A new facial and body treatment has launched at The Spa at The Merchant Hotel and Weekend was one of the first to try it.
The Dimple Amani Method, named after the facialist and wellness practitioner who developed it, combines lymphatic drainage massage, body-sculpting techniques, East-Asian gua sha and Ayurvedic principles.
The treatments — which Dimple calls ‘rituals’ — temporarily reduce bloating and puffiness, help to sculpt the face and body, and create a more contoured appearance.
Now available in Belfast (The Merchant’s spa is the first in the UK and Ireland to offer it), a typical treatment uses rhythmic massage along the body’s lymphatic pathways using warmed Ayurvedic oils.
The doctor-formulated oils contain Ayurvedic fresh herbs such as saffron, sandalwood, ashwagandha, turmeric and black sesame oil, good for detoxifying while nourishing skin.
“Ayurveda is a natural Indian holistic system, which dates 5,000 years ago. I’ve been growing up using these herbs. My grandma’s always been massaging and oiling my navel and hair oiling. It’s so powerful in India,” Dimple tells Weekend after training the Spa’s therapists in the method.
“The method is unique and bespoke, because it’s very transformative. You see and feel the results immediately where the warm oils, packed with these potent, ancient herbs, are poured all over the skin.
“They penetrate inside. They start melting all the toxins. Any liquid, that fluid that’s sitting there, it starts shifting and moving, and then our tools kind of enhance the whole sculpting techniques.
Dimple Amani
“We don’t use heavy tools; it’s not really a number of tools or kind of digging and diving and sculpting. It’s a gentle yet firm [pressure]. Once you have the treatment, you feel lifted, sculpted, snatched, toned immediately. At the same time, you feel very lighter and refreshed.”
Lymphatic drainage massage helps moved trapped fluid towards the lymph nodes and reduces a tight or heavy sensation. The non-painful pressure can help lower stress levels and calm the nervous system.
Aesthetically, the results are transformative, says Dimple, and visible, but when you’re having the treatment, that Ayurveda element is to balance the mind, body and soul.
“When you’re pushing all that lymph into the lymph nodes, how does one kind of exit, how do they remove the toxins? So that is when the tea... The miracle tea is our main signature product, our hero product. You are meant to drink this at home and after the treatment to flush the toxins out naturally,” she explains.
“We do obviously say to stay hydrated, have water, have high-water-content foods, but the tea has balancing herbs in there. Again, very Ayurvedic. It’s got turmeric, which is anti-inflammatory, ginger, fennel, excellent for bloating and digestion.
“It’s housed in pure copper cups, and we use a lot of copper in our tools. Copper alkalines the skin, it pH balances the skin. It helps with immune health. It boosts your immunity — and we’re all about longevity. Your lymphatic system is your immunity.
“We are filtering out all the toxins, like cleaning your own house. You’re cleaning the internal of the body, but with our treatments, when you finish the treatment, you see the aesthetic results immediately and that’s what people love to see and feel. Then, once you have regular sessions, you see the benefits of improving health… it’s regenerative.”
Dimple created her approach because of a major gap in the wellness space.
“There are great treatments out there, there are great products. But I just really felt that there was something major missing, where certain treatments are either too relaxing or they’re very kind of superficial based, where you’re just [using] a pile of creams and masks. We want to really try to also bring in something natural, very results driven.
“The oils and the teas, again, we made them as doctor formulated. Again, that’s where the clinical optimisation kind of happens — that’s where I felt the gap.
“Brazilian lymphatic drainage is all about sculpting. I was really inspired by that, the contouring definition. But the Ayurveda is, again, it dates 5,000 years back. That whole holistic kind of natural... the oils and the self-massage is so important. Those daily habits, that’s where the gap was. I combined the two techniques together and created the Dimple Amani Method.
The Spa in The Merchant Hotel
“We’re always on our phones. We’re always drained. And that can really inflame our bodies. [With] A lot of inflammation, the lymphatic can be stagnant because of that.
“The lymphatic drainage is really to help with that, to really relax you and to really feel fresh. Again, the blood flow to our brain, it just really helps kind of get everything going.”
Having launched in London, the rituals, as Dimple calls them, are available in Paris and now on the island of Ireland for the first time.
“We are really well known. A lot of celebrities come to us because they’re seeing the results that you can achieve,” she says.
“When you’re in front of the camera or you have an event, you look snatched and sculpted and lifted. Obviously, you can have the world’s best make-up, but if your face is looking puffy and your body is looking puffy, you can’t hide that with make-up. So that’s where the lymphatic drainage is really, really, really important.
“We really want to spread this in a way that it reaches… Even if you can’t come and do the treatment, our products you can use really help your lymphatic journey, help with bloating that women are experiencing. It’s very good for hormonal, menopausal, perimenopause [concerns]; it really helps with period pain, cramps.
“The navel oiling is our main hero-like kind of ritual that we start with. We would pour the body navel oil in the belly. That’s the first connection from the mother’s womb through the umbilical cord.
Dimple Amani Face Ritual
“In Ayurveda, we really do a lot of navel oiling, which is so powerful and it helps with that sluggish bloating.”
Dimple has been working in the industry for 18 years, starting as a facialist and undertaking facial sculpture and buccal facials, the latter which involves massaging facial muscles from both the outside and the inside of the mouth.
For her, there hasn’t been enough conversation about the importance of lymphatic drainage or the lymphatic system.
“They’re treating it as a trend, but it was never a trend. It was always there,” she says.
“People don’t talk about the lymphatic system often, [but] now people have started to talk about it. But I just feel, even for the young generation, it’s really good to get into the habit of looking after your lymphatic health.
“Obviously, there are so many therapists out there. There are so many other people who are offering lymphatic drainage, which is really great. The more, the merrier.
“We take a 360 [approach], where we’re trying to really look after the client and, at home, using the products. Really the whole experience when you have the treatment.
Dimple Amani
“[We] really want [clients] to feel good. But then, obviously, to carry forward that at home is so important.”
The treatments are suitable for most people but, as with many treatments, speak to a doctor for guidance where there are ongoing health concerns.
“We all are made out of energies,” says Dimple.
“So when you do the Ayurvedic treatment, the energy matters the most, and you can be drained with negativity or something that is not right going on in your personal life. So that’s where the lymphatic drainage, the Dimple Amani Method treatments, our oils and all the products, they really do help you feel so, so relaxed.
“My best reward is when the client, after the treatment, they feel a sense of ‘relax, breathe’. When they’re using our product, they really feel the differences.
“There’s so much goodness out there, a lot of amazing brands, but... this is something that we’ve never, ever done. So it’s just teaching the therapists too. And educating them for their clients is so rewarding as well because they’re passing that through to their clients.
“Even for them as a therapist, they’re treating clients all the time. To really look after their health, they all had the treatments, they felt so good. It’s so important for us as therapists to really look after our health, because we can only help one when we help ourselves.”
Three signature Dimple Amani rituals are now available at The Spa at The Merchant, with introductory prices starting from £144 for a limited time: the Face Ritual, Body Ritual, and Face and Body Ritual.
The Dimple Amani Method is now available at The Spa at The Merchant Hotel. For further information and to book, visit www.themerchanthotel.com/spa
Weekend reviews… Dimple Amani Face Ritual
Weekend was one of the first to experience the Face Ritual, a 50-minute treatment that offers deep relaxation with high-performance facial techniques.
After a chat with therapist Eva about my skincare regime — who was brilliant, knowledgeable, friendly and enthusiastic — I lay down on a heated bed in a warm, dimly lit room and awaited what was to come.
Eva expertly explained the process, which began with cleansing using the brand’s saffron cleanser to prepare the skin.
She also began lymphatic drainage from my arms upwards, towards the lymph nodes in the armpit. The pressure was deeper than I was used to, but I found it reassuring and as if it was beneficial. It actually made me feel quite drowsy and cocoon-like.
Warmed facial oil (the brand’s Miracle Velvet Facial Oil) was massaged across the face, neck and shoulders to encourage lymphatic flow. I usually shy away from a neck massage because it’s where I hold all tension, but I found the knots loosening under Eva’s skilful technique.
The massage pressure remained firm, as Eva moved across the face and neck, stimulating the lymph nodes in what was an immediately effective treatment. Concentrating on one side first, Eva was able to show the difference between both sides of my face: my cheek was less puffy, felt smoother and soothed and there was less tension along my jawline.
The latter wasn’t an area that I thought was especially tense but, after the drainage, it felt looser. To see results so quickly was impressive, particularly when it was relying on traditional techniques.
Eva then used a Kansa copper wand for additional benefits, describing how she was using the tool, as well as a gua sha stone, so that I could maintain a level of upkeep at home.
That is important to remember: while the effects were immediate and, let’s be honest, very pleasing, it is temporary and you can help at home through effective tool work.
Rather than feeling tense or out of sorts, which I have done during other facial treatments, I felt much more relaxed and comfortable as it concluded. Plus, my skin looked as though it had benefited from a natural lift; my complexion looked the best it ever did and continued to do so for the following few days.
I was then brought into The Spa’s relaxation room for copper cups filled with the brand’s Miracle Tea, which helps with the flushing of toxins.
I left The Spa feeling great about myself — what more could you ask?