Cowshed Pedicure, Carnaby Street, London

Sadly the difference between an average restaurant and a wonderful one is often the waiter.  Of course with a spa the therapist is even more important.

On my first trip to the Cowshed Spa in Carnaby Street I had the the Cowshed Pedicure - 60 minutes of pampering for 45 minutes.  I had the loveliest therapist and by the time I left I had the softest toes!  She treated my feet beautifully even though they have been known to make pedicurists flinch, and explained that the reason I have such hard skin is that my skin is very soft and so reacts to having to walk by building up callouses.

So I came back and brought a friend for the Ultimate Cowshed Pedicure.  What a difference.  Unfortunately it wasn’t only the difference of paying £55 for 75 minutes and having a wonderful hot towel wrap for my feet, it was the difference of having a surly therapist who looked at my feet in disgust, asked me how I even managed to walk on them, scratched them up (even making one of my toes bleed) and did a poor job on the nail varnish.

I know my feet are unlikely to ever win any beauty prizes, I know that hard skin build up is unsightly, hard to get rid of, but seriously it’s not like I don’t try.  The upshot is that I will always love anyone who gives me a foot rub or files down that hard skin.  When I stump up to get a professional to help me deal with it, whether it’s a chiropodist or a pedicurist I don’t appreciate someone looking down their nose at me.

I will say that that first pedicure was fantastic and my friend who also came along for an Ultimate Pedicure said of it;

“One of the best experiences of my life.”

So maybe if you haven’t got truly heinous feet or if you get the lovely therapist I had first time you will have a great time?  But personally I’ll be looking elsewhere for that Perfect Pedicure!

Don’t get me wrong, some of these are excellent, but I couldn’t, in good conscience give them a Pearl Recommendation.  Sometimes they were just beaten to the punch, or I couldn’t decide a clear winner, other times they had a lot right, but I felt they just weren’t there.  I don’t really want to give bad reviews, but anything I felt was really best avoided you’ll find in the Jellyfish section.