A NEW service in North Yorkshire is offering to bring personal spa treatments into your home for the ultimate in relaxing pampering. Laura Knowlson tries it out.

BEAUTY at home isn’t new, for years we’ve pulled out kitchen chairs for haircuts, laid out towels for waxing, and opened windows to rid our living rooms of nail varnish fumes.

But how about taking that a step further and transforming your home into your own personal spa?

That’s the idea behind Urban Retreat at Home, the mobile off-shoot of the 22,000ft beauty emporium residing over Harrods in London.

The brand has trained a team of therapists across the country and equipped them with its newest range of luxury products so they can recreate the Urban Retreat spa experience in your home.

Promoted as “The total beauty experience”, Urban Retreat at Home promises the indulgent experience of a trip to a spa, with the quality of service and results you would expect from an elite level beauty professional, all from the comfort of your own home.

I was sceptical. Spas are all about relaxation and escapism, but just how relaxed can you be knowing a mountain of ironing is growing to new heights in the utility, and breakfast dishes still sit in the sink in the kitchen?

After a busy day in the office the challenge was truly set for my visiting therapist to get me to unwind.

The Urban Retreat at Home business works on a franchise basis, with Philippa Rayner covering the York, Harrogate and Leeds area.

Philippa arrived with a fold-up bed and bag, and after showing her to my living my rooms she handed me a robe and slippers.

By the time I re-appeared robed she had transformed the room, with the closed curtains and flickering candles creating a dusky light, a little table laid out displaying a collection of products and a treatment bed donned in fluffy towels.

To complete the scene Philippa offered me a choice of room sprays to add the spa smell to the ambience.

For my treatment I had a GLAMGLOW facial, designed to offer luxury pampering while also improving skin’s texture, de-clogging pores, improving pigmentation, hydrating skin and stimulating collagen production.

Within minutes of closing my eyes and Philippa getting to work I soon started to forget I was in my living room, and by the time she started a sumptuous scalp, neck and shoulder massage of kneading, rubbing, stretching and soothing, I could have been anywhere.

When my facial was finished Philippa sat me up and gave me a camomile and lavender tea while she cleared up her things in the kitchen, and I slowly came round while noticing how smooth and fresh my skin felt.

Philppa said: “For a lot of people leading busy lives a trip to the spa offers a luxury break but can be difficult to fit in to their schedule.

“The idea is we come to your home at a time convenient to you, and you don’t have to do anything.

“We offer a range of treatments but charge for time. It’s £55 an hour and you can decide what you want within the time we are with you.

“It’s become really popular, especially with group bookings, special occasion make up and grooming, and even with husbands who’ve booked in a treatment while I’m visiting their wife as they find it less intimidating than going to a spa.”

When Philippa leaves you wouldn’t know she’d been; everything is cleared away with only the waft of sweet spicy spa aroma pleasantly lingering in the house.

If only she could have done the ironing and the dishes too.