highlight was the fact that I got to lie down on a bed for its duration. You have no idea how nice it was to just collapse on the bed, lay out my hands and shut my eyes. I didn’t have to make awkward ‘mani conversation’; I could literally just black out and wake up to mooi looking nails.

Oh! Another best thing ever? Tarryn gave me a nice, long hand and arm massage that seemed to go on forever. In fact, at one point I wondered if she was only putting on the ritz because I was there for a review (people do do that) and I kind of lay there thinking ‘God, I hope my readers will get such a nice, long deep tissue massage too…’

Fortunately, this seems to come part and parcel with the treatment because, as it turned out, the staff had no idea I was there to write about it. When I handed over my card to give Tarryn a tip, they added it to the cost of the treatment, proving they didn’t know I was a writer. And don’t stress, I was quickly refunded. The point I’m trying to make is that they gave me a fab treatment which turned out to be stock standard so you can expect the same too.

If you’re looking for a lie-down mani with a very relaxing massage, Urban Spa’s a goodie.

Love, love

Leigh