From Russia with leaves – Review from Condé Nast Traveller

Brace yourself for this year’s hottest new spa craze… twigged it yet?

The traditional Russian banya is a sauna with a difference: the steam is wetter and therefore easier to bear, making it more hydrating and, ultimately, more detoxifying. But there’s more to it than that.

At East London’s hush-hush and super-smart Banya No 1 (www.gobanya.co.uk), a heady steam session is followed by a delicious-smelling honey-and-sea-salt scrub, then a light thwacking with bunches of aromatic oak leaves. Next, a bracing plunge into an icy pool that’ll boost your circulation off the charts.

Published in Condé Nast Traveller September 2013

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