Creating connection

Aesthetics and wellness meet at The Ardour Clinic. Kezia Parkins speaks to co-founder Anna Miller

Strolling into The Ardour Clinic on a sunny day feels like stepping off the streets of a quaint, cosmopolitan village in a romantic European setting. The new clinic, located in Marylebone Village, London, opened in May as a collaboration between nurse practitioner Anna Miller and Dr Paris Acharya. “Ardour means great enthusiasm or passion,” says Miller. “This is something Paris and I try and put into everything we do, whether it’s the décor, treatments or coaching.”

The premise of The Ardour Clinic is representative of a trend that’s seeing wellness and aesthetics merge. In this case, the clinic is combining life coaching with aesthetics to offer an hour of exploration into the internal issues that need addressing, followed by a rejuvenating treatment to refresh the exterior.

“With regular coaching, people tend to get back to their lives quickly, so they’re not really processing their session. The Ardour Clinic gives people the space and time just to lie with it, and by this point we’ve got a really deep connection with them because touch is involved as well. We can address any further insights or questions they have that pop up later on the treatment bed,” Miller adds.

“It’s really about giving the best experience to our patients that we can, so they get the most from aesthetics. We’re very much about forming longlasting relationships – we’ve both got people who we’ve looked after for 10 years, and it’s really lovely that they’ve followed us here to this space.”

The duo also plans to add coaching for aestheticians in the future. Miller explains, “The Ardour Academy will be where we coach and mentor newly qualified aesthetic doctors and nurses because there’s very little support for them. This will span mentoring on injectables, imposter syndrome, limiting beliefs or how to set a clinic up. Between Paris and me, we have so much knowledge and want to share it.”

Inside The Ardour Clinic

The Ardour Clinic has undergone a total transformation from what it looked like previously. While situated on the second floor of a beautiful Victorian building, the before images showed the space looking drab and dingy. “Despite this, we tried to keep as much of the original charm as possible while brightening things up and stripping them back,” Harris says.

Features like the original doors and coving were retained, as well as the stunning floor-toceiling windows that let in boundless light and conversation from the streets below when flung open. The herringbone floor also pairs beautifully with the forest green accents of the clinic. “Green is very calming, and we know how being in nature can help you reconnect with yourself. It’s a colour we naturally associate with health and wellness,” explains Miller.

The Ardour Clinic space before the renovations

“We have a lovely hand-woven rug in the lounge because we wanted it to feel very homey, as well as a stocked kitchen, champagne glasses on display and perfumes in the bathroom.” Comfort is key, with dry shampoo, hair ties and even a bit of lipgloss located next to the sinks, alongside aromatic hand soap.

Scent is important to The Ardour Clinic, with each of the three treatment rooms having its own signature scent emanating from essential oil vaporisers. “People always say it’s like a Parisian apartment here,” Miller comments.

Another standout feature is the Crittal glass partitions, which create an airy, open plan feeling to the space – which used to only consist of two walled rooms but now has four. Miller says, “This is amazing to open up the space for events or to allow groups to have treatments alongside each other.”