Ever thought of having your feet used as a five course meal ? Nope. Me neither. But when an invitation came to have a pedicure at the Margerita Salon which would include having the dead skin on my feet eaten away by a tank full of Garra Ruffa fish – I could hardly refuse.
Slightly concerned at what was in store for me, my first question was, well, er … why ?
Well, it turns out that getting fish to help with skin ailments has a long and noble history. Ichthyotherapy, to give it it’s proper title, has been used for centuries in India, the middle east and China and is a natural treatment used to help relieve symptoms of skin conditions by removing dead skin.
In this particular treatment, the good people at the Margarita (http://www.margaritabeautysalon.com/content/welcome) salon in north Dublin use Garra Ruffa fish to remove dead skin as a pedicure treatment.
Obviously, having established that someone, somewhere, had tried this before, my next question was obviously going to be – does it hurt ? To which the answer is an assured no as the Garra Ruffa fish have no teeth.
Coming from rivers within the Euphrates Basin they have adapted to the scarcity of food in their environment by feeding on the skin of other animals. The fish simply suck away dead skin, releasing a completely natural anti-bacterial agent to help heal and soften as they do. So the deal seems to be, the fish get fed, and you get rid of dead skin without having to bother with a pummice.
Ok, if it’s, a bona-fide beauty treatment, and it doesn’t hurt, then your next question will clearly be – what’s it like ?
Frankly, the fish pedicure is brilliant. Ok, at first I’ll say it’s a bit scary, but then the whole thing becomes wonderfully surreal. Like a beauty treatment as invented by Salvador Dali.
Once your sitting comfortably you swing in your tootsies and the fish go to work. Obviously, at the sight of seeing dinner the thirty or so fish get really excited and dash in head first which is a bit alarming, but after a while it just feels like your feet are being wrapped up in thousands of teenie tiny little fishy kisses.
After half an hour in the tank my feet were softer than marshmallow and once I’d been gently padded dry I was given a manicure. It made my week.
Ever thought of having your feet used as a five course banquet for a tank full of hungry fish …. nope me neither. That was until the Margarita Salon in Sutton got in touch to ask me if I would like to try their pedicure treatment.
You see rather than just pop you on the table and go to work they’ve imported in a load of fish that do the job for them ! The Garra Ruffa fish eat away dead skin on the feet as part of the salons pedicure treatment and having tried the whole thing I must say I was really impressed.
It turns out that getting fish to help with skin ailments has a long and noble history. Ichthyotherapy (thats getting fish to eat skin) has been used for centuries in India, the middle east and China and is a natural treatment used to help a range of skin conditions. Obviously, having established that someone had tried this before, my next question was obviously going to be …. does it hurt ?
No. It seems the Garra Ruffa fish, being the clever fellows they are, have adapted to the scarcity of food in their environment by feeding on the skin of other animals. The fish simply suck away skin, releasing a natural anti-bacterial agent to help heal and soften your feet as they go hoovering up your excess flesh. The deal is that the fish get fed, and you get rid of dead skin without having to bother with a pumice. Seems fair enough to me !
If your wondering what this feels like it’s pretty much divine. It has a kind of Salvador Dali works at your local beauty salon sort of feel to it – the whole experience is unforgettable. Given the fish have no teeth, putting your feet in a warm tank of water and having them eat away at your flesh produces a tickling sensation but once you’ve calmed down a bit it feels like getting thousands upon thousands of teenie tiny little fishy foot kisses.
After half an hour in the tank my feet were softer than marshmallow and once I’d been gently padded dry I was given a brilliant manicure. It made my week. Surreal, and slightly tingly.
My daughter treated me to a Dr fish pedicure in Margarita’s saloon at Sutton cross. I was not looking forward to it but it was fabulous and I am looking forward to going again. My daughter came with me and it was a lovely experience. Margarita helped to make our experience a very memorable one. Well done to her and to all concerned.
Comment by LUCY BYRNE — July 13, 2010 @ 12:51 pm
Thanks for letting us know Lucy. I can understand how you weren’t looking forward to it, but it really works!
Comment by admin — July 17, 2010 @ 5:56 pm