One day last week, lying in a darkened room as a warm, peeled, hardboiled egg was rolled around on my face by a Malaysian beauty therapist, I got to thinking: we have developed an extremely sweet tooth in the West.”Edible”-scented beauty products are almost exclusively of the sugary variety’ even if you balk at slathering yourself in body lotions laden with the scent of synthetic vanilla, you’ve probably got a product in your bathroom that’s a little bit lemon-y. Fruit and sweets, then, we associate with health and happiness, making them ideal for daily ablutions. But what about grooming oneself with something a little more … savoury? Last Christmas, I was given a foot-soak that was flavoured with mustard.Now, I love mustard, but I don’t want to smell of it (not deliberately, anyway). I stuck with the “Chinese Pearl, Rice and Egg Undulation Facial” (pounds 75, 1hr) though - I know, only a smoked haddock short of kedgeree - and afterwards my skin looked clearer and eventoned. Savoury-scented beauty treatments are anathema to Westerners, but it’s a different story in Chinese and Malaysian culture, where many ingredients double up for both medicinal and culinary purposes.We like to try out such treatments because they’re exotic - but we risk experiencing a kind of sensory culture shock. The facial I tried is part of the Malaysian Spa Festival at Urban Retreat at Harrods (to 28 May)’ they’re also offering a deep-tissue Malay massage (pounds 75, 1hr) that uses an oil blended from turmeric, citronella, cinnamon, onion and garlic. Only for the adventurous - and never before a date, obviously.