The best of beauty... in the comfort of your own home!

Fancy a facial in the comfort of your own home? Or how about a relaxing massage on your day off when you couldn't be bothered going into town? What about those communions or weddings, when you just don't have the time to fit in a visit to a salon before the ceremony? Then local woman Sheena Delaney of Trading Faces Mobile Beauty Salon can provide for your needs. The long-experienced beauty therapist - who trained in London - now provides a range of services, including facials, massages, waxing and manicures, as well as threading, which is an ancient Indian method of hair removal using cotton thread. She can also do up-styles and wedding packages. For my treat at home, I decided to book a facial. Sheena needs to know what you want beforehand so that she can bring all the relevant products with her! She arrived on time and somehow managing to carry everything in with her, started setting up the fold out massage table in the sitting room, where there was plenty of floor space. It took her only minutes to set everything up and then all she needed from me was two large towels and some hot water. Before I knew it, I was lying down on a comfy, sturdy massage table in my own living room - all tucked up nicely in a blanket and waiting to be spoiled! Before my facial, Sheena offered to do threading on my eyebrows. Being the curious sort, I agreed as I had heard about the hair removal method but hadn't really seen it around to try it. The main benefit was, I felt, that Sheena was able to be very exact when shaping my eyebrows and did a really good job and certainly didn't leave them looking too overplucked - which I find a hazard of waxing sometimes. Another huge benefit for my sensitive skin was that the threading is not harsh in any way, using natural cotton, Sheena rolled thread around the hair pulling it out by the root. I didn't think that it was as painful as waxing, because there was no stinging sensation afterwards but the best way I can describe threading is that it's like having several hairs rapidly plucked out at the same time (so it can bring a tear to your eye!). So with the threading done, and because there was no harsh after effect on my skin, Sheena was able to move on to the facial immediately. To say the facial was thorough does not give it enough justice as to how relaxing it felt. As well as my face, Sheena focused just as much on my neck and decollage, which of course, is essential to your daily skin-care routine and anti-ageing battles! Sheena has a collection of pots, jars and powders with her, so after examining your skin, she tailors the whole facial treatment to each individual and adds essential oils, depending on your skin type. She uses all natural products, including camomile which is great for dry skin as it's very moisturising, and rose water, which is light and natural. She also only uses products that are not tested on animals. My skin was cleansed, exfoliated and I then was left with a nutritious face mask for about 15 minutes - and before I'd finished wondering about what Sheena would do during this time - she had gotten out a massage oil (lovely llang-llang) and gave me a lovely head massage! And as she cleansed my skin and then rubbed in the face mask, she was giving me a vigorous facial massage and drawing the toxins in my skin out through my lymph nodes, to help my skin detox. This was done in such a way that I felt as if I had booked in for a massage as well! Of course it also meant that the products were going deeper and so working better within my skin. Once the mask was done, Sheena washed it off and then squirted Aveda toner over my skin and then added some light moisturiser. My skin was so clear and luminous afterwards, I was really surprised, as I'd been a tired shade of grey all day beforehand, still shaking off the weekend. And of course, the beauty of booking a mobile beauty therapist was that, once Sheena left, I got to lounge away the evening in my tracksuit bottoms - never losing my chilled out vibe, and with a fabulous, new, fresh face! Sheena is available seven days a week in the Ballinasloe, Moate, south Roscommon area, as well as Athlone! You can make an appointment with her on 086 6070475.