Is this London’s most cutting-edge facial?
Keren Bartov is on a mission to do facials differently.
For starters, there is no menu to pick a treatment from at her Notting Hill outpost, the idea being that everything is entirely bespoke to your skin’s needs on the day. The treatment can involve any of the 500 onsite technologies required, and all facials are 90 minutes long, whether you’re Isla Fisher or Carey Mulligan or, well, me the other day while happily at the task of finding out why Keren is so revered by celebrities and beauty insiders.
But before I handed my face over to Keren’s hands and machines, I asked why she thinks she’s amassed such a loyal clientele between her Tel Aviv and London branches (not to mention trips to LA for awards seasons). It’s simple, she says: “I want to give results — that is so important to me. I want to free the girl who has acne which makes her feel self-conscious because I was her; I used to walk around hiding my skin behind my hair.”
Having also very much been that girl, with the scars to prove it, I am curious to see how Keren combines her two big pillars: immediate added glow plus, over time, healthier, more robust skin. I’ve had so many facials where one is prioritised over the other.
Worse, I’ve had a lot of ineffectual facials, and tell her how frustrating I find those comprising a massage and some masks that would be just as easy — and more cost efficient — to do at home. “I don’t believe in massage and mask because after one day it does nothing to skin. My facial isn’t anything like that.”
Appetite whetted, I nestled into the bed in the darkened room where it kicked off fairly traditionally, with a cleanse before Keren started smoothing an enzymatic exfoliant on my skin to prep it for an inspection under bright lights.
Once analysed, I realised why Keren’s star is in the ascendant: one by one, her assistant wheeled in various different machines to target my skin issues. The pocket of fat under my chin is treated to some ultrasound, my collagen is stimulated with radio frequency, spots are reduced with plasma, and some IPL is administered to even tone and texture. It all happens seamlessly, with each area receiving precisely what it needs to behave better under Keren’s watchful eye.
The remarkable thing, aside from that any one of these technologies would usually be the main event at most dermatologist appointments, was the lack of pain and downtime. I felt next to nothing, and left with skin that wasn’t red in the slightest. Actually, scratch that. It wasn’t just not red — it was positively glowing. And remains that way, all soft and buttery. I have already booked my next treatment.
Bespoke facials from £400, kerenbartov.co.uk
