Tucked away on Romford Road in E7, far from the predictable spa corridors of central London, Forest Gate’s Wild Beauty is the sort of quietly confident spot you might walk past without realising what’s inside. Founded by Mary, who began the business as a new mother working from her son’s bedroom, the salon has grown from a one-room set-up into a warm, welcoming space shaped by grounded East London entrepreneurship and a focus on natural, restorative treatments.
Step through the door and you’re greeted by a familiar neighbourhood scene: a simple, practical nail area humming with easy conversation. Walk further and the atmosphere shifts; the noise softens, the lighting warms, and a series of calm treatment rooms opens up at the back. It’s a gentle transition, revealing a space that’s far more considered than it first appears, a calm, tucked-away sanctuary behind an unassuming front.
The Treatment at Wild Beauty
I arrived on a midweek morning at a salon already busy with clients, an encouraging sign, but the moment my infrared sauna session began, the bustle faded away. If traditional saunas can feel like being locked inside someone else’s idea of ‘detox’, the infrared sauna here is the opposite. Rather than heating the air, infrared warms the skin directly, creating a sensation closer to sunbathing than sweating it out in a wooden cabin. The heat seeps in gently; around twenty minutes in, I felt the first deep, cleansing sweat, calm, steady, almost meditative. I like a classic sauna as much as anyone, but this felt like a wiser, more modern version: thoughtful, skin-friendly and genuinely restorative.
Where the sauna softens, the facial sculpts. Wild Beauty’s Signature Gua Sha Lift Facial sits at the intersection of ritual and results, a treatment rooted in traditional Chinese practice and elevated by the salon’s commitment to organic, non-toxic products. After a short consultation, the ritual unfolds: a double cleanse, exfoliation, a bespoke mask, and then the star of the show: gua sha massage.
In skilled hands, gua sha is less about the tool and more about the intuition behind it, and Sehar’s technique is exceptional. She worked methodically across my face, discovering pockets of tightness I hadn’t realised were there: along my cheekbones, beneath the brows, around the jaw. A gentle press just under the eyebrows caused an almost immediate softening, a tiny release that felt surprisingly emotional. It was a reminder of how much tension the face stores quietly across long days, screens, stress and habit.
The benefits of gua sha are well-documented: increased circulation, enhanced lymphatic drainage, reduced puffiness, boosted collagen production, but beyond the bullet-point list, the immediate effect was simply radiance. My skin looked brighter, firmer and subtly lifted, as though someone had switched on a light beneath the surface.
Given how busy it was when I arrived, it’s clear the local community already values Wild Beauty. The setting is modest in the best way, the kind of place where you instinctively expect warm, attentive service, and that’s exactly what you get.
A significant part of Wild Beauty’s appeal is the commitment to organic, non-toxic products. For anyone who seeks a spa experience but also cares about what’s applied to their skin, this is a major plus. The products used, Aura Organics and Antipodes, with Beauty of Joseon sunscreen to finish, are gentle yet effective, and the results speak for themselves.
A short journey east in place of a trek into central London brought me to this quietly impressive spot — a modest frontage giving way to a memorable experience.
The 30-minute infrared sauna delivers a welcome balance of heat and ease, leaving you restored rather than depleted. The gua sha facial deepens the effect, a sculpting, soothing ritual that lifts both face and mood. You emerge looking brighter and feeling notably calmer.
Wild Beauty isn’t trying to compete with grand spas, nor does it need to. What it offers is rarer: an independent space where expertise, care and simplicity meet. In a part of East London where spas remain surprisingly scarce, it feels like something the neighbourhood has been waiting for, a thoughtful, restorative haven hiding in plain sight.
Wild Beauty
370 Romford Road
London
E7 8BF
United Kingdom
