Relaxed and revitalised with Return to Glory

Between work, family, friends and Christmas shopping, often the only thing you aren’t taking care of is you. You’ve spotted a grey hair and desperately need a colour, your skin is crying out for a facial and don’t even mention your much-needed leg wax. At this rate you’ll rock up to the work Christmas party as Mrs Claus. So why brave the winter cold when the pampering can to come right to your door?

Enter Return to Glory. The mobile massage, beauty and wellness experts offer a huge range of affordable but top-quality services in the comfort of your own home. Whether it’s preening, pampering and prepping you for your upcoming festive function, or the perfect excuse for a girly night in, Return to Glory, as their name suggests, will return you to your best.

When Glory began

Return to Glory was launched in 2007 by Natasha Dwyer, who wanted to provide beauty and well-being services to busy men and women, when and where they wanted them. Natasha individually hand-picked each member of the team and in three years it has grown from four to more than 160 mobile beauty and massage therapists working across London to the M25, gradually offering a wider range of services to its 10,000 clients.

How to pamper, preen and perfect

You can reserve a Return to Glory with friends

Return to Glory’s in-home services are available in five categories:

● Beauty – which includes facials, manicures, pedicures, hairdressing (cut, colour, styling), styling, various masterclasses in makeup and hair, and even Botox.
● Fitness – such as personal training sessions and private lessons in dance, pilots, salsa and yoga.
● For Men – which includes sports massages, spray tanning, waxing, facials and hair cutting, styling and colouring.
● Massage – such as reflexology, prenatal and baby massage, couples massage, Thai yoga massage,  Swedish massage, Indian Head massage, Zen massage  and aromatherapy.
● Parties – which include hair & make-up parties, make-up masterclasses, pampering beauty parties and even children’s hair and make-up parties. They also do corporate events and bridal hair and makeup.

The services cost on average about £55 for any hour-long treatment and the user-friendly website means it is extremely easy to book online. You can book weeks, days or even hours in advance, and for those who live in Zones 1 and 2,  a specialist can be at your door within 90 minutes.

Trying it out

I decided to treat myself to some Return to Glory magic. With so many amazing treatments to choose from, I settled with a full-body massage. There was no braving the cold weather or squeezing into a peak-hour train to make my appointment. All I had to do was put on my track pants, Ugg boots, sit on the couch and wait for my specialist to arrive.

As I had never had a full-body massage before, my masseuse, Phoenix, quickly dispelled any concerns with her bubbly, friendly and easy-going personality. Phoenix’s resume reads like a cultural smorgasbord of treatments; having been trained in everything from Indian head massage, Swedish massage and Zen massage to Reiki.

Return to Glory also offer Couples Massages

What was most comforting about my massage was that I was able to decide everything, from which room of the house I wanted to be in, whether I wanted music or not and the pressure of the massage. Your treatment is very much tailored to you.

Phoenix started the massage by telling me to take three deep breaths to regulate my breathing and relax my muscles. She then asked me to put any stresses of the day, worries or problems aside so that I felt completely calm and relaxed. Phoenix’s massage bed even comes with a heater so I felt very toasty and warm. The only challenge is trying not to fall asleep as it is so relaxing! Laying on my stomach, Phoenix spent about 30 minutes of my massage working on my neck, shoulder-area and back. Without even telling her, she was brilliant at identifying any problem areas and focusing on them. When massaging each different area, Phoenix also asked if I liked the pressure or if I preferred it harder or softer, so I always felt comfortable.

For the second part of my one-hour massage, I laid on my back and Phoenix focussed on on my décolletage, legs and feet, arms and hands. My favourite part was definitely the leg and foot massage as it is not an area one usually expects to be massaged. Phoenix explained the principles of reflexology and how pressure points on the feet can affect how you feel in other parts of the body. Not only a calming massage but an informative one as well! Once my massage was finished, it’s hard to believe I ever had sore muscles to begin with. I felt light as a feather and even better – I had one of the best night’s sleep I’ve had in ages. It may have been my first full-body massage with Return to Glory but it most certainly won’t be my last!

Christmas gift ideas

For the person who has everything, why not pamper them this Christmas? Return to Glory has a variety of gift vouchers to choose from which are tailor-made to individuals such as working women, new mums, couples or men. Or for the gift that keeps on giving, why not try the “Glory Year”; the £750 package consists of 10, one-and-a-half hour sessions in which you can choose any massage or beauty treatment of your choice, to be used anytime throughout the year.