ET BEAUTY – Tried and tested: Luxury seaweed foot experience

Seaweed – the slippy, slimy kind - is usually something I’m trying to avoid on the beach.

I don’t like sushi, so the wonders of it as a superfood have passed me by too.

To put it on my skin, therefore, required a leap of faith.

“Seaweed is overflowing with essential vitamins, minerals, amino acids and antioxidants, it will detoxify the skin by expelling toxins out of the pores,” reassures Stephanie Black, senior therapist at Glasgow’s Blythswood Square hotel spa.

The luxury spa, tucked around the corner from the hotel’s grand main entrance, is a little friendly haven of peace and tranquillity in the heart of Glasgow’s bustling city centre. Cool, dark interiors and ethereal music transport you a world away from the noise and chaos outside.

The spa has recently launched a new plant-based beauty menu with organic seaweed as its lead ingredient. Farmed and delivered fresh weekly from Scotland’s Hebridean Islands, seaweed is used both in its natural state and incorporated into a range of therapeutic skincare products under the label ishga.  Other lines include Cornwall’s Made for Life, which uses organic herbs and flowers to deliver beautiful, healthy skin; and ila, a range of highly potent products which channel the raw remedial power of nature plants, flowers and herbs. 

But it is the seaweed I am here to experience. There are several marine plant-based treatments, including baths, massages and body wraps, but I am trying out the ishga Luxurious Seaweed Foot Experience. 

The treatment begins with a soothing foot bath, filled with nutrient-rich salts and pure essential oils. Then comes the seaweed foot scrub, which softens the skin on my feet and lower legs. It feels smooth and silky, and the foot massage which follows is very relaxing.

Finally, my feet and calves are covered in a detoxifying seaweed gel mask, and all I have to do is lie back and relax. The mask makes my legs feel comfortably warm. The treatment ends with a pedicure – nails shaped, cuticles conditioned and polish applied. I’m tempted to go for seaweed green, but opt instead for a summery coral.

I leave feeling like I’m walking on a cushion of air – and with a healthy new respect for seaweed.

The ishga Luxurious Seaweed Foot Experience at the Blythswood Square Hotel Spa takes 55 minutes and costs £87.

Find out more here