A massage for a tenner

This may sound like one of those special offers that is too good to be true but I really did have a full body massage for £10 this morning at the beauty academy, T'ien, at Lewisham College (from whose website this image is taken). The reason for the low price is that the treatments are carried out by students and I certainly wasn't expecting the towelling robes and scented candles that you would get at somewhere more luxurious and expensive. However, I was a little taken aback initially at the extent to which I was foregoing privacy, especially as their website refers to a 'tranquil and stylish environment'. All the treatments take place in one large room and although there were curtains drawn round the massage couch, these could not prevent the noise of surrounding conversations filtering through.

I quickly overcame my initial shock at the slightly hospital ward ambience and was able to tune out most of the background chatter. This was helped by the fact that the trainee providing my treatment was polite and friendly and having asked what I preferred at the start, proceeded to give me the firm massage I had requested, starting with my scalp and finishing with my back and covering face, arms, legs and feet in-between. The massage was good but not quite as effective as the last one I had  a couple of months ago at the Apsara Thai Spa in Deptford where it was accompanied by delicious ginger tea, a chance to use the sauna and the smiliest welcome imaginable but that did cost nearly four times as much.

My massage today lasted about an hour and 15 minutes so really was very good value-for-money compared to standard beauty salon prices as long as you can cope with effectively being semi-naked in a room full of people! The salon also offers a wide range of other treatments at reasonable prices (e.g. a facial for £8) so I might well go back to sample something else.

The salon is only open on weekdays during term-time and in the past I found it impossible to get an appointment outside working hours but if you can be flexible about when you go and are looking for low-cost beauty treatments then I would definitely recommend giving T’ien a try. I imagine that other colleges with beauty courses offer something similar so it would be worth checking the website for your local college, if you like this idea but don't live in or near Lewisham.

The College also has a training restaurant which has an interesting menu at very reasonable prices but again the opening hours are limited. Now that I have more time I hope to be able to give it a try too as I've heard good things about it.