Where the facial meets Craniosacral Therapy: Elle Health & Skincare

I wrote about the marvellous Elle Health & Skincare in Mount Eden almost a year ago, after having a beautiful facial and trip into their Infrared Sauna that kept me smiling for days. I was lucky enough to finally get back through their beyond-serene doors a couple of weeks ago to experience a very special double treatment that I think is set to truly put them on the beauty map.

This treatment is where the facial meets the ultra restorative properties of craniosacral work, and it is a joy to submit to. The magician in charge is Elle’s Senior Beauty Therapist Jeanine Chell, who has worked at some of Auckland’s most well known clinics and is a former National Trainer for well-known French skincare giant, Guinot.

Through her intuitive nature and curiosity for Natural Healing Jeanine decided to further her studies and completed a two year Diploma in Craniosacral Therapy, and now she is known and loved for her “magic hands”, according to Elle’s Michelle Ackerman. The pair decided to combine facials and craniosacral therapy to showcase the best of Jeanine’s talents and also as the two modalities work so well together. By doing a facial first, the client starts to relax and it puts them into the rest and repair mode much faster (parasympathetic state), therefore making the cranial more effective, and there really is nothing else quite like it out there.

I love the fact that at Elle they aim to treat more than the temporary fix and rebalance the body from the inside (they even have a resident Naturopath), and the mix of facial and cranial was exactly what I needed that harried - and hurried - Tuesday afternoon. Products chosen for the facial option are completely customised to your needs, so I opted for an Osmosis medi facial to heal and repair my weather-sensitized skin. This was just what the doctor ordered as I felt my stress melt away under the trademark Osmosis series of hot, lightly fragranced towels, after which I experienced a once again completely customised cranial treatment. If you’ve never had it before, craniosacral therapy (CST) is a non-manipulative treatment that relieves and releases deep tensions within the body.  CST also releases restrictions around the brain and spinal cord to enhance nervous system performance and allow the body to relax and self-correct, while strengthening the body’s natural healing processes to enhance resistance to disease and overall health. It is all about deep relaxation, greater well-being and pain relief, and is a great option for the cooler months or stressful times like the lead up to Christmas when our immunity is at its weakest. You remain fully clothed and kept warm and comfortable as the therapist contacts different parts of the body with a light touch and through various holds such as; feet, pelvic, abdominal, diaphragm, shoulders, head and neck.  This hands on technique allows the therapist to monitor your body’s fluid rhythm around the central nervous system to locate areas of weak fluid flow or tissue movement.  By locating the weak areas the practitioner can trace through the body to the original source dysfunction - easy as that!

My experience at Elle was definitely a magical one - I left with glowing skin and a feeling of complete relaxation that carried on for days. To book one in of your own go here for all the details, an initial consultation and treatment (75min) will cost you $80, with repeat treatments (60-75min) $75.00 and a trio $180.00. I for one know already that I want MORE!