Working closely with experts at Ragdale Hall, M&S has created an indulgent and pampering 10 piece spa collection of feel-good bath, body and face products which will be available from 173 M&S stores and online as well as at Ragdale Hall from end January 2012.

Gillian Ridley-Whittle, Head of Buying for Lingerie and Beauty at Marks & Spencer said, “We developed this range in response to the soaring popularity of spa treatments and spa breaks. The range offers a collection of daily use products that bring a pampering at-home spa experience to the everyday routine. The chic and stylish packaging gives it strong bathroom shelf appeal, making it the perfect gift too”.

Clare Brandish, Sales & Marketing Director, Ragdale Hall, comments, “Here at Ragdale Hall, we had been considering launching our own range of spa products for a while and then we were approached by M&S. The match seemed ideal, we are both well known for luxury at an affordable price. There is clear synergy between our brands – both are trustworthy, high quality and we both care very much about our customers.”

THE RANGE……

BODY

Ragdale Hall Mother of Pearl Spa Sugar Scrub, £9.50

The perfect full body exfoliation treatment that will leave you silky smooth all over. For an invigorating spa experience, Spa Sugar Scrub sloughs away dead skin cells with a unique blend of mother of pearl and sugar. Added sweet almond oil, shea butter, rosehip seed oil and monoi oil leaves skin wonderfully nourished and moisturised.

RAGDALE HALL TOP TIPS:

Great for use all year and particularly before a holiday to prepare skin for a more even tan. Always exfoliate at least twice a week at this time of year and once at other times

Also brilliant after a holiday to get rid of dead cells to prolong your tan. Remember the elbows and knees too as these tend to be the driest skin areas at all times of the year.

For best results, dip into the bath and the sugar will melt away, leaving the oil to penetrate the skin. Follow by using the Spa Body Butter for a deeply nourishing treatment.

Spa Sugar scrub is also ideal for a quick DIY manicure and pedicure.

Ragdale Hall Luxurious Spa Body Butter, £8.50

For a luxurious and decadently rich body butter, this one is hard to beat. Containing three incredibly rich butters including Shea Butter, Illipe Butter and Kokum Butter, the super buttery blend is the instant answer to creamy smooth skin and long lasting moisturisation.

RAGDALE HALL TOP TIPS:

Especially effective in the winter months. Use in the evening, once showered and in to sloppies to deeply nourish and penetrate the skin.

Or to give your skin a luxury treat before a special night out – skin will feel instantly hydrated and radiant.

Ragdale Hall Softening Spa Foot Cream, £6.00

For serious feet softening, this ultra-nourishing foot cream combines high-purity lanolin with black cumin seed oil, known for its moisturising properties and its ability to improve rough, dry skin. If a fondness for heels has taken its toll, then the invigorating peppermint helps put the spring back into tired feet.

RAGDALE HALL TOP TIPS:

Great to use just before bed time – try keeping it on the bedside table to remind you! For best results, apply generously all over the feet and put on cotton socks to help the cream penetrate even deeper.

It’s perfect for keeping in your gym bag too! Apply to showered feet after every workout to nourish and revive them.

Ragdale Hall Softening Spa Hand and Cuticle Cream, £6.00

Beat dry, moisture-starved hands and cuticles. For an intensively moisturising and nourishing hand treatment, Spa Hand and Cuticle Cream includes a blend of sweet almond oil, lanolin, glycerine and Allantoin as well as hydrolised keratin to ensure skin is instantly hydrated, leading to beautifully soft hands and cuticles. Spa perfection!

RAGDALE HALL TOP TIPS:

Carry this product in your handbag and use it every time you wash your hands. For best results, ensure you massage it into the cuticles to help stimulate nail strength and growth.

For super hydration, apply generously to the hands and nails and put on cotton gloves before going to bed to help lock in the cream.

Ragdale Hall Soothing Spa Hand Lotion, £6.00

Light and easily absorbed, Spa Hand Lotion is enriched with coconut and almond oil to condition the skin, glycerine and panthenol to moisturise and milk thistle extract for its powerful anti-oxidant properties. Perfect for your own DIY manicure at home.

RAGDALE HALL TOP TIP:

As well as at home, keep this product on your desk at work and keep moisturising all day, especially in winter when the weather and central heating dry your hands out.

Ragdale Hall Refreshing Shower Gel, £6

Any time you need to wash away the stresses of the day, just reach for this refreshing shower gel which includes reviving extracts of watermint and soothing Oolong Tea

RAGDALE HALL TOP TIPS:

Use a nylon bath puff with the shower gel to get a good lather and to exfoliate at the same time.

Ragdale Hall Velvet Spa Cream Bath, £7.50

For the ultimate in relaxation, nothing beats a long hot soak in the bath especially when it’s filled with creamy, rich foaming bubbles and luxuriously fragranced with essential oils of white grapefruit and sweet orange to revive the senses and cedarwood essential oil to help relax aching muscles and vanquish every last drop of stress.

RAGDALE HALL TOP TIPS:

If you are in need of some quiet me-time, pour into the bath, light some candles, dim the lights, put on an eye mask and just soak…whilst breathing in the relaxing fragrance.

Ragdale Hall Gentle Cleansing Spa Hand Wash, £6.00

This gentle yet effective hand wash has been specially formulated with mild ingredients so vital moisture is not stripped from the skin no matter how many times a day you wash your hands.

RAGDALE HALL TOP TIPS:

Keep this gentle hand wash by the kitchen sink as well as in your cloakroom and bath room. Your hands deserve it!

FACE

Ragdale Hall Rejuvenating Spa Daytime Moisturiser SPF15, £9.50

An effective daytime moisturiser enriched with cocoa butter and Vitamin E with SPF15 for daily protection. Osilift, a natural sugar based tensor derived from oats, helps reverse the signs of ageing by firming and toning the skin coupled with long-term smoothing effects.

RAGDALE HALL TOP TIPS:

After the face, hands are the biggest giveaway of your age! Massage excess day cream into your hands, especially the backs of the hands. The SPF15 protection will also help protect your hands from harmful UV rays and help prevent premature ageing.

Ragdale Hall Restorative Spa Night Cream, £9.50

This rich nourishing night cream is easily absorbed into the skin. Containing a moisturising blend of glycerine, shea and kokum butters with milk protein and soya oil, Spa Night Cream will help revitalise and nourish skin overnight to leave it smoother and softer.

RAGDALE HALL TOP TIPS:

Hands need as much feeding as your face at night to keep them silky smooth. Massage any excess night cream into your hands, followed by Spa Hand and Cuticle Cream to give intensive nourishment.

Ragdale Hall will be available exclusively from Marks & Spencer stores nationwide or online at www.marksandspencer.com from end January 2012

Each therapist and the nine strong management and supervisory team are able to vote for their peers in a number of categories. In the words of one of the senior team “ Ragdale therapists have a great deal of pride in their profession and where they work, they understand the part they play in the success of Ragdale and what affect a really good treatment can have on their guest’s long term wellbeing. They want to look up to the best and work in a team where they can motivate each other to be better with every treatment they perform.”

Video footage of the Therapist of the Year 2011 presentation

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Therapist of the Year 2011 – Sarah Louise Waters

Sarah Louise, from London was last year’s Best Newcomer winner and this year wins the top prize! In only a year and a half, she has gained the respect of her peers and management team alike.

In the words of her colleagues “she is an all-round amazing therapist……..she is always professional……she motivates and looks after everyone”

Congratulations to Sarah Louise for winning this great honour.

Holistic Therapist of the Year 2011 – Jon Jarvis

Local man, Jon Jarvis from Melton Mowbray has worked at Ragdale for over twenty years apart from a short period away over ten years ago. As both a fitness instructor and holistic therapist, he has a wealth of experience and knowledge and is particularly admired by his colleagues for his good advice, helpful nature and kindness.

Shiatsu is his specialist treatment but he also teaches swimming, fencing and archery to Ragdale guests.

Jon enjoys a great following of appreciative guests who have built up a strong rapport with him over his time at Ragdale.

Other winners:

Best Motivator – Sarah Bendall (a previous Best Newcomer winner)

“Bubbly, cheerful, enthusiastic…….she raises others’ spirits”

Best Team Player – Louise Chambers

“She is always willing to help others”

Best Newcomer – Sarah Morgan

“A natural with guests, always positive and really friendly”

Best Code of Dress – Jenny Hallett

“She is the perfect example of a Ragdale therapist”

Winners received Champagne, flowers, chocolate and the admiration of all their peers.

Having won this award in 2010 and previously been a runner up in 2008 this shows amazing consistency given the competitive nature of the spa industry currently in this country.

Despite being knocked off the top spot, the magazine said “there is still plenty of enthusiasm for Ragdale Hall”.

Our sincere thanks go out to those who kindly voted for us……and there’s always 2012 for us to regain our crown.

As with everything we do at Ragdale Hall, for example, our innovative treatment offerings, one of the top ten spas in the world for our fitness programme (as voted for by Spa Finder readers) we like to stay ahead of the game, and we are pleased to announce that we are the first spa to create a mobile site for our guests.

Our mobile site aims to offer you an enjoyable and user friendly experience when browsing using your smartphone. The site can be found at mobile.ragdalehall.co.uk

Read a magazine or book. We all get drawn to the TV far too easily – and before you know it, you’ve spent two hours watching something, that is of no to interest to you at all!

A lovely warm bath is a fantastic way to unwind, the steam will also open your pores giving you a mini facial too! Why not add a few candles around the edge of your bath for that extra bit of pampering.

Give your skin a treat with a face mask – why not pop some cucumbers on yours eyes too, there’s no one to see you!

Do your nails! Having painted nails gives you an instant boost, it’s quick and easy and you can do it yourself!

A hair mask is really nourishing and conditioning for your hair giving you luscious locks in minutes.

Lie down! Have a cat nap and you will wake feel refreshed and rejuvenated.

Exercise! We don’t mean an hour flat out on the treadmill, just a gentle walk in the great outdoors or a potter around your garden makes you feel full of life and raises the endorphins in your body – best of all, it’s absolutely free!!!

Spa Finder is a global spa media and marketing organisation based in New York and votes were submitted worldwide via their global website and readers of their publications. Voters were asked to cast ballots only for spas they’ve personally visited in the past three years.

Ragdale were also listed in the Top Ten in the World for their Fitness Programmes.

Spa Finder’s founder Susie Ellis commented “Given that there are more than 13000 getaway spas (hotels, resorts and destinations spas), being chosen by consumers (who are the true experts) is clearly cause for celebration. This is an outstanding achievement – an honour bestowed on you by thousands of spa – savvy consumers and travel agents who voted in our poll”.

As the awards ceremony is in Las Vegas, representatives from Ragdale Hall sadly will not be attending.

Conde Nast would like to know where you most like to go to relax, detox and improve your well-being, so if Ragdale does that for you, please submit your nomination.

A night at The Connaught with an Aman spa experience is also up for grabs!

Nominations will be taken until 30 September and the results will be announced in March 2012. CLICK HERE to start the questionnaire.

Image c/o frontroomcinema.com

Feeling a little let down with yet another not-so-great British summer? Don’t worry because we have the perfect solution. Confined within the walls of Ragdale Hall is an oasis of relaxation and pampering……

Dive into the main pool for a swim or climb into the Jacuzzi, lay back and feel your cares bubble away. Come rain or shine bathe in the Indoor/Outdoor Waterfall Pool in your own little bay whilst enjoying the massage jets and stunning colour changing waterfall. Rejuvenate your senses in the Colourflow Cave, filled with a humid and heady mix of jasmine and camomile, a river of colour flows to a central crystal mountain to provide a hedonistic detox. Imagine the warmth of the sun in the Thought Zone, a dry heat and warm, coupled with ever-changing music, images and colours designed to inspire positive thinking and encouraging thoughts. Take a dip in the Candle Pool, an entrancing, mosaic cavern with lapping water lit by the flicker of candles. Let our therapists pamper you from head to toe and taste some great healthy cuisine from around the world.

I’m sure just reading this you’re imagining a beach on a tropical island somewhere with sun drenching your face and clear blue water at your feet. That’s the beauty of it, once you’ve passed through our front door and dropped off your luggage, you could be anywhere in the world, whatever the weather outside.

So with summer now a distant memory and winter threatening to set in fairly soon, why not book a spa day or spa break at Ragdale Hall, the perfect all weather holiday.

In Lara’s words…

At the age of 35 most of my friends had begun to start a family and some had two children already. I didn’t feel any rush and was enjoying my life; working, socializing, exercising and going on nice holidays with my partner and friends.  My partner and I had begun to discuss having children and decided to start trying.

My periods were regular, I had a healthy lifestyle and diet and didn’t expect any difficulties to arise. So about 2 years ago I went to my doctor who began fertility investigations; the results were inconclusive and I was given a diagnosis of

Lara and Evie

‘unexplained secondary infertility’ and because of my age and already having one child I didn’t qualify for IVF and was discharged from the medical team.

Evie and Annie

Now you can say good-bye to chips, smudges, and dry time and say hello to Shellac™ Fusion Nail Colour!

One of our Shellac’d guests says:

“Totally loved my Shellac French Manicure – transformed a pair of housework hands into something far more glamourous – immediately dry and it lasts. Perfect for holidays!”

It applies like polish, wears flawlessly for up to 14 days* of high gloss shine, and is removed in minutes.

Shellac paints on like polish and is cured in a UV light so there is no dry time. The colours are hypo-allergenic, and free from – no formaldehyde, toluene or DBP (Dibutyl Phthalate).

The formula is thin and flexible like polish, so it not only looks natural, it provides strong natural nail protection with a resilient mirror finish that resists dullness and chipping, even during the most rigorous activities.

Nails are filed and cuticles pushed back, finishing with an application of colour and hand cream.

Removal packs can be purchased for use at home however professional removal is recommended.

*Dependent on certain nail types

40 minutes – £33.00 – if you have already booked a spa day or spa break at Ragdale Hall, book Shellac as an extra treatment now

Shellac is not just taking Ragdale and the UK by storm, watch this youtube video clip for some US Shellac madness!

Shellac Flash Mob June 2011 – Official Video