Sunday 30 September 2012

Do 12-year-olds really need beauty treatments?


A glorious Lake District hotel is just about the last place I’d expect to start offering facials, massages and manicures to the over 12s.

I’ve been to Armathwaite Hall lots of times. A magnificent castellated manor house with lawns bordering the shores of Lake Bassenthwaite, it has views as far as the fells and the dramatic peak of Skiddaw beyond. My in-laws held their golden wedding anniversary party there and the hotel did them proud.

But I’d have thought Armathwaite Hall would have had more sense than to launch a teen spa. The hotel is offering everything from 30-minute make-up lessons for 12 to 14 year-olds (at £28 each) to a £150 “just be together” package for a parent and their teenager. The name is as cringeworthy as the idea.

Maybe I’m old-fashioned but there’s just one thing the over 12s should be doing in the Lake District – and that’s enjoying the great outdoors.

A hearty walk up Catbells (above) and along Maiden Moor is one of the best days out in the world – whatever your age. The fresh air is far better for your skin than a facial, while striding up the fells will do more for your well-being (not to mention your thighs) than a massage ever can…

4 comments:

  1. I remember gleefully spitting on blocks of mascara at that age with my mates. There was one lipstick, too, that served as both lip colour and rouge (when did we stop using that lovely word?) We took none of it seriously, and my father declared until I was in my twenties that (with the make-up applied) my face looked like 'a chicken's behind in the moonlight'. He was probably right, at least when I was in the bottom half of my teens. This sort of mother/daughter thing is much over-rated and I think it much better for the girls if we continue to gently disapprove of this sort of thing. What they do in the privacy of their bedrooms is much more fun if it's a little bit experimental and clandestine, and, for my money, it should remain that way.

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  2. I agree with every word, Nicola. And your memories of that block mascara take me right back! My daughter knows far more about make-up than I ever will. We do lots together but she'd be horrified if I suggested a "just be together" package!

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  3. My Teen seems to think it's rather cool that one of her friends goes off to the spa with her mum. I'm not being dragged anywhere like that though - I'd sooner be up Catbells!

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