Luxury Full Body Polish

What a body polish is

A luxurious body polish that exfoliates and nourishes, improving skin texture and leaving your skin soft, smooth and rejuvenated. Sealed with a hydration application to promote a radiant, healthy glow.

The mechanics are simple. An exfoliating preparation is worked over the skin section by section, lifting away dead surface cells, and the treatment is then sealed with a hydration application so the newly exposed skin is not left dry. It takes 75 minutes because it covers the whole body properly rather than just the parts that are easy to reach.

You are draped throughout and only the area being worked on is uncovered, exactly as in a massage. The exfoliation is more vigorous than a massage stroke but is not uncomfortable — most people describe it as being pleasantly scrubbed rather than anything abrasive.

Polish or wrap?

These two treatments sit next to each other on the menu at the same price and duration, and they do opposite things.

Polish takes away; wrap puts in. If your skin is both rough and dry — which is the standard state of affairs after a Texas summer — a polish first and a hydrating body wrap a week or two later is the sensible order, because exfoliated skin absorbs better. There is more in what is a body polish.

Who it suits

• Anyone whose skin has gone rough and dull over a summer of sun, chlorine and air conditioning.
• People with visible dryness on shins, forearms, elbows and knees.
• Anyone preparing for an event where they will have skin on show — ideally a day or two ahead, not the same morning.
• People who exfoliate at home and never quite manage their own back, which is precisely the area that needs it most.
• Anyone who wants a treatment with an obvious, tangible same-day result.

It is one of the more immediately noticeable treatments on a spa menu — a massage is felt, a polish is felt and seen — which makes it a good first booking for someone skeptical about whether spa treatments do anything.

Before you book

Please postpone the treatment if any of these apply:

• You have shaved or waxed within the previous 24 to 48 hours. Freshly exfoliated skin over freshly stripped follicles is a reliable route to irritation.
• You have sunburn or significant recent sun exposure.
• You have active eczema or psoriasis, open cuts, or any broken skin.
• You are using prescription retinoids or have had a recent chemical peel — please check with whoever prescribed them.

Product sensitivities, allergies and skin conditions go on the intake form before your appointment, not discovered during it. The form arrives with your booking confirmation.

Afterwards

1. Do not exfoliate again at home for at least a week. There is nothing left to remove and you will only irritate the new surface.
2. Moisturize daily. The polish sealed the skin once; keeping it hydrated is now on you.
3. Newly exfoliated skin is more sun-sensitive than usual for a few days.
4. Avoid very hot showers for the first day — they strip the hydration you just paid for.

Results generally hold for about a week to ten days, depending on how quickly your skin turns over.

Studio only

The Luxury Full Body Polish is performed at the studio and cannot be brought to your home — it needs facilities that do not travel, as do the Hydrating Body Wrap and the Hot Stone Massage. The studio is inside Mattison Avenue Salon & Spa off West Northwest Highway, by appointment only.