DING HOUSE BEAUTY & SLIMMING SALON
Lower Ground Floor, 410-420 Sussex Street, Sydney
Date of Treatment : Saturday, 3pm February 2, 2007
Ambience
When you walk down the steps to the ground floor of the complex, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d come to the wrong place. At the bottom of the steps is a small store of clothes, shoes and bags with two to three people staring at you expectantly from behind a steel counter and to your left is a crowded hair salon. It’s not until you venture a few steps forward that you see a small narrow hall to your left which houses the reception area for the actual salon. The reception desk is usually unattended so you would have to furtively knock on the closed door.
The place is very small with only about three rooms – not counting the main room which is the main thoroughfare between the other rooms. They also hold some treatments in this main room and I was unfortunate enough to have had one of my facials here which allowed for no privacy with the constant movement of people about and the bright lights overhead. But most of the time, I had my facials in one of the two facials rooms – a small, cluttered room with two beds against opposite walls. When the place gets booked out, you’ll find yourself sharing the room with a stranger and another therapist. Despite some relaxing music in the background, other employees come in and out of the rooms to use the sink or get some supplies that it does get a little distracting – the good thing is the facial and massages are so good, you’ll find yourself drifting off to sleep, despite the noise.
Ambience rating : 1.5
Treatment
Sensitive Facial Treatment
Duration : approximately 1.5 hours
Price : $55.00AUD
Products used : Sothy’s
Ding House was where I had my first ever facial treatment, which was in 2000. I had broken out - the area around my nose was flaky, dry, itchy and red and I had some bumps all along the sides of my face like I had an allergic reaction to something. After my first treatment there, my skin settled down and the redness and itchiness was gone. A week later, my skin was back to its normal complexion.
Since then, I get my facials at the salon about two to three times a year. I don’t know of any other facial treatment in any other salon that offers heavenly facial and shoulder massages and, without fail, I drift off to sleep halfway through, only to be awoken by my therapist calling out “Done!” and trying to rouse myself to get up and get dressed. The therapists there have the smoothest hands that glide like silk over your face and the pressure on your face and shoulders is just perfect. They say you know it’s a good hair salon if you like the hairdressers’ hair – I say the same thing about Ding House. Every single therapist has the softest, most translucent skin I’ve seen, totally devoid of pimples and blemishes – apparently thanks to Sothy’s. My complexion is even and brighter – I love the mask they use which unfortunately, isn’t for sale – and I’m not the only one to notice the difference either.
My only problem with the facials there? Some therapists get very intense with the blackhead extraction – they dig into and scrape your skin. First-timers have admitted to shedding tears.
Body Massage
Duration : 1 hour
Price : $80.00 AUD
Body Massages are tricky. I’ve had full-hour massages here about five times and it’s a hit and miss, depending on who you get and whether or not they’ve massaged someone before you so their hands are a little tired.
But for my latest body massage, I was told that there’s a new girl recently arrived from Hong Kong and touted one of the best masseuse in Hong Kong. Usually, massage therapists would ask you where your vulnerable spots where. Lily(?) did no such thing and promptly worked on my body, almost a little impatient to start. She pinpointed exactly where my sore spots where and massaged the aching muscles away that, before too long, my eyelids were heavy and I found myself drooling. The bad thing about someone who can pinpoint your exact sore spots is that they won’t hesitate to put the required pressure to get the job done. At times, especially when she was massaging my legs which were still a little sore from Tae Bo the night before, I would wince in pain which I was certain she knew of but pressed on anyway.
The weirdest thing about the massage was that Lily didn’t just use her hands and elbows. From the very beginning, she jumped up on my back, braced her palms on my shoulders, and her knees in the vulnerable spots in my back. Then she proceeded to massage the backs of my legs and feet with her own feet and toes. She wasn’t heavy at all – while the pressure was firm, it was just right and I could feel the tension from my shoulders ebbing away. She was the best masseuse I’d had in a long time.
Another good thing with getting a massage at Ding House is that, if time permits, they let you lie on the massage bed before your massage appointment for up to 45 minutes.
Treatment rating : 5
Service
The therapists aren’t the friendliest around and won’t hesitate to tell you how crap your skin is but after a few remarks and questions at the beginning, they leave you alone and won’t say anything more until the treatment is finished. They’re also known for selling their products and services quite aggressively so if you go there with a certain budget in mind, try not to let them sway you. It’s hard, especially with them insisting that the treatment you’ve asked for won’t do anything for such bad skin, but try to anyway.
Ding House therapists also take their time with the treatments – which could be a good or a bad thing. I’ve had some facials that have lasted close to two hours and this really depends on the therapist you happen to get – if you don’t specify who you want at the time you make your booking. Some are very meticulous especially when removing blackheads and analysing your skin while others realise you may have another appointment afterwards. Book a treatment here only if you have a couple of hours to waste – I wouldn’t recommend booking if you have a strict appointment afterwards or have someone waiting for you – unless they’re prepared to wait two hours or so. Even if you prompt your therapist that you need to get out by a certain time, they’ll merely nod their head but pay your request no heed.
Another thing I make sure of is that I never book for more than two people at Ding House. I once made a mistake of booking for 5 people and although I was reassured at the time that we would all be treated at the same time and no one would be kept waiting, such a case never happened. Two of us were in the facial rooms at least 45 minutes before the other two were brought in. The fifth one was promptly forgotten.
Service rating : 1
OVERALL RATING : 4.5
While the service and ambience are lacking at Ding House, I believe the treatments make up for them, thus the 4.5 rating. I don’t recommend this to those looking for a true spa experience or who like people to fuss over you, asking if you would like tea/coffee, etc. But if you want a routine treatment for your skin or need urgent treatment for those breakouts or other skin problems, this is definitely the place. Ding House also offers the best value for money when it comes to facials. I’ve recommended this place to my family members and friends and while they agree that the service and ambience aren’t the best, the facials themselves are excellent and cheap. Plus, you get free samples if you're a newbie.
Leo Dimilo
Tonya Lachey
Denise Gabbard
Dianna G
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