Rest, Relaxation and Rassoul at The Blythswood Spa
Honestly – it was just what the doctor ordered! A fabulous spa day and afternoon tea in The Blythswood Spa. I had been feeling a little out of sorts – between my back playing up, my skin breaking out a bit and just feeling generally tired. My mum and I went for the rassoul experience, which is a treatment that lasts roughly an hour and is like something I have never experienced before! We also visited the thermal suite and had afternoon tea, and it was just a delight!
We arrived at The Blythswood on a gorgeous sunny but cold day at the end of January, and after walking through the grand entrance we were greeted by a lovely staff member who showed us down to the spa. When we got to the spa reception and filled out a few health forms, we got a lovely cup of tea and were told to head round and tell someone whenever we were ready to go to the spa. When we were ready, we were shown the changing area which was beautiful, complete with hairdryers and straighteners (essential!) and a robe, flip flops, a towel and bottled water waiting for us in our locker. We were shown where the entrance to the thermal suite was and told where to wait for our treatment.
Thermal Suite – rest and relax!
I absolutely adored the Thermal Suite in the spa – an experience designed to take your body on a journey of wet and dry, hot and cold in a series of different little rooms. We learned that the experience of changing temperatures on the body before treatments actually really help to open the pores and cleanse your skin to ensure deeper penetration and absorption of products during your treatment of choice! With crystal steam rooms, saunas, vitality pool and hydrotherapy pool as well as heated tiled loungers to name a few of the rooms, The Spa at The Blythswood is perfect for a complete body MOT.
I enjoyed relaxing in the pools, the hydrotherapy pool really helped my aching back and sore joints, allowing me to feel weightless in the water and the jets behind me massaging and pulsing on my back left me feeling relaxed and carefree.
The vitality pool in the largest part of the spa was at a lovely warm temperature and sitting on the ledge underneath the soft light at the back of the pool was the perfect way to forget about my busy schedule and unwind.
The steam room was great for opening my pores, and really cleared spots I had breaking out underneath the skin on my forehead. I also have asthma and benefit from steam inhalation and therefore I felt like just breathing in the steam was such a lovely way to open up my airways and relax. I followed this with a cold shower.
I absolutely adored the tiled heated loungers, perfect for lying on and completely relaxing as your body sinks into the shape of the chair. The headache I previously had that morning disappeared and I felt totally refreshed for my Rassoul treatment!
Rassoul Experience
Wow – I cannot recommend the Rassoul Experience enough! This treatment combines mud with steam and is a really unique experience, I did it with my mum and would recommend it for two of you definitely, it’s a great mother and daughter day out, bonding for couples or for a relaxing day for friends, it was just the perfect combination of relaxing spa treatment and fun! Getting muddy to get clean is unique experience and it’s just really funny seeing each other slap mud all over your bodies! Wear swimwear – for girls I would recommend a bikini as then there are more areas you can cover in mud to benefit your skin and get the full experience, but of course if you are more comfortable wearing a swimsuit then you will still get the benefit, my mum wore a swimsuit as that’s what she would rather, but she loved the treament!
As you go in to the little chamber there are tiled walls and two seats with sprinklers above them on the ceiling, there are shower heads for cleaning yourselves and the seats after the treatment, and there are candles burning on the ledge next to pots with an exfoliation scrub and of course, the mud! We firstly made sure we were showered and dried after using the various rooms and pools, and started with the exfoliation sure, focussing in areas such as knees and elbows to make sure there was no dead skin.
Next came the fun part – the mud! It does look a little like melted chocolate but please don’t try and eat it – as tempting as it is! We put the mud all over our bodies, including our faces and layered it on until there was nothing in the pots. We then took a chair each and sat down and closed the door of the little room. Th room started to fill with steam slowly, which helps the goodness in the mud penetrate into the skin and work its magic, giving us all the health benefits. My mum and I sat and chatted nonsense as always, relaxed in the mud and had a laugh about our legs being slippery and falling off the chair! It’s just a great treatment for forgetting the outside world for a while and bonding with a friend or loved one! It’s not every day you see each other covered head to toe in mud!
Eventually, the sprinklers above us came on (when they came on we were too busy talking and didn’t expect it so the screams must have scared all of the staff! Sorry!) and washed most of the mud off of us. When they stopped we used the shower heads to get the rest of it off – although I tell you, that mud gets in places you’d never expect! I would recommend this treatment to anyone, it was so much fun!
After the treatment we went up to the changing rooms and had a shower, washed the rest of the mud off and headed up to the spa cafe for afternoon tea.
Afternoon Tea
We got an afternoon tea stand each which was lovely as sometimes in other places you get one between two and maybe you have a favourite that you have to share or sacrifice – this time we got our own!
It came with various different sandwiches including salmon ones, egg ones and beef ones, little scones with cream and jam and a selection of sweet treats – my absolute favourite was the vanilla cone which was a vanilla fondant inside a wafter – my mouth is watering when I think of it!
It was a perfect way to end a lovely spa morning.
I would recommend visiting the Blythswood Spa for a full body MOT – the steam rooms help your respiratory system, the hydrotherapy pools help with sore muscles and joints, steam helps open your pores and clear your skin, it encourages you to relax and enjoy your surroundings, forgetting the outside world, and that’s even before a treatment! You can choose from a huge variety of treatments including facials, massages, rassoul (of course!), seaweed baths and reflexology – have a look at their treatment list here.
I can’t wait to return for another spa day – I’m planning one with my friends and one with my boyfriend! My mum and I loved the experience.
Until next time!
Amber x
Leave a comment