Review – Nichola Joss’s Inner Facial

Invented by celebrity facialist Nichola Joss, until recently, the treatment was only available at Joss’s clinic in London or at her residencies in New York and Toronto.

But now Joss’s right-hand woman Charlotte Conneley, who’s been personally trained in the technique by Joss, has started offering Inner Facials at the sumptuous Treatment Rooms spa at a gorgeous boutique hotel for grown-ups, The Old Rectory in Hastings.

The very charming Charlotte has worked alongside Joss as her number one assistant for almost a decade, but since the Treatment Rooms opened in November, works half the week in the capital and the other half in Hastings.

One of the most revered skincare specialists in the world,  Joss created the Inner Facial as an all-natural holistic facelift. Put it this way, if there was an Olympics for facials, this technique would be banned for having an unfair advantage. It’s like a facial on steroids.

The hour-long treatment sees your face and even inside your mouth deeply massaged to tone the skin, lift and sculpt facial contours by improving the health of muscle tissue, remove stress and tension from your face, aid lymphatic drainage and reduce puffiness, stimulate skin cell renewal and ultimately, leave skin healthy and glowing.

Happily robed and toasty lying on a massage bed in the Old Rectory’s beautiful bijou spa, which includes a sauna and three treatment rooms, all tastefully decorated in understated shades of cream, taupe and grey, Charlotte starts my treatment.

It begins with a light cleanse to remove make up, using rigorous, rhythmic kneading movements, followed by a deep cleanse – she’s a big advocate of the double cleanse. She then exfoliates, all the while using delicious Decleor products specific to my skin type. She then continues the facial massage to work in the divine-smelling Hydra Floral Ultra-Moisturising  & Plumping mask and her fingers of steel really get to work, firmly massaging this elixir into every nook and cranny of my winter-ravaged face. It’s like my skin is getting a session of HIIT when it’s never stepped foot in a gym before.

Charlotte then dons gloves to work inside the mouth to address deep tension issues along the jawline and under the cheekbones. It might sound unconventional, and it’s certainly a little uncomfortable at points, but the feeling afterwards is amazing. The treatment closes with toner to remove the last of the mask, then moisturiser applied with calming strokes and some clever use of a head towel to release muscles, and a thorough massage of the neck, shoulders and décolletage, all to help with lymphatic drainage and to vanquish any last vestiges of tension.

I cannot stress enough how incredible the Inner Facial is – my skin afterwards was so soft, plumptious, radiant and glowing, even my boyfriend commented. Plus the results lasted for days afterwards. I’d have one every week if I could.