December is now upon us, but if you’re concerned about surviving the Christmas party season there are a number of indulgent – and perhaps somewhat outlandish – last-minute breaks you can take to ensure you get your festive beauty fix.

Feeling chilly with Cryotherapy

Cryotherapy – Poprad, Slovakia

The attractions at Slovakia’s sprawling Aquacity resort aren’t limited to slides and swimming pools but also include a state-of-the-art cryotherapy centre. Holidaymakers don protective clothing before entering a series of special chambers where the temperature drops to -60˚C, and then plummets to -120˚C. The procedure lasts no longer than three minutes and afterwards visitors report feeling energetic, happy and reinvigorated.

All About Chocolate – Paris, France

This tantalising treatment in the opulent Four Seasons hotel begins with a body scrub infused with chocolate and mint or cranberry, before you’re cocooned in a soothing Swiss chocolate-and-toffee body wrap and then given a deep tissue massage using natural cocoa oil. It’s almost torturously appetising, so try to resist the temptation to eat the ingredients!

Available at the Four Seasons George V, Paris; €350

Caviar Hair Treatment – London, UK

An indulgence or self-indulgent? Recessionistas may baulk at this caviar hair-treatment, but for avowed fashionistas it remains one of the most popular extravagances offered by Hari’s Salon in London. Blended from the highest-quality Iranian caviar, a conditioning, protein-packed and – perhaps most importantly – odourless hair masque is applied to leave tresses shimmering, silken and slick.

Booze for your barnet!

Beer Spa – Chodova Plana, Czech Republic

This spa’s physician has claimed that this curious beer-based treatment’s effects include “harmonising functions of the organism” and “curative effects on the hair”. But while we’re unsure about these supposed benefits, there’s no doubt that this unconventional procedure is likely to open up spas to a hitherto hesitant demographic (read men and alcoholics). Guests soak in a bath that has been enriched with active beer yeast and crushed herbs, before enjoying a 20-minute relaxation treatment, all suitably enhanced with two glasses of the local brew.

Doctor Fish Skin Treatment – Kangal, Turkey

For a rather different nautical remedy the Kangal Thermal Hotel in Turkey maintains that those suffering from skin complaints such as psoriasis will benefit from immersion in their spa and a hearty dose of Garra Rufa. Not an obscure herbal concoction, Garra Rufa are actually ravenous, toothless fish with an insatiable appetite for dead skin. Patients at the centre spend two to three weeks letting the fish having their fill before debuting their newly smooth look.