London - The temperature is minus 15degC, I’m wearing next to nothing and I am really cold.
I have goose pimples on my goose pimples and while my teeth aren’t yet chattering, give me another few minutes and they will be.
It’s so cold that not only can I see my breath, I’m pretty sure that if I leaned against one of the walls, I might actually freeze to it - and surely it’s only a matter of time before my lips go blue...
Though it’s hot and muggy outside, I’ve not persuaded my local restaurant to let me seek refuge from the heat in their industrial freezer.
Instead, I’ve come to Snow Paradise at West London’s K Spa, a kind of beauty ice box that, devotees claim, will send the blood coursing round my body and zap any lurking cellulite. It’s one of a handful of such facilities in the UK.
At Lion Quays in Shropshire, Thornton Hall in the Wirral and Butlins in Bognor Regis, you’ll find Snow Caves, while County Durham’s Rockliffe Hall boasts an Igloo.
Here at Snow Paradise it is definitely snowy. The room, about 2m x 2m, which uses “cold-generating compressors” and “the latest technology” to create snow “made exclusively of air and water and containing no chemical additives”, is part of a thermal suite that also includes a steam room, sauna and sanarium (like a sauna but cooler).
“The idea is that these sort of “fire and ice” treatments work to stimulate circulation,” says Daphne Metland, the director of The Good Spa Guide.
Heat causes the blood vessels to dilate, bringing blood to the surface of the skin, while cold temperatures cause contraction of the blood vessels. Alternating between hot and cold boosts the circulation, which, if you believe the hype, has untold benefits for your health and beauty.
“It gets rid of toxins, stimulates your immune system, is excellent for tackling cellulite and is very good for your skin, as it brings blood to the surface, feeding the skin with oxygen and nutrients,” enthuses Lyudmyla Nagirnyak, manager at K Spa. “It’s like the glow you get from exercise, because it boosts circulation in the same way.”
But not everyone is convinced that the whole hot-cold thing is quite so magical. “It definitely improves circulation, but I’m not sure how much solid evidence there is for the other claims,” says Daphne.
Either way, the world has embraced the idea. The Swedes and other Scandi types are known for following their saunas with dips in icy lakes, the Germans are devotees of Kneipping, which involves alternating between hot and cold showers or baths, and sports stars praise cryotherapy - which uses baths of ice, or rooms cooled to minus 135c - for speeding up muscle recovery after training, a big game or competition.
But in the world of spas, this oversized cool box is a bit different.
Indeed, I’ve encountered icy plunge pools and snow fountains, curiously reminiscent of the large ice makers you find on American-style fridges, which churned out handfuls of slushy ice that I rubbed into my shivering flesh after luxuriating in a sauna. I’ve even been to spas in ski resorts where you’re encouraged to nip outside and roll in the snow after boiling in a hot tub. But I’ve never actually stepped into a human-sized freezer before.
“There is no hard and fast protocol,” says Lyudmyla. “You have to listen to your body, but the idea is that you warm up in the sauna, then go into the Snow Paradise, and keep alternating. Some people can stay in there for a few minutes, others only a few seconds.”
I’m determined to tough it out. And, after about seven minutes in the sauna at 88degC, I emerge in just a bikini and towel and step through the first door that forms a sort of airlock between the ice chamber and the rest of the spa. I can feel the temperature drop a bit, but given how warm the spa is, it just feels pleasantly cool. Then, I open the second heavy door and step in. It slams behind me and I have a fleeting panic I’ll get locked in and die of hypothermia. But having checked the door doesn’t have a lock, I relax.
Because it’s not that cold. It doesn’t give me that first genuinely breath-taking, heart-stopping, skin-tingling, oh-my-goodness, wow-now-I-feel-alive moment that I’ve had from plunge pools and snow rolls. It feels, well, just a bit chilly.
Looking around, I see that the walls seem like the side of a mountain after a snowfall, while the ceiling is a sort of metal grid mesh that’s like the sort of thing you’d find in an office.
And what I assume are the cold-generating compressors are cleverly hidden behind rustic-looking wooden slats. It’s terribly atmospheric, but, so far, a little, er, warmer, than I’d anticipated. So much so that, after a couple of minutes, I decide that, despite Lyudmyla’s warning that I had to wear flip-flops otherwise there’s no way I’d be able to tolerate it for more than a few seconds, I slip one of them off and place my foot on the snow-covered ground.
Okay - wow! - now that is cold. I slip the flip-flop back on and decide to get closer to the snow.
I scoop up a handful of the light, fluffy stuff, compact it into a ball and start rubbing it across my arms and legs. It feels so cold it’s almost burning, and that’s when I get the goose pimples, and start to worry about my lips turning blue.
“Anything wet always feels colder on the skin,” says Daphne. “Water conducts heat far better than air, so cold water, or snow, will conduct heat away from the skin far more quickly than cold air.
“In terms of boosting circulation, it doesn’t really matter if you cool yourself more slowly, and it makes it more comfortable for people who don’t like that sudden shock.”
After slathering my limbs with ice, it’s too cold to hang around, so I hotfoot it to the sauna, and feel the warmth as the blood rushes back to my skin. I repeat the sequence a few times, skipping straight to the ice-rubbing bit, although I stop short of rolling around in the snow. By the time I leave, my skin has a rosy glow, and I head out into the sunshine feeling invigorated.
The added bonus is that having languished in an 88degC sauna, the 27degC heat in London feels like a breeze.
Daily Mail