The Glass House Retreat, Essex: Natural Swimming & Skincare
Essex is often mocked for its obsession with a shallow type of beauty, mainly concerned with fake tan and nails. However, a wellness retreat in a rural corner of the county, flies in the face of such snobbish sterotypes. The Glass House Retreat in Bulphan, near Upminster, takes a well-honed, holistic approach, with plant-based, mainly organic and often raw dishes on the menu, no alcohol, caffeine or sugar and a raft of therapies and practices, including sound baths and meditation.
The retreat has steadily evolved since it opened in 2019. The owners have recently added Image Skincare line to the spa, chosen for their fitting ethos of products with no parabens, mineral oil, phthalates or animal testing in packaging certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
Part of the facial treatment is the scan: something that strikes horror into those of us who hate having our photo taken or who neglect their skin. Having to scrape my hair off my face and insert it into a futuristic scanning machine wasn’t something I relished. Even tiny lines looked like deep troughs and light hyperpigmentation like a speckled relief map. However, I was praised for my use of high SPF, which seems to have stopped a lot of damage considering the amount of sun I’ve soaked up over the years. Scan complete, my reward was a facial using the fresh-smelling anti-aging MD range (for hydration and elasticity) with deep cleansing and massage adding a healthy sheen to my skin. The SPF50 moisturiser (naturally, I’ll keep slapping that on) is probably the only one I’ve used that smells nice, and doesn’t leave a milky residue. Sensing my post-scan stress, the therapist added a touch of reiki - I felt a wispish, light feeling as her fingers fluttered over my body.
In between treatments, guests can sip all manner of herbal teas in the glamorous velvet-sofa lined lounge overlooking the gardens and dip in the grassy-fringed swimming pond installed during Lockdown. Next to it, an outside barrel sauna will come in handy as winter comes, or maybe you’ll be powering through it if you’ve been visiting the meditation dome and can breathe through as well as Wim Hof.
I was there with a friend, Zena, an early riser, unlike me, who’d have stayed in bed admiring the rural view a while longer. But as she was up-and-out at 6.30am, I joined her for the guided 7am walk. Dressed in hi-vis jackets and wellies on loan from the boot room, we walked around the flat fields surrounding the cube-like building, healthy hot chocolate made with cacao and oat milk in hand.
Stomach awake, I was ready for a sunny-sounding Hawaiian Heaven breakfast smoothie packed with pineapple and coconut, all good for skin, hair and internal organs apparently, and light gluten-free pancakes with creamy vegan yoghurt and blueberries sweetened by a swirl of agave. After a little digestion time, we took a 30-minute weights class in the studio. All this and it was only 11.30 on a Monday morning. If you like a swim and a sweat, there’s also an indoor pool, Himalayan salt sauna and gym studio, will floor-to-ceiling windows flooding it with light.
While the retreat takes care of your body and soul, the cube-shaped, new-build was designed to protect the environment. Ground-source heatpumps, 168 solar panels soaking up the sun on the roof, sustainably-sourced timber, energy-efficient glazing, rainwater recycling and LED lighting mean that zero carbon status is one point away (evaded by the use of gas for hot water). It’s a retreat that could soothe the most stressed of us, whether caused by work, health or climate change.
*A two night break at the Glass House Retreat from £259pp half board, based on two people sharing a Superior Glass House Room including a 25-minute facial (each), mental wellbeing sessions in The Dome, motivational talks and/or evening activities and full use of facilities, daily exercise classes, vegan chef demos and 10% discount on additional treatments booked prior to arrival.