Why Teresa Tarmey’s west London clinic is a thing of beauty

On a quiet street in London’s Notting Hill sits an unusual-looking building, its whitewashed façade punctuated by three arched, stained glass windows. An unassuming doorway, painted gloss black, keeps its original wrought iron handle as a marker of the building’s 150-year age.

There’s little indication as to what might be behind it, but this is the London flagship clinic of facialist Teresa Tarmey. Inside, she offers her own blend of tried-and-tested methods and high-tech procedures: cleansing and extraction, muscle-toning massage and gentle peels, microneedling, LED and laser are the foundations of her practice.

Inside Teresa Tarmey’s Notting Hill clinic

‘My whole career trajectory has been such a slow and organic process,’ says Tarmey, who hails from Doncaster, but moved to London in 2008, where she steadily became a cult ‘need to know’ name among a network of clients in the Primrose Hill set. She saw the Notting Hill space come up for rent during lockdown.

‘Even though it was a tricky time, I was completely in love with it and knew I had to make it happen no matter what,’ she says. Originally a 19th-century synagogue, the uniqueness of the interior makes the reasons for her adoration immediately clear. ‘People often think that the building is listed, but it isn’t. When we renovated the space five years ago, I didn’t want to change too much to respect the original features. I wanted it to be a place where clients, whether from London or travelling here to visit, could really feel at home.’

The layout is almost entirely circular, with stairs leading to the upper floor balcony. ‘When we acquired it, we built some partition walls up there to create the treatment rooms, but, structurally speaking, that’s all we did.’ Even the synagogue’s bimah (the raised platform used for Torah reading) remains, alongside the stained glass window above it and those that trace the perimeters of the ceiling, allowing natural light
to flood the expansive reception area from above.

‘When it came to the interiors, I kept it minimal, like a ‘white cube’ art gallery, where my products could be displayed in a way that didn’t feel overpowering,’ Tarmey continues. (Her eponymous skincare line includes a streamlined edit of highly effective topical products and a home microneedling kit, which was shortlisted in the 2022 Wallpaper* Design Awards.)

‘The furniture, lighting and objects are mostly midcentury pieces that I’ve acquired through independent dealers, such as Sophie Pearce of Béton Brut and Tom Bogl,’ she says. Guy Bourdin prints are strategically dotted around the walls. ‘One of my clients is the co-founder of the Louise Alexander Gallery, which looks after the Guy Bourdin estate. She’s been so kind to loan some of his works for us to display here. We also stage exhibitions. One of the first we put on was by Mercedes Helnwein. Leith Clark curated it and we had an opening hosted by Courtney Love. Gilbert & George came to do a book signing.’

Over in Chelsea, Tarmey has a second residency at The Cadogan Hotel, and she regularly sets up shop at the Hotel Cipriani during the Venice Film Festival. For its 81st iteration last year, Tarmey was on hand for long-time client Julianne Moore for her appearance at the premiere of Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door. ‘I’ll be at the Cipriani again this year,’ she says. ‘At the moment, I’m focusing on new body treatments we’ve launched in London, a new SPF coming out in June, plus our pop-up at Selfridges in Manchester.’

Turn down any street in 2025 and cookie-cutter medispas are sprouting up like daisies. But Tarmey’s west London haven – and indeed her holistic approach to the art of good skin – is a thing of beauty.

Teresa Tarmey’s clinic is at 206-208 Kensington Park Road, London W11, teresatarmey.com

A version of this article appears in The June 2025 issue of Wallpaper*, available in print on newsstands from 8 May 2025, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today