THE beauty industry and I are not well acquainted. In fact we are virtual strangers.

I consider myself fortunate to have fallen prey to a Clinique representative in Kendals in Manchester 30 years ago. The three-step cleansing routine cleared my skin within a week and I have been a faithful consumer ever since, never straying from the path.

The brand is a bit of a luxury, so in our house, a jar of body butter at £30 a throw is one for a birthday list.

So a trip to the Titanic Spa in Huddersfield was a journey out of my comfort zone, not least because it involved an overnight stay. I was a bit trepidatious.

But I was pleasantly surprised . . . though taken aback by the price tags.

Circulating with strangers clad in fluffy brown bathrobes all day, even during lunch, took a bit of an adjustment. The grindingly slow pace of the indulgence demanded a major gear change that I failed to master. And I couldn't help but judge the men who appeared to be joining in with the pampering happily.

But I must admit I enjoyed the individual elements that the spa day includes.

We started with the Heat Experience . . . a series of steam, sauna and ice chambers, in which you sit in your swimwear for three to five minutes each, punctuated with foot spas, a plunge pool and showers. The mosaic tiling and seating in the steam rooms is luxury quality and the herbal steam room and sauna were glorious and I could have stayed there for much longer, but I was accompanied by a teenage daughter who wasn't finding it terrifically stimulating.

So we went for lunch, which was healthy and a bit modest . . . I like healthy, but others may find the menu a bit limiting. We enjoyed chicken caesar salad and artichokes with red chard. We topped up from the bowls of apples that are scattered about.

One thing of note . . . mobiles are prohibited inside the spa, so I was treated to the encouraging sight of many guests reading the complimentary newspapers over lunch and the acres of downtime.

When we had left a reasonable amount of time for our little lunch to go down, we sampled the pool, which was an ample size, not heavily chlorinated and a pleasant temperature. It is overlooked by the gym, which guests are also free to use.

Finally it was time for our treatments - a Decleor body massage and a facial.

If you like lowered lighting, pan pipes and aromatherapy, then this is a treatment for you.

My excellent masseuse told me she had trained at college in Doncaster, from where she makes the hour's journey every day. I don't know how thin on the ground beauty industry jobs are, but that seems a long commute down the M62, so I can only assume that working at the Titanic Spa is a big deal.

The facial also went down very well, and again, the therapist put my daughter at ease and made the experience a very pleasant one.

With our treatments complete, we could have settled down for a snooze in the darkened relaxation room . . . where clients while away time lounging on brown bean bags . . . or we could have returned to the pool, gym or heat experience.

But we chose to go to our apartment upstairs before the evening meal.

The spa is in a former Edwardian mill in the Colne Valley, overlooking the Leeds Liverpool canal and the Manchester to Leeds railway line. It's an attractive setting, and the apartments on the upper floors enjoy floor to ceiling views.

Our apartment was modern, spacious, fairly luxurious, with two double bedrooms and two bathrooms, and could have accommodated eight people including sofa beds.

The evening meal was more substantial, of the same high quality, with imaginative vegetarian, fish and meat dishes to choose from. For a small fee, the two course dinner can be expanded with starter or dessert.

Again, some diners stayed in their bathrobes, others dressed up, and still others turned up in their pyjamas. Anything goes at the Titanic Spa!