The Beauty Cupboard Archives - Page 2 of 10

Categories: The Archives, The Beauty Cupboard, The Fashion Closet

The Science of Perfect Brows

If you read my recent post How to Grow Show Stopping Brows, then you’ll know that I’m big on eyebrows – both figuratively and literally. Brows are big business these days and currently as far as trends go there seem to be two divisive camps, Fashion Brows and Beauty Brows, with one defining, overarching theme: Bigger is better. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that brows were the surprise leader of the makeup camp throughout 2016 and 2017 with the demand for brow maintenance and grooming products booming and it all started with the rise of Cara Delevingne.

FASHION BROWS

If you fall into the Fashion Brow camp the you probably don’t care if your brows are a little messy or overgrown, you most likely sport what’s known as a ‘flat brow’ as this is the shape which is scientifically speaking ‘most beautiful’. The background of the theory is this, for years scientists have mapped out a living mask for beauty based on ‘ideals’ trends, shapes and symmetry amongst many other factors. It’s been determined that the best angle for brows in terms of physical beauty is 14 degrees – this specific degree tricks the viewers eye into seeing a feline, tilted almond shape in the eye and creates a ‘feeder line’ to the centre of the forehead effectively slimming the face and highlighting other facial features.

Press shot of Olivia culpo with hair tied back and red lipstick

Pixie Tenenbaum on Son Bou Beach in Menorca

A 14 degree angle is pretty flat, hence the term ‘flat brow’ and if you study pictures of models in fashion editorial you’ll see that most of them fall into this bracket. It’s my favourite shape of brow and the bracket that I sit firmly in, with no intention of moving.

BEAUTY BROWS

Beauty Brows were inspired by the HUDA Beauty movement and if one word describes them, it’s pristine. These brows are uber dark in colour with a super high arch. They’re the polar opposite of the Fashion Brow with an arch that tips the scale at almost 45 degrees – they require a pretty symmetrical face in order to reach their full efficacy as they’re pretty intense.

Beauty Brows are preened to perfection, you won’t find a stray, or a hair out of place and they follow they ombre trend for brows which sees a lighter powder effect on the shorter ‘sprout’ hairs closer to the nose. With a Beauty Brow, makeup is visible and that’s the intention.

That’s the other thing, you can sit in one brow camp, and migrate to anther either intentionally or unintentionally. Let me explain…..

If you currently sit in the Fashion Brow camp, but fancy sporting a higher arch, you can manipulate the shape of your brow through waxing and tweezing as you already know, this includes taking from the front corner to change the angle. If you’re looking for a more prominent arch lift then botulinum toxin as an injectable can be used at specific points to ‘stretch’ not only the centre point of the brow, but also the outer tip completely changing the shape of the upper half of your face.

Not quite ready for the needle? There are several formulas around on how you can ‘set up’ the perfect brow shape for your own face shape and they use your own facial dimensions to set the highest point of the arch. Personally, I think they’re all bullshit. You know me, I like to let mine grow wild and free, I don’t wax or pluck them and use a specific brow pencil to shade in areas that are sparse (see this post). simples. However my formula isn’t for everyone. I’ve spent a long time growing my brows back from being tiny little apostrophes by using my hero product Lumigan, so I’m not about to put them in the hands of a trigger happy waxer any time soon.

The most popular formula, and the one adopted by most UK and US Brow Bars, is to take a straight line from the outer edge of your nostril up towards your forehead, and start your brow here. The second measure is from the same starting point out through the centre of your pupil, and demonstrates where the high point of your arch should sit, whilst the third measurement shows where your brow should end. This can be used for waxing, plucking and shading and tends to dictate more of a Fashion brow as the arch is positioned flatter with this measurement.

Thinking about putting your brows in the hands of a professional? I’m a huge fan of a brow tint and I visit The Wax Bar every fortnight to keep mine topped up, a tint makes brows look thicker, darker and glossier and it picks up all the fair baby hairs that you just can’t see otherwise – it can make or break your shape. Do your research, pick a camp and decide on what you want in terms of waxing, tinting etc. and your preferred shape before you book, that way you’ll leave the salon happy rather than looking for the nearest hat shop.

Pixie xo

Categories: The Beauty Cupboard

The Secret to Growing in Showstopping Brows

This is the one you’ve been waiting for Voyeurs, the secret to my awesome brows…

I pick up a lot of compliments on my brows and with the hell I’ve put them through over the years they deserve every goddamn nice word they get. I was a motherplucker in the 90’s, I didn’t go to quite the same extreme as Kate moss or Pamela Anderson but I definitely veered into apostrophe territory and for some reason they ended up way shorter overall than they should have been.

Kate Moss holding her ponytail over her haid looking sideways, early 90's

90’s Kate Moss

Pamela Anderson on a beach, early 90's wearing double denim

90’s Pamela Anderson

Now if you know anything about the laws of hair then you will know this: The hair you want never grows, and the hair you don’t want grows at a rate of knots unless you intervene. Ergo, the hair on my head is never as long as I would like, my eyebrows never grew back on their own, and my bush sprouts like wildfire. In terms of growing back lost eyebrow hair, they definitely need an assist.

The arrival of Cara Delevingne on the modelling scene sparked a whole new trend for brows and changed the beauty industry completely. With her thick, grown in brows that blew the “Facial Measuring” rules out the water, suddenly a new brow shape was king and with that trend came a new division of the beauty marketplace.

Brow gels, palettes, powders, waxes and serums flooded the shelves and overnight, brows became big business. Next came the brow growth products from serums to ‘stickers’, there was a whole new range of products aimed at 90’s motherpluckers like me, claiming to be able to grow your brows back to their former glory.

Up until a few years ago my brows were thin and kinda looked ‘stuck on’, my efforts to grow them in over the years had been futile. For every small amount of growth I’d get, some trigger happy Beauty Therapist would wax or tweeze it back off despite my protesting. When you’ve waxed, tweezed and plucked for so long, you’ll know that any brow regrowth you’re lucky to see is different than it was before, it’s not uniform, the colour is different and the hair is more translucent due to damage to the follicles. I spent a small fortune on RapidBrow, from the makers of the hugely successful Rapid Lash which claimed to grow back and also darken brows with regular use, in as little as three months. Eighteen months down the line my brows showed no difference and at £37 for a tube that lasts a month, it’s a hefty investment to get nothing back from.

So I did a little research, and there’s some science behind all of this so take a seat and settle in. Why should you listen to me? because I grew back the most awesome pair of brows from pretty much nothing. Ready? Here comes the science:

WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH RAPIDLASH & RAPIDBROW?

If you used the product from the beginning then you’ll know that it used to be pretty effective. Not any more. Why so? Well, RapidLash used to contain an active ingredient called isopropyl cloprostenate. It’s an ingredient which has some molecular similarities to a medical active ingredient called bimatoprost. Why am I telling you this? Bimatoprost is an ingredient used in medication for the treatment of glaucoma, after extensive medical trials it was discovered that one of the side effects of its use in an eye drop formula was that it caused eyelashes to grow longer and darker in participants. Something cosmeceutical manufacturer Allergan jumped on and harnessed in a product developed for the US aesthetics market called Latisse.

Still with me? Allergan successfully brought a case against the makers of RapidLash outlining the similarities between the molecular makeup and performance of the two ingredients and used the years and years of patient trials as evidence which detailed benefits, side effects and potential risk factors. RapidLash put forward a limited defence which contained no actual human research, all of their testing is, or had at the time, been done on animals. Case closed. RapidLash were ordered to remove isopropyl cloprostenate from all products in their line up. However, and here’s the rub for any of you still using RapidLash, despite still being marketed in the same way, RapidLash and RapidBrow are little more than expensive conditioners and serums. Ouch. Still think shelling out £41 is a good investment for a product with no active ingredient? Then consider this, RapidBrow came so much after the original RapidLash product that it never actually contained any active ingredient at all.

MIND BLOWN! SO WHAT DO I USE INSTEAD?

Well remember that potentially active ingredient Bimatoprost i told you about? It’s available in a product in the UK designed to grow lashes, but because of it’s medical licensing and cosmeceutical benefits, it must be prescribed by an aesthetic doctor or nurse. It’s not something you can just go ahead an buy on the web, but then nor do you need to be diagnosed with a medical condition to get it. Let me explain…

Lumigan is a product that’s been crafted for the UK aesthetics market and it comes in two different formats. The first is an eye drop bottle, the second is as individual eye droppers in a pack which lasts 2-3 months depending on how you use it. The intention and the way it’s marketed is for growing eyelashes and it works, my lashes were ravaged by my addiction to lash extensions and I was at one point left with none at all. Lumigan helped me grow them back quickly, however it’s also suitable for brow growth too. I use it on both my lashes and brows – obviously this means I get through more of it in a shorter space of time but trust me, it’s worth it. Apply with the brushes which come with it, leave to dry et voila. Well, not quite et voila but it doesn’t take long to see results.

SOLD! HOW CAN I GET IT?

You need to book a consultation with an aesthetic doctor or an aesthetic nurse with a prescribers license. Once they’ve checked you over for any contra-indications and given you the lowdown on how to administer the product, you’re good to go. You’ll find it marketed as Eyelash Growth Serum and the formulation and dose are the same whether you’re purchasing the product to use on brows or lashes.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

That’s a good question. Depending on which aesthetic practitioner you choose (not all of them will prescribe Lumigan as one of their products), and whether you opt for the 0.1mg/ml or 0.3mg/ml strength, it ranges from £40 – £120 and a lot of this is to do with the name of the practitioner, or the repackaging the clinic has done to make the product look prettier. My advice? If you’re serious about growing back your brows, find and buy the 0.3mg/ml product if you’re starting out & the 0.1mg/ml version for maintenance, at the cheapest provider. You’re not buying expertise with the product, you’ll administer it yourself at home and throw the packaging away. If you’re talking filler, wrinkle relaxing or any other type of aesthetic procedure which requires an injection then always choose expertise over cost but in this case, cost is king.

Personally I get mine on a private prescription from Dr Steven Land at Novellus Aesthetics in Newcastle where it retails for £65 and if it’s in stock, is dispensed the same day where it can be collected or shipped to you at your home address. Remember it’s a prescription only medication (POM) so there are guidelines with this, it requires a proper consultation with a Doctor, Steven talks through what the product is (it’s for lashes and brows as an aesthetic medicine), how to use it and what to do if you have an adverse reaction – I’ve never had one but some people using it for lashes have reported a minor change in the colour of their iris.

Lumigan 0.3mg/ml

Lumigan 0.1mg/ml

WHAT DO I DO WITH IT?

Paint it sparingly on to your brows, or the parts around the existing brow shape where you want the hair to grow and leave it to dry before putting on moisturiser or makeup. It’s that simple. Using it for your lashes? A very small amount along the lash line, any more is just waste.

HOW LONG BEFORE I LOOK LIKE CARA?

I saw a big difference to my brows within three months but everybody is different. Trials for Latisse in the US reported participants seeing results to their lashes in as little as 4 weeks. Persevere, it’s something that’s been proven to work and we all know that brows are big business that require commitment!

To complement your new brows, you’re going to need some products to keep them in check, look out for my Best Brow Products post so you can tame your face framers and be the envy of everyone you know…

Pixie xo

Categories: The Archives, The Beauty Cupboard, The Fashion Closet, The Glorious North East

Intu Eldon Square Fashion Spooktacular

Struggling for some Halloween outfit inspo? Then The Intu Eldon Square Fashion Spooktacular is here to give your Winter wardrobe a shake up with an added spooky twist…

From October 23rd to 29th you’ll find the Intu Walk-in Wardrobe and resident Stylist Emma on hand to dish out advice on how to create the perfect Halloween glam outfit – there’s no cheesy fancy dress here, it’s all glam, high street pieces, with a scary edge to turn you into the perfect Halloqueen come October 31st. Whether it’s taking layered tulle from New Look to create a Corpse Bride look, or using Topshop’s sugar skull makeup kit, or even visiting Ann Summers for a tongue in cheek take on Natalie Portman’s Black Swan, Intu Eldon Square’s retailers offer a variety of ways to tap into Halloween, without having to step near a polyblend costume.

Already got Halloween nailed? There are a selection of short workshops available from finding the perfect Winter coat using FW17 trends as inspiration, to finding a festive outfit to turn heads – with only 8 Mondays left until the big day you might as well sort your outfit now and give yourself one less thing to worry about!

I was invited along to the Fashion Spooktacular preview evening, it’s one of my favourite events in the North East fashion calendar and as one of Intu’s team of Bloggers it’s always a lovely opportunity to get a good look at the Fashion Week trends that have filtered down to the high street. Given the Spooktacular theme, I wore my Topshop Stranger Things tee (which you can shop here), and was greeted with paella and sangria from Tapas Revolution on arrival as well as some familiar faces.

After a brief introduction from stylist Emma and a preview of some of the key pieces to land at the shopping mall for Halloween, we were paired off and set challenges at individual retailers, fellow blogger Jen and I hotfooted it to Topshop for a series of mini games culminating in a Supermarket Sweep style timed challenge where we were each given two minutes to style a Halloween outfit for ourselves from scratch. We also got to test out the latest glitter Lip Kits from Topshop Beauty, at £18 they may sound pricey but when you see the effect they create and just how easy they are to recreate, you’ll be adding one in every colour to your basket Voyeurs. After all, glitter makes you fitter right?

My Halloween Style Challenge Outfit

Topshop Glitter Lip Kit £18

The whole evening was rounded off with some spooky cocktails at The Alchemist, which is about to undergo a very bewitching makeover just in time for Halloween weekend, when the bar will see some of its most popular cocktails on the menu given a creepy Halloween spin.

So, how can you get involved? Well, the Fashion Spooktacular is open to everyone and workshops are run frequently throughout the day. There’s no need to book, you simply turn up, listen, then go shop!

October 23, 25, 27 and 29:

11.30am Creepy crawly homeware
No dodgy paper garlands or wolf masks here, feast your eyes on the chicest of Halloween homewares to get your house or venue ready for the creepiest night of the year!

1.30pm How to pick a wicked Winter coat
Discover this season’s outerwear trends including checks, red, folklore, sports luxe and capes all in an Fall palette of orange, mustard, black, camel, red and gold. Learn the perfect coat shape for your frame, how to identify the right size of pattern/print and which shade will make your skin tone pop.

3.30pm Autumn/Winter capsule wardrobe wizardry
Our personal stylist will work with you to build your perfect Fall/Winter capsule wardrobe based on key pieces which can be combined to maximise your looks this season extending your cost per wear.

October 24, 26 and 28:

11.30am How to pick a wicked Winter coat
As Above.

1.30pm Our top ten must have Autumn/Winter items
Featuring a mix of trends, we’ll run through our top ten must-have pieces for this season including ‘wear everywhere’ dresses, slouch boots, statement tees, knits and earrings.

3.30pm Scarily-good Halloween costume ideas
This is the chic version of Halloween, for those who really want to wow at their Halloween party. We’ll show you the very best ghastly accessories that can help create a costume using items already in your wardrobe and also super cute kids costumes for your little ones.

Bewitching beauty

The best of the the shopping mall’s beauty offerings will be on hand throughout the week to give you tips on upping the ante and levelling up your makeup skills. Fancy a Halloween makeover, or just want to learn some tips on how to create the perfect sugar skull look? The swing by for one of these beauty workshops taking place throughout the day between 11am and 4pm.

24 October: Topshop
25 October: Mystical makeovers
26 October: Inglot
27 October: Inglot
28 October: Topshop
29 October: Mystical makeovers

So, now you’re armed with the dates and the deets, you’ll be rockin’ a bitchin’ and bewitchin’ Halloween outfit in no time!

Pixie xo

Categories: The Archives, The Beauty Cupboard, The Fashion Closet

YUVA MEDI-SPA Launch

YUVA MEDI-SPA opened its doors to the public in April 2017 and got to work on it’s three month wait list. Fast forward to the end of September and here we are at the official press launch (I told you about in this post) at the prestigious Alderley Edge clinic. YUVA really is something else. When you drive through the gates and lay eyes on the converted mansion house for the first time, it buries your expectations completely, it’s a beautiful building and when I visited there was nothing but blue skies over Cheshire making it feel like I was visiting a Swiss chalet.

The launch has been a long time coming, founder Dr Raj Acquilla is one of the most respected aesthetic practitioners in the world and his vision for creating a luxurious escape for that defies the usual medi-spa environment have been truly brought to life with YUVA. The grey and muted gold tones throughout the clinic make for a super relaxing environment and the furnishings and layout have all been planned with the patient in mind.

We’ve assembled at YUVA to watch not one, but three live procedures today by Dr Raj Acquilla and Dr Liesel Holler, YUVA’s resident expert practitioners. We arrive to a champagne reception and a bit of exploring before things get underway. The former recording studio that YUVA MEDI-SPA occupies is huge yet Acquilla made the decision to fit out just three spacious and well equipped treatment rooms with beds flown in from the US, and give each room its own dedicated waiting area. Perfect for celebrity clients who want to get in and out without having been spotted.

Private Treatment room at YUVA MEDI-SPA

The reception area resembles that of a 5 star hotel, with a seating area and skin bar either side, there’s a large communal waiting area in front of the downstairs treatment area fragranced with Jo Malone’s Lime, Basil & Mandarin and looking out over the gorgeous landscaped garden. It’s a world away from the usual aesthetic clinic and that’s exactly what Acquilla wanted. A quick visit to the restroom unveils more luxury, again fragranced by Jo Malone and each basin is topped with a range of SHOW Beauty styling products for post treatment touch ups – very client-centric.

We’re welcomed by Acquilla and his team and given the story behind YUVA and how he feels that there needs to be more of a focus on preserving and enhancing our natural beauty, rather than changing things drastically with lots of filler and Botox. Acquilla is a doctor who’s not afraid to turn away a patient, or prescribe a treatment different than the one they’re requesting; he tells us that often a patient knows what they want to achieve, but is looking at the wrong course of action to get there. Acquilla prefers to assess patients on a case by case basis and make small tweaks which give big gains. The young doctor is charismatic and speaks intelligently about only offering treatments which are safe and proven and have trackable results, whilst YUVA is at the cutting edge when it comes to aesthetic treatment, you’ll never be offered something so new that there are no comparable results.

We’re taken upstairs to a room to watch a Spotlight treatment on a live model. Acquilla reminds us that preserving natural youthful looks is what he wants to achieve, and ultimately, making his model feel happier about the way she looks. He works on the right side of her face with a camera providing close up images on a big screen while we watch. One thing to note is that every injection is small and precise, Acquilla uses no anaesthesia or numbing cream anywhere on the face saying that if precise injection points are used, there is no pain for the patient – credit to him, his model never flinches, not even when her lips are injected.

He proceeds to talk us through the subtle improvements he will make, from an eyebrow tail lift, the lift in the corners of her mouth, the reduction in her ‘gummy smile’, her ‘sad eyes’ and rounded jaw. With each injection he lifts and physically sculpts the skin to the bone creating a subtle, but instant impact. Her jaw is sculpted, her mouth is no longer downturned and her eyes seem happier. Everything is small and subtle, but she’ll leave looking refreshed with no downtime at all and with results that should last around 12 months. There is no drastic difference, no over inflated lips or flat, expression free forehead (something Acquilla isn’t a fan of), everything is natural and you really wouldn’t be able to tell she’d had work done. He asks his patient regularly if she’s comfortable and she chats freely during her procedure, laughing and joking with Acquilla and definitely not showing any signs of discomfort, something I’m intrigued by as I’m familiar with the extreme pain of lip filler without a dental block.

Next we’re introduced to Dr Liesel Holler, a former Peruvian beauty queen who turned her back on a career in modelling to focus on medicine and aesthetics. Holler is a vision, she’s captivatingly beautiful and speaks passionately about aesthetics, with a particular interest in skin. The treatment she’s showcasing is a 5 step bespoke Nanopore skin treatment which includes:

◆ A Liposomed Ferulac Peel – high dose antioxidant peel to help resurface the skin and remove dead cells.
◆ Application of Vitamin C and Hyaluronic Acid to nourish and brighten the skin
◆ Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy (PRP) which uses your own blood platelets to stimulate new cell growth
◆ Nanopure Micro-needling which produces micro-channels in the skin
(with a depth of 0.2mm around the eyes and 0.5mm on the rest of the face) to encourage absorption of the preceding ingredients
◆ An LED light is placed over the patient’s face for 20-30 minutes to restore and calm the skin

The benefits to this treatment are huge, Holler tells us that the needles cause a controlled trauma to the skin, which in turn induces collagen stimulation and over the course of a month it results in smoother tone and texture to the skin, addressing concerns from acne scarring to facial lines and wrinkles. It’s part of a new wave of aesthetic treatments where skin and cells are encouraged to repair themselves on the inside, giving a greater result on the outside. The YUVA team are a testament to their procedures, each of them has glowing skin that gives you confidence in their ability, that and the fact that each member of the practicing team is listed in the Top 20 Injectors in the UK.

YUVA also offers non-surgical treatments, with HydraFacial as one of their most popular non-invasive treatments. The focus at YUVA MEDI-SPA is clear, improvement in skin quality, appearance and overall wellbeing without over injecting. If you’re starting your aesthetic journey and are looking for a doctor you can trust to take your best interests into account then YUVA is a place to put at the top of your list. Achievable outcomes, subtle improvements, conscientious practitioners and doctor led treatment, all in a luxurious and relaxing environment. Kudos Dr Raj Acquilla, YUVA MEDI-SPA just set the bar for medi-spas everywhere and damn is it high.

pixie xo

Categories: The Beauty Cupboard, The Glorious North East

John Lewis Beauty Retreat

If you’ve visited John Lewis department store in Newcastle you’ll know it stands as a flagship shopping destination in the city. Along with Fenwick it offers shoppers everything from fashion and beauty to kitchenware and appliances. What you might not know is that hidden in plain sight, is the Beauty Retreat.

You’ll find this urban sanctuary hidden behind smoked glass at the back of the Beauty Hall and I’ll admit, I thought it housed only the Clarins beauty rooms. What’s actually back there is a little more exciting than that….

I was invited along to the inaugural store specific blogger event aimed at discovering the beauty offerings from the department store giant. You guys know already that I work with John Lewis on a national scale already and my ongoing love for inhouse denim brand AND/OR, but the beauty rooms are actually something that despite being right there in plain sight, are actually pretty easy to miss. I’m here to tell you why they’re worth a visit.

I arrived to a super warm welcome from staff and a live performance from Music Newcastle’s David Ball (seriously, look him up, he’s young, hot and uber talented), our coats were whisked away and we were treated to a champagne reception and canapés that looked way too pretty to eat. Well, I say that but I ate about twenty so maybe not strictly true, anyway, after an introduction from Spa Manager Claire, we were divided into two groups to explore on and off counter products and treatments.

With Taster Treatments on offer from Decleor, ESPA, Liz Earle, Elemis and Clarins we were spoilt for choice but managed to indulge in almost everything going. The Retreat is a calming environment, despite being just yards away from the busy shop floor, it’s easy to find peace and tranquility in the soundproofed rooms. So, what’s back there to aid the stressed out shopper in Newcastle?

DECLEOR

I hotfooted it to Decleor to try out a condensed version of their signature deep tissue massage on back and shoulders and as usual was told that my body is like a block of concrete. Saying that, this girl almost had me sleeping, her firm touch was perfectly pitched for my aching shoulders and had me mentally adding her to my list of Fashion Voyeur approved Massage Therapists.

LIZ EARLE

Next up I headed to Liz Earle’s dedicated beauty room to hear all about the latest limited edition Hot Cloth Cleanse and Polish. This cult product introduces a limited blend to its fragrance line up each holiday season, it doesn’t stick around and is always worth picking up, if you’re not familiar with the product then basically it does what it says on the tin. it’s a eucalyptus blended cleanser that you ‘polish’ into wet skin using a muslin cloth and it removes ALL traces of grime, dirt and makeup without drying out your skin in the process. The beauty room offers bespoke Liz Earle treatments that can be discussed and booked on counter in the Beauty Hall.

CLARINS

Clarins monopolises the upstairs space with a large counter and treatment spa which looks out over the store through smoked glass. Therapists were on hand to give pressure point massages in those weird massage chairs that you can never quite get comfortable in. The space upstairs is clinical, contemporary and quiet, despite being right in front of the busy department store. With several treatment rooms at their disposal, the Clarins team have a suite of face and body treatments available to book as solo treatments or as a discounted block.

JOHN LEWIS URBAN RETREAT SPA CLARINS FRONT

ESPA

ESPA are a spa specific brand I know and love, much like Decleor, their focus is on the power of aromatic blends which work deep into the muscles and surrounding tissue. Their friendly Therapist was on hand to provide short massage treatments on the neck and shoulders and talk through the ethos behind the brand in the best smelling treatment room I’ve ever been in. There’s also an Elemis beauty counter in the Beauty Hall with all of those candles you’ve come to know and love (Mama Tenenbaum buys me one every Christmas).

ELEMIS

Elemis was the last treatment room I visited and personally it’s where things unravelled for me, lack of attention to detail meant I was left with muscle cooling gel in my left eye causing blurred vision and if I’m honest, a pretty scary amount of pain, I wasn’t given any water or anything to try to clean it out, just a cotton pad. Unfortunately my eye and the skin around it swelled and was left bloodshot meaning I couldn’t participate in any of the beauty hall counter action and this lasted long after I’d left the Retreat and arrived home. If you’re booking in, maybe specify no muscle cooling gel on the eye area in advance to avoid any mishaps.

Needless to say, the Beauty Hall itself has some great cult brands represented such as Sisley and Creme de la Mer – if you haven’t tried the Creme de la Mer Tinted Moisturiser then hit up the counter for a three day sample pot straight away, it will change your life. Bobbi Brown gave Influencers an exclusive preview of the new 2017 Christmas Collection ahead of its official launch and Chanel were on hand to give lip makeovers with their signature Rouge a Levres shade collection. Something else you might not know about John Lewis Newcastle is that the GHD counter actually offers hair demonstrations with GHD tools; so if you’ve been wondering how the GHD Curve might work on your hair, or how to create the perfect curl with a flat iron, then pay them a visit on the ground floor, the girls on counter are always happy to help.

All in all it made for a pretty awesome night actually, except for the eye mishap which left me flustered and headache-y. The event itself was very well organised and the staff who man the retreat are friendly and knowledgable when it comes to their specialist areas – especially the team manning the Decleor room.

We were given a programme of events on arrival meaning everything ran to time and we were given ample exploring time, the added bonus of us all being entered into a pretty epic beauty prize draw was the climax of the evening and saw one lucky lady take home £300 worth of Charlotte Tilbury goodies, swoon!

Basically Voyeurs, go check it out, the fact that it’s a separate entity at the back of the store shouldn’t put you off, the team are lovely and they might just manage to revive you if you’re running out of steam during the festive shopping season.

Pixie xo

To book an appointment or enquire about the range of services on offer, email BeautyRetreat_Newcastle@johnlewis.co.uk