Fruit & water: Budapest's budget facial is good enough to eat

At first mention the organic skin products by Hungarian beauty veteran Ilcsi Néni sound good enough to eat. A scrub of paprika, clove, apple, and Hungarian thermal water, topped with a sour-cherry gel mask? Likely much better than my failed attempts at the all-natural beauty remedies. I washed my hair with egg and succeeded only in scrambling it into my hair - the secret, it seems, is to use ice-cold water. Not fun. Still, Ilcsi Néni piqued my interest in the so-called natural way so I decided to give fruit and water-based products a try with a proper facial. It sounded like a way more relaxing and useful route to skin beauty than concocting a deviation of an old wives' tale in my bathroom. And that's how I began my search for a cleansing no-frills facial that wouldn't clean out my pocketbook in the meantime.

Monika Jones

(Top) What matters is what's on the inside: the key to a budget facial is not how the salon looks, but how you feel during and afterwards. Maria Pechorina inspects her facial mask at Health Island. (Bottom) The paprika cleansing cream for all skin types, one of Hungary's thermal-water based organic skin-care products by Ilcsi Néni, sold around the world.

Since there's a kozmetikai szalon on every other corner in Budapest, it was worth running the gamut to find a budget experience. In Hungary you can get a facial at a natural health salon, a full-service hair salon, or a day spa. After making a few phone calls, I made an appointment at Health Island (Egészségsziget) in District VII, since it was advertised on Ilcsi Néni's website, offered 1.5 hour facials for a reasonable Ft 6,000 (€24), and the esthetician spoke English, raving about a recent trip to India.

When I arrived at the first floor flat that houses the clinic, it was simple and medical-esque; this was no dreamy, posh day spa with Feng Shui decorating like in the glossies. Health Island is of mismatched furniture and linoleum floors.

But beauty is only skin keep, right? I forced myself to relax. Soon what was lacking in décor was made up for by the sanitas per aqua thermal water facial, by Kata Baron, the chatty trilingual esthetician I'd spoken with on the phone. Twenty years in skin care under her belt, and a robust fascination with the body and mind - she studies psychotherapy - her training as a masseuse sold me.

Goodness did she have magic fingers. This no-frills facial was thorough: she cleansed, gave a soothing massage, a scrub, ten minutes of an aromatherapy steam, a deep pore cleansing, hand extractions, then a hydrating mask, and finally, a long face, shoulders, and neck massage. Soft Celtic music played in the background, smells swirled, a violet light overhead emitted calmness.

"She made my face feel fresh and new without having it turn bright red," says Maria Pechorina, 23. Pechorina, who is from Russia, says the experience was an improvement on her previous facials in Vladivostok because the all-natural, alcohol-free products meant her skin didn't resemble a pulped tomato afterwards.

"I could go out after. I couldn't if this were in Russia. There I had to stay in for two days at least and people would stare at me like I was an alien. This is gorgeous," she says.

Baron says her secret is Ilcsi Néni products, since they are organic, chemical-free, and thermal-water based. Baron is not alone: Ilcsi Néni has made her mark on the world beauty market - her 150-plus creams, lotions, and scrubs are sold in the far reaches of Dubai, Tokyo, London, and Los Angeles. They start at Ft 1,800, €7.

"Since it is wintertime and the skin is tight, I use water-based creams to stimulate hydration," says Baron. She specializes in treatments for both women and men, and has remedies for aged skin, oily skin, and teenage skin. Baron suggests everyone have a semi-annual cleaning to keep skin luminous and says outdoor exercise - even on a smoggy winter day in Budapest - is an easy way to rosy, vitamin D-infused skin in the meantime.

In Hungary, the average facial costs between Ft 6,000 and Ft 10,000, through they can be as high as Ft 23,000 (at the Caboodle.hu-reviewed Omorovicza salon, which also uses their own all-natural products).

In all, there is nothing better than a reasonably-priced local experience with organic, natural products that sound good enough to eat but are actually designed for your face and not for your kitchen; which is more than I can say for that old egg-as-shampoo routine.

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