Inside the new Novara skincare and aesthetics clinic at Seaham Hall's Serenity Spa

Where once a simple moisturiser and SPF would do, recent years has seen a huge surge in the skincare industry, with more people than ever before interested in the science behind good skin.

Already well established for its relaxation and fitness offering, Serenity Spa, at the five-star County Durham hotel, has now opened a dedicated area for skincare and aesthetic treatments.

With a name inspired by the Latin for ‘new life / air’, Novara has transformed two of the larger treatment rooms at the spa to create more clinically-led treatments.

Sadie Hall, clinic manager at Novara, said the new offering was born from a gap in the market for bespoke treatments that are doctor-led.

“We still do the relaxation treatments in the spa, but Novara offers bespoke, advanced skincare and aesthetics treatments,” explained Sadie.

Treatments on offer at the new clinic include skin peels, microneedling, dermaplaning, LED light therapy, fillers and polynucleotides - with any injectables carried out by an NHS consultant plastic surgeon or nurse.

“It’s about doing things properly and ethically at a time when so many places are unregistered, “ explained Sadie. “It’s about offering something safe, regulated and above board from people who are trained to carry out that procedure.

“There’s been a huge rise in popularity of skincare treatments, a massive shift, and one that’s largely driven by social media. Skincare is something more and more people are interested in and we saw that there was an opportunity here to offer a really bespoke, personal service and to do it really well using brands that have the right ethics.”

Sadie added: “While Novara is more clinical than the regular spa treatments, we were still keen to keep that holistic feel to it.

“Feedback so far has been great and this is just the beginning for us - we’re hoping to offer more treatments moving forward.”

Here’s a look around what’s on offer at Novara: