Do you find that after a relaxing spa treatment the last thing you want to do is to fight your way home through traffic? Also, combining sandals post-pedicure with a winter coat is a great way to get mistaken for a crazy lady. Fear not, Harrods is bringing the spa to your home, with their fabulous new Urban Retreat at Home service. We tested it for you below. And because we're the giving type, we also secured you a great offer for some free spa time.


We rounded up two other AFs to assist us in reviewing the new service from Harrods' famed Urban Retreat spa, Urban Retreat at Home. We were not short of volunteers! But we did manage to narrow it down to just three; investment banking, Harvard MBA-wielding girlfriend (who turned up in a fabulous black outfit looking like a French assassin); blonde bombshell hedge fund girlfriend, and your faithful AF beauty editor.

The doorbell rang, and we eagerly had our first peek of the service. From that moment on, we knew we were in safe hands- the immaculate Melissa Lee arrived in a chic uniform, with a little silver attaché case full of goodies. We were struck by how gorgeous she was- "you look like Lisa Snowdon", I ventured. "I used to model", replied Melissa, before going on to reassure us that she no longer did that, now that she has discovered food. "Gorgeous and human- great!" we all thought; she could absolutely transform us into swans, and I went off to make some cupcakes for the party.

Melissa set up, artfully laying out towels on the dining table and placing candles on the other surfaces to encourage the spa atmosphere. She spritzed room fragrance and set up a little ipod with its own speakers to play some relaxing spa music. A little table was covered with a towel and polishes and lotions were arranged on it. Suddenly my living room was feeling a lot more inviting! Little spa slippers were distributed with brochures of the services offered (everything from facials to massage) and discount cards for future UR visits.

First treatment was a pedicure for yours truly. UR use the excellent Leighton Denny range of products which are a bit of a beauty ed's secret; they look super glam (think nail cream in an elegant glass jar), they also last a very long time. I plumped for a gorgeous minky beige. My feet were soaked and scrubbed and the leg and foot massage was heavenly, undoing the week's running punishment. My nails look absolutely pristine, and have survived several gym sessions and particularly dangerous Louboutins since. Five stars from me.

French assassin girlfriend had a manicure, choosing a pretty metallic purple to complete her lethal look. She was delighted with it and refused to touch anything all evening just in case.

HF girlfriend is recently back from a Caribbean vacation (sigh) and chose a pretty coral pink to show off her tan. She seemed very happy with it ("it's sooooooooo perfect!")

The treatment ended with us each getting a little personalised Japanese-style teacup, with a choice of lemon and ginger, or camomile and lavender tea. I went for the latter, which tasted divine. Melissa explained the teas are all expertly hand blended, and we could see whole camomile flowers in the bag. We sat around eating cupcakes and feeling ready to relax into our weekend. We all loved Melissa, who successfully transformed us from frazzled AFs into supine ladies who spaaah. Highly recommend this a way to catch up with girlfriends while multi-tasking to cover the beauty regime at the same time.

AF OFFER
Melissa has kindly agreed that you lucky Alphas can try the spa chez vous with extra time thrown in: if you quote "Alpha Female", when booking 2 hours of treatment time with her, she will add another half hour for free.

Melissa Lee
Urban Retreat at Home
+44 (0)7715 207 045
Click here to email Melissa