Feet First

I’ve never had a facial that started with my feet. And yet that’s exactly where therapist Flavia Cezarino began my bespoke treatment at Mina Lee Studio in South Kensington, pressing into reflex points to persuade my jaw to unclench and my brow to soften before she ever touched my face. I’d heard about Mina’s holistic approach to skin, and her almost scholarly obsession with the most innovative Korean skincare - the kind of formulas and techniques that quietly shape global trends - so when I was offered the chance to see one of the two facialists she personally trains and trusts, it was an easy yes. What I didn’t expect was how much the treatment would feel like therapy for my nervous system as much as a workout for my skin.

Mina Lee Studio has become one of the city’s most whispered‑about addresses for those chasing the elusive “glass skin” ideal - that calm, poreless luminosity that looks more like good health than good filters. I've never chased the glass skin effect myself, but the premise of how to get there with Mina's approach is something I'm down for. Her philosophy is disarmingly simple: truly glowing skin is the by‑product of a body and mind that have been coaxed back into balance, so she and her team treat the whole person, not just whatever is happening at the surface. That means every session begins not with a prescribed protocol, but with an honest reading of where you are that day – emotionally, physically, energetically.

From there, the Bespoke Facial unfolds as a kind of choreographed dialogue between hands, products and technology. Deep, rhythmic sculpting massage and diligent lymphatic drainage are woven through advanced devices, while the work travels far beyond the jawline to neck, shoulders and even the abdominal area to open circulation and encourage the kind of full‑body exhale that shows up as clarity and lift. Subtle energy work and reiki can be threaded in when needed, and Flavia even offered acupuncture (which I declined, due to my fear of needles; I know, I'm working on it!) so that the session feels as much like a recalibration as a treatment – a sense that someone is paying attention to your system as a whole, rather than just chasing glow.

Product‑wise, Mina’s Korean heritage is written all over the trolley. Instead of harsh peels or shouty fragrances, she favours feather‑light, layerable formulas that bolster the barrier and flood the skin with hydration: humectant‑rich essences, serum textures that vanish on contact, and sheer emulsions that leave only a quiet, diffused sheen. When I asked Flavia what the smokey, earthy substance she was lathering on my face and shoulders, she explained it was unique to Mina's practice, for me a secret sauce that conjured being in a humid forest. These products are chosen in real time to work with the massage techniques and devices rather than fight them, acting as conduits for slip, lymph flow and light. 

The result is the kind of immediate, post‑facial radiance that makes you want to cancel your evening plans and just admire your cheekbones (which Flavia successfully managed to lift by a good number of degrees!) - but it’s the cumulative promise that really hooks you, of skin that, over time, looks less “treated” and more intrinsically well. I'm a total convert.

Shop some of the beauty products Mina has been known to love below: