Naturally. . . putting potato on your eyes

I’ve experienced some unusual beauty treatments in this line of work, but they never involved potatoes – until recently.

The very glam Elysian Brows on Dublin’s South William Street, which has just undergone a revamp, invited me to try out their Uspa Potato Eye Treatment. Intrigued, I couldn’t say no.

It felt a bit strange walking into this dimly lit salon on a Wednesday at lunchtime. When I arrived at the reception desk, I half-expected one of the smiling women standing behind it to offer me a cocktail menu. In this place, anything that isn’t pink, purple or black is most likely a mirror.

Instead, my friendly therapist Cliona introduced herself and escorted me downstairs to their rather unusual facial treatment room. It’s completely white bar the ceiling, which looks like a clear daytime sky. The entire room glows a calming blue. I’m struggling to describe the music: ambient with jungle sounds and occasional chanting?

“I’m in love with my facial treatment room,” said Cliona. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” Neither have I.

Elysian Brows does nails and facials, but as the name suggests, it specialises in everything eyes: lashes, brow tinting, threading (my preferred way to remove hairs) and eye treatments.

The one with the spuds combines products from Uspa, a plant-based spa brand from Australia, with organically-grown grated potato.

Cliona explained: “Potatoes release an enzyme that’s amazing for brightening [or lightening] the eye area, even better than cucumber.” She told me this particular treatment is meant “to cool, refresh, hydrate, brighten the eye area and eliminate puffiness,” and that I should notice a difference the next day.

“The treatment is quite a popular one,” she added. “A lot of people are concerned with their eye area. When a person is stressed or tired it’s always really obvious around the eye area.”

Once I was comfortable – with my hair wrapped in a towel so I could return to the real world without greasy-looking locks – Cliona started the treatment by asking me to close my eyes and take a few deep breaths. As I did, she waved aromatic oil dominated by lavender in front of my nose and gently pushed my shoulders downward – an effective way to say “relax”.

After the inhalations, she cleansed my eye area, then my face, applied a rose toner and then buffed everything squeaky clean with an exfoliant.

Next came my favourite part: the Ayurvedic marma point, or pressure point, massage around the eyes. This combination of pressing, holding and gliding of fingertips on specific points on the face is deeply relaxing – I didn’t want it to stop.

But stop it did after a few blissful minutes and we were on to the eye mask. Cliona applied a cool gel that included aloe vera, rosehip and camellia oils around my eyes and then placed the raw spuds over my eyelids.

While they steeped in produce, I enjoyed a chest massage. The 45-minute treatment was topped off with a moisturiser and a vitamin C-enriched eye cream. I had a glass of water too.

The verdict? My face got a good clean, each step felt cool and refreshing, the massages – particularly the facial massage – felt fantastic and, for €55, it’s not an obscenely priced bit of pampering.

As for the root veg, it all seemed a bit novel to me. But the next morning, I did a double-take in the mirror. Did my skin look a bit brighter? Had my dark circles faded? Just maybe.

kharris@irishtimes.com