Tree music facials? The new sonic skincare frontier

Times

17 hours ago

As anyone who's ever enjoyed a facial or massage knows, the right (or wrong) background music can make or break the experience. Mark Constantine, the co-founder of Lush cosmetics, was driven to rethink the soundscapes for his brand's spa treatments when, hoping to enjoy a massage on holiday, the soothing tones of nightingales singing outside were obliterated by a generic 'chill-out' spa mix. Henceforth, Lush treatments were performed to a soundtrack of birdsong, orchestral scores and Tibetan singing bowls. Hippy-trippy indeed, or so it may have seemed a few years ago.
Because as the beauty and aesthetics world becomes increasingly focused on wellness, new treatments are being set to the whoosh of the Hebridean surf, delta brainwave-inducing 'binaural beats', and even the buzzing of tree sap. If that sounds like whale music taken to the next level, that's because it is.
Whale song, long a staple in spas and the butt of plenty of jokes, 'captured a truth that modern science is only now starting to verify', the sound artist Justin Wiggan says. Namely that it occupies low-frequency ranges and overlaps with those believed to influence delta and theta brainwave states — the ones linked with deep sleep, memory consolidation and regulation of the nervous system.
These frequencies and sounds, which can be found in many parts of the natural world, can 'have profound emotional and physiological effects on humans who are, I believe, created with a need to tune in and connect to nature', Wiggan says. His work, which is incorporated in every step of a client's 'journey' at the The Bothy by Wildsmith Spa at Heckfield Place hotel in Hampshire, embodies this mantra. Recording tools such as an 'internal garden scanner' and a 'wind jammer' device have been used to capture bioelectrical microvoltages and ion shifts in leaves, soil and the atmosphere. They are mapped to sound parameters to create a ploinky, humming, rustling, ethereal musical composition: a process known as 'biosonification'. This 'sonic dialogue with the living world' is, like whale music, intended to induce a state of calm that ought to help the body heal and therefore, some claim, have beautifying benefits as well.
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'Guiding the brain into alpha, theta and delta states is known to encourage cellular regeneration and reduce inflammation in the skin, which is why we've incorporated 'brain entrainment' technology in our latest facial treatment,' says the dermatologist and the medical director of Eudelo dermatology and medical wellness Dr Stefanie Williams. Unlike biosonification which, Wiggan freely concedes, has only anecdotal and 'embryonic' scientific evidence of producing calming and regulating effects, brain entrainment, which is less like music and more like a flow of buzzing, pulsing and droning sounds and bleeps delivered in stereo, 'has documented clinical benefits in managing chronic pain, sleeping disorders, and mental health', Williams says. 'I believe it can be a vital element of a 360-degree approach to promoting skin health and longevity at a cellular level.'
Translated into beauty treatments, you get something that has the power to draw you into a dreamy state of consciousness and regulate cortisol levels — and that, however temporarily, should be good news for your skin.
Surely one of the most multilayered medical facials around, the 90-minute Eudelo Grounded Glow Reboot, £625, leaves no physical or mental stone unturned to induce your skin into an ideal state of calm and radiance. The treatment begins with hydradermabrasion then moves on to extractions, milia removal, bespoke mask treatments, sculpting lymphatic drainage massage, LED therapy, icy-cold cryotherapy jets and microneedling with tailored skincare actives. All the while, brain entrainment sounds on your headphones lull you into a hypnotic zen state and ECG electrodes on your skin connect you to the Earth's electric field. Surprisingly not woo-woo, this 'medical grounding' or earthing mimics direct contact with the Earth's surface, known to have all kinds of positive effects on our physiology. It floods the body with free electrons which are thought to act as antioxidants, neutralising cell-ravaging free radicals that cause oxidative damage.
Like all treatments at the Bothy spa at Heckfield Place, the 90-minute Wildsmith Radical Botany Facial, £300, is executed by therapists trained in myofascial release, acupressure and craniosacral holds, which add a regenerative touch to Wildsmith's biodynamical botanics-powered skincare products. Additionally, there is breathwork and Justin Wiggins' deeply restorative Treescape soundtrack (available here on Soundcloud), which at times sounds like the wind in the trees and at other times like dreamy 1980s synths. Combining biosonification with Solfeggio frequencies (used as long ago as in ancient Egypt and 9th-century Gregorian chants and believed to resonate with nature's rhythms and help to induce those calming brainwaves), this feels like the auditory equivalent of grounding while delivering freshly plumped skin. A 60-minute, £140 version of the facial is available at The Treehouse at Liberty of London, backed there by a birdsong soundscape.
The 90-minute Ishga Hebridean Sound Escape at Coworth Park Spa in Ascot, £300, is a full-body treatment using Ishga's organic seaweed-based skincare alongside its proprietary sound therapy offering. Expect a seaweed foot ritual, meditation sequence, Balinese-style body massage, Shirodhara (warm oil being poured on your forehead) and pressure-point face massage, all set to an island life soundtrack. The brand employed the DJ and sound artist Brian d'Souza to compose and record a blend of Hebridean seashore sounds and Gaelic music, which he then tuned to 432Hz (the Solfeggio 'frequency of natural resonance') and spiked with reverbs and delays — all techniques for creating 'mind-bending' music. The result sounds like waves lapping, orchestral instruments being tuned while Enya hums celestially. But it works — it was shown, in a study in partnership with Goldsmiths University, to lower heart rates and increase alpha-wave activity. Versions of Ishga's sound treatments are on offer at select spas around the UK, while the free Ishga x Swell Sound Experience app gives you Scottish shoreline vibes in the comfort of your home.
The 80-minute Lush Synaesthesia Massage Treatment, £160, is as wacky as it is effective. The idea is to stimulate all five senses at once in order to 'let your imagination run free'. After choosing a word from the Lush intentions board (to indicate the state of mind at which you want to arrive) and a preferred essential oil blend to scent your journey (while enjoying a cup of Dorset black tea), your medium-pressure bespoke massage begins. It's choreographed to an orchestral score, natural soundscapes recorded at Corfe Castle in Dorset and birdsong. Together they provide a mental escape into fields and forests, with time progressing from evening into day. The twittering of thrushes, rooks, nightjars and owls doesn't claim to work on any brainwaves but is, I agree with Lush's founder, a far better way to release your mind and muscles than any 'relaxing' Buddha Bar groove.