Beauty & Kep: Sam Taroth tries Kep West's fruity facial

10 minutes ago

3 min read

At the Kep West Wellness Center, the facial starts in the kitchen rather than a jar. Mango for vitamin C, pressed cucumber for the tonic, yogurt, a little lavender. Sam Taroth has already tried yoga and massage here. This time she hands her face to Mao Sophear, the center's Senior Spa Therapist.

*Sam Taroth during the fruity facial at the Kep West Wellness Center*

Outside, the Kep heat is building. The treatment room stays cool. Light comes through the tall wooden louvres in thin stripes, with the green of the garden behind them.

Lana Yang does the introductions. She runs the wellness center and explains the treatment before it begins.

“Today we are introducing Sam to our fruity facial,” she says. Then: “A vitamin facial.”

Sam stands between Lana and Sophear, her hands folded, clearly curious. She knows Sophear already. Sophear gave her a massage on an earlier visit.

*Lana Yang, Wellness Manager, introduces the fruity facial to Sam Taroth, with Senior Spa Therapist Mao Sophear at her side*

A tray from the market

The tray is the first surprise. There are no branded tubes or pumps. Just black ceramic bowls on woven rattan.

One holds a thick mango purée, yellow as a ripe egg yolk. Another holds pressed cucumber juice, green and clear. A row of leaf-shaped dishes carries small portions of white cream and yogurt. There's a stack of cotton pads and, laid across it all, a single frangipani flower.

*The facial tray, with mango purée, fresh cucumber juice, and yogurt and creams in leaf-shaped dishes*

Lana goes through it the way a chef goes through a menu. The cucumber juice acts as the tonic. The mango brings vitamin C and forms the base of the mask. The yogurt adds hydration. Lavender is there for the nerves as much as the skin. “To calm down the whole nervous system,” she says.

Is it all organic? She doesn't hesitate. “Everything is organic.”

In Sophear's hands

Sam lies back and Sophear wraps her hair in a white towel. The conversation fades.

Sophear starts with the cleanse, working in wide, slow circles from the chin up to the temples. Her movements are unhurried. She has the steady rhythm of someone who has done this thousands of times and still pays attention.

*Mao Sophear begins the cleanse in one of the center's shaded treatment rooms*

Next comes the cucumber tonic, pressed on with cotton pads across the forehead and around the eyes.

*The cucumber tonic, applied with cotton pads after the cleanse*

Then the cream. Sophear dots it in thick white strokes on the forehead, both cheeks and the chin, like a painter blocking out a canvas. She works it in with her fingertips, moving along the jawline and lifting outwards.

By the last stage, Sam's face is glossy and damp and entirely still. Sophear concentrates on the bridge of the nose and the hollows around the eyes. Few people notice how much tension they hold there until someone presses on it. Sam doesn't open her eyes.