USP Ice cubes packed with extract of evening primrose plus red micro-algae designed to boost radiance, tighten skin and get your face ready for a fully made-up night out.

The effect lasts for five hours which could make hot date timing challenging - you’d have to time your exit to avoid a sudden facial rush south as the effects wear off. However, the spa sells the cubes, in boxes of eight, for £39 plus £4.75 pp.

The cubes are by Anne Sémonin whose range is available only at Bodysgallen spa (North Wales), Claridge’s and the Ritual Rooms in the UK.

AMBIENCE Laid back grandeur. Just arriving at Bodysgallen, with lambs playing on either side of the steep and winding drive, smoothes away the tensions and exhaustion of a working week. The air is clear, primroses stud the grass, and the spa is nestled beside an exquisite walled garden which produces flowers and vegetables for the dining room.

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BACKGROUND

• Bryn Meadows Hotel Spa, Caerphilly, South Wales

• Lake Vyrnwy Hotel Spa, Powys, Wales

• St Bride’s Spa Hotel, Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire

• St David's Hotel & Spa, Cardiff

• Celtic Manor, the Usk Valley

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The spa has a pool, Jacuzzi, sauna, steam room and gym. The beauticians are enthusiastic about all their treatments (which include Espa, Jessica, Caci and St Tropez Airport Spray Tanning).

QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE My L’Experience Anne Sémonin Facial lasted nearly one and a half hours and included a foot massage (although I could have chosen a shoulder or head rub instead).

I lost track of all the potions and unction used by my therapist, Tina, but they included an exfoliating peel masque; firming intensive complex for a drainage massage; 100 per cent active contour serum for my eyes and – a new one on me – the express radiance ice cubes (see above).

The process was lovely and so was the aftermath. My skin looked tightened and refreshed…until I arrived back home, five hours later, and I began to realise how Cinderella must have felt after the clock struck midnight

IN CROWD Plenty of local people as well as guests from as far away as Australia, continental Europe and America.

FOOD Light lunches (salad, panini, sandwiches, jacket potatoes, fresh juice, almond tart) is available in the spa from 9am-3pm. Prices start at £5.

For a far more serious approach to food, Bodysgallen Hotel’s menu is excellent with champagne as an optional extra to afternoon tea. A three-course Sunday lunch starts at £27.

WALLET WATCH L’Experience Anne Sémonin Facial £85; Anne Sémonin Day, £185, runs 9.30am to 4pm (approximately) and includes: use of all spa facilities including sauna, steam room, spa bath and relaxation by the pool; aromatic salt exfoliation; an ultra moisturising body scrub experience; deep release massage with hot stones - heated basalt stones are used to massage the whole body working to relieve stress and muscular aches and pains; lunch with tea or coffee; Phyto aromatic facial; perfect hands treatment; soul foot therapy.

NEED TO KNOW Bodysgallen Hall Hotel and Spa, Llandudno, North Wales LL30 1RS (01492 584466; www.bodysgallen.com/spa/amenities.php) E-mail: spa@bodysgallen.com

For more than 260 independent spa reviews click here: timesonline.co.uk/goodspaguide

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