Golden Touch Intimate Waxing - Soho

By Laurin

When I got back in the saddle after my divorce, I noticed a curious statement on about half the profiles of any given online dating service: “I love London, but equally love escaping the hustle and bustle for a relaxing weekend in the country.” Not me. I spend 95% of my time happily cocooned within Zones 1 and 2, believing absolutely in Peter Ackroyd’s pronouncement that “London is so large and so wild that it contains no less than everything.” Soho, especially, is the balm of my soul and since I no longer spend a sizeable portion of my time and income drinking there, I have resolved of late to concentrate all my grooming services within its streets. If I clock up enough hours here, I reason, I will simply be absorbed into the pavement of Brewer Street, and we shall never be parted again.

The only problem with this, as far as I can see, is the matter of cash. Central London beauty services are indisputably more expensive than their local counterparts, and it adds up quickly if you happen to need a haircut, waxing, and nails done all in the same month. It’s not unheard of to pay £50 or more for a bit of below-the-belt grooming in some branded salons, because who wants to put their ladyparts on the line just to save a few quid? At least, not unless a tube of Canesten is your idea of a “holiday kitbag essential”.

But lo, West End Workers! I bring you glad tidings in the glittering form of Golden Touch Waxing, which is now operating out of the Bodhi Clinic in Ingestre Place (just off Broadwick Street). It’s owned by Hannah Salisbury, a cheery New Zealander who is just striking out on her own after years working as a trainer for other waxing emporiums. She doesn’t do facials, massages or pedicures. It’s all waxing, all the time for Hannah, and she’s bloody good at it too. I’m not going to get too graphic about what I had done because this isn’t Vice and I promised Madame Editor I wouldn’t. Let’s just say it involved a large country in South America and it was, by Hannah’s own definition, an “intimate wax”. That means everything off, from belly button to coccyx. Moving swiftly on then, here’s what you need to know:

• Nobody in the hair removal business seems to bother with the pretence of modesty any longer. It’s all “knickers on the chair” and not a paper thong in sight.
• But thankfully, they do all provide wet wipes for you to “freshen up” before the treatment, which incredibly kind when it’s late July and you’ve just spent half an hour hurtling between underground locations in a sweltering metal box deemed unfit for livestock (known locally as “the Tube”).
• You get special wedge pillows pushed under your hips on each side to prevent lower back strain when you’re asked to open your knees. I’ve said it before, but small concessions to a client’s comfort during a treatment is what impresses me more than any technique. This is one of those small but utterly luxurious gestures.
• If the phrase “open your knees” already has your cheeks burning, fear not. Hannah puts you completely at ease during the treatment. We chatted about restaurants, the correct and incorrect way of holding your friend’s newborn baby and her plans for World Waxing Domination. It felt more like having a coffee with a friend than completely exposing myself to a person I’d met only ten minutes earlier.
• Hannah uses hot wax, which adheres to the hair as opposed to the skin. It doesn’t require the use of strips to remove the product, and it is about 98% less painful than traditional waxing. Which is to say that I barely noticed anything was happening at all.
• When the treatment is finished, it all goes a bit ‘Our Bodies, Our Selves’. You get a hand mirror, and Hannah steps out of the room while you inspect her handiwork. If you spot a stray that her eagle eye has missed, you can call her back in to deal with it. This was appreciated, but unnecessary in my case. I could not spy a hair out of place, so to speak.
• A full Hollywood or Brazilian costs £35. In my experience, this is a bargain for Central London.

I never thought I’d be able to say I’d had a pleasant bikini wax, but so I did. If waxing is your bag, I can wholeheartedly recommend The Golden Touch. And, to make it even better, Hannah is offering our readers £5 off any service over £30, or a free eyebrow or upper lip wax. All you have to do is quote Get Lippie when you book.

The Golden Touch (www.thegoldentouch.co.uk) is in the Bodhi Clinic at 14 Ingestre Place, W1F 0JQ. To book, call 020 7734 4184.

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Boots Opticians and Protect Lenses

By Get Lippie

I've been a glasses wearer for nigh on 40 years now, and, I'll be honest, I hate wearing my glasses.  Years of being told I was an "ugly duckling" in my smeared pink plastic NHS frames (complete with eye patch for several years, to boot) as a child, followed by decades of movies and TV using "beautiful woman in glasses" as shorthand for "ugly woman in need of makeover" as a trope , has left me feeling far more comfortable when I'm not wearing my glasses.  I don't feel "beautiful" in my specs, ever, so discovering long-wear contact lenses was a happy day for me.  I know other women don't have this problem, and I see beautiful women looking amazing in their glasses every day, but I feel self-conscious in mine whenever I wear them.

Now, whilst I don't feel beautiful in my glasses, what if you could use your glasses as a beauty aid?  Bear with me, it'll make sense, I promise.  The skin around your eyes is the thinnest skin on your body, and as such, it's the most vulnerable to sun damage, caused by UV rays.  We all know that sunglasses should also protect your eyes about UV rays, but did it ever occur to you that your everyday glasses should too?

I was invited to take an eye test at my local branch of Boots recently, and find out more about their services, and their now-standard "Protect" lenses.  It's been a long time since I've had a Boots eye test, and I was pleasantly surprised at how thorough and professional their sight test now is.  I've always been a sufferer of both myopia (short-sightedness) and hyperopia (long-sightedness) after a series of operations on my eyes as a young child, but as I've got older, I've developed a touch of astigmatism (where the shape of the eyeballs is slightly irregular - rugby instead of soccer balls, if you will).

This time around,  Boots lead me to the - slightly depressing! - conclusion that I can add presbyopia (where the lens has trouble focusing on nearby objects) to that list too.  Simply put, this means reading glasses are now a necessity ... I've been having trouble focusing on beauty product packaging for a while now, but reading glasses had totally passed me by as a possibility!    I refused varifocals though, I'm not that old.

The Boots eye test also checks for signs of  glaucoma, alongside high blood pressure, and diabetes, both of which can show signs in the eyeballs before the patient might notice any other symptoms. They also photograph the optical nerve and the blood vessels in the eyes to check on your general optical health too.  All of these tests checked out well for me, which is a great relief, but it's good to know that Boots are prepared for all these eventualities.

New "every day" glasses by Givenchy.

But, back to all things beauty and UV rays.  Boots are now including their  "Protect" lenses in the price of all frames. Previously, they were only available for an extra charge of £40. Oh, and how happy was I to see that they now label their prices on their frames as the "complete price"?  It makes such a difference -  how many times have you picked out some frames, only to drop them in horror when the full price comes up?  Or is that just me?   Anyhoo: Protect Lenses.  They come with a special coating on both sides of the lenses which will stop UV rays getting to the skin around the eyes (which is ten times more susceptible to UV rays as anywhere else on the body) from both the front and being reflected off the back of your lenses from light hitting from behind you.  In effect, these lenses offer you an sun protection equivalent of SPF50, whether they are tinted or not!  They will also protect you from the UV rays given out from your computer monitors and tablet computers - they're all ageing!

I'm fully dressed, I promise you.

These are my new reading glasses made by Kyusu, I went for a slightly bigger frame for these, as you tend to look down when you are reading.  In addition to UV protection, Protect lenses are also scratch resistant and reflection-free, which is good for reading, particularly on backlit screens. However, I went (as I always have to owing to my prescription difference), for the thin and light option on both my reading and distance lenses, for which you do still have to pay an extra charge.

Yup, fully clothed.  Honest.

For my sunglasses (Boots own frames) though, I didn't bother with the thinner lens option, and I've not noticed them being particularly heavy in wear.  I like that you can pick the level of the tint you require, which is good, as I always simply just pick the biggest, blackest sunglasses you can get in the store, and presto, these were the result!

I've found the new lenses to be extremely (even remarkably) clear, and very easy to adjust to in wear. The thin and light lenses really are just that, and don't leave red marks on your nose because of the weight of the glass in the frames.  I have other, smaller, glasses with so called "thin" lenses in them which I hate wearing for more than a couple of hours at a time because they leave a ridge in my nose!  None of the glasses featured here do that.  Of course, I may just have picked lighter frames this time ...

An eye test doesn't just test how well you can see, it can give you a health check at the same time.  Likewise your new glasses won't just help you see better, they might just help save your skin too.  You will still need SPF facecream too though ...  You can find out more about Boots Opticians and their lenses here.

The Fine Print: Get Lippie was a guest of Boots Opticians. The sight test and one of the pairs of glasses in this piece were provided by Boots for review purposes.  However, several pairs of the glasses in this feature were purchased at the author's own expense.  This is NOT a sponsored post.

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Leopard Print Nails with Nails Inc, Barry M and Sally Hansen

By Emily

Leopard print nails are a bit old school now…but still a favourite of mine! Every time I leopardize (made up word) my nails I get a huge amount of compliments, and no-one ever thinks they are hand-painted! So if you want to add a bit of Grrrrr to your mani, here’s how!

First up, two coats of polish, you can choose any colour you like, doesn’t have to be traditional leopard colour! I used Nails Inc. Gel Effect Polish in Lexington Gardens: it gives great coverage in two coats.

Once your base colour is dry, use a contrasting colour (I used Barry M’s Gelly Hi-Shine in Blueberry) to create the patches. Simply dab the brush onto your nail, in irregular patches. You don’t need to be neat, but be careful not to have too much on the brush, or you’ll get 3d blobs.

Once your patches are dry use a nail art pen in black to carefully outline each of the patches, and add some extra dashes and dots in-between. You’ll need a steady hand, but I practice on a piece of paper before starting on my nails, to get the right flow from the pen. I used a new pen this time, Sally Hansen’s I Heart Nail Art Pen…and it’s brilliant! It gives a fine line and is much easier to control than any other nail art pen I’ve used.

Finally, after a bit more drying time, slick over a decent top coat (I use Seche Vite ALWAYS!) to give a glossy finish!

Let me know if you give my Leopard Mani a try!

Chantecaille Autumn Winter 2014: 15th Anniversary Palette

By Get Lippie

You have to have a heart of stone (or at least a deep, deep hatred of taupe, you sick puppy) to be able to resist the annual Chantecaille Charity Palettes.  Usually items of huge beauty devoted to a single animal cause, tigers, turtles, butterflies and such, it can be difficult to bring yourself to use them.  Out next month, the Chantecaille 15th Anniversary Palette is certainly a thing of beauty, and it's very wearable too.  I steeled myself to try it out recently:

Clad in the brand's trade-mark pewter livery, the palette comes complete with a facsmile of Sylvie Chantecaille's signature across the top, and inside we have, instead of the usual three eyeshadow shades and a blush, just three eye shades, which makes this a far more compact and portable option than the larger four pan options:

Three shades, each embossed with a different animal.  The deep aubergine liner shade has an elephant, the slightly warm vanilla highlight comes complete with a monarch butterfly, and the elegant coppery-taupe has a turtle.   All the shades are very wearable, and are very sheer in use:

This pic is slightly more representative of how the colour appear in the flesh, it's shown alongside a couple more pieces from the collection that I'll show you later.  However, here is how the colours swatch:

The colours here are swatched over bare skin.  Chantecaille isn't particularly known for its deeply pigmented products (which, if you're over the age of, say, 35 or so, is a bit of a blessing.  You'll see), so these swatches shouldn't come as much of a surprise.  However, if you swatch over an eyeshadow primer (and I never wear shadow without a primer), then you'll see a huge difference:

The shades are complex and flattering, but admittedly, they're not hugely dramatic, though you could create a great smokey eye with this, it's also a lovely wearable daytime palette too.

Unusually for the normal Chantecaille charity palette, this supports three foundations:  The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, the Monarch Butterfly Fund and Widecast, which respectively support elephants in the wild, butterflies, and, of course, sea turtles.

It'll be available from SpaceNK next month - will you be picking one up?

The Fine Print: PR Sample.

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Flower Power: Ciaté Flower Manicure

By Emily

Oooooh, PRETTY! Flowers on pastel nails! I’m hyperventilating!

So yeah, I’m easily pleased. However, this fabulous ‘Bada Bloom!’ Flower Manicure from the geniuses at Ciaté contains all you need to create a super-summery floral nail. These guys have got manicure innovation nailed (sorry). It IS a bit fiddly, but the end result is worth it, I promise.

The set contains a mini paint pot in a pastel blue called Ferris Wheel. It’s a pretty colour but doesn’t give great coverage. I had to use three coats to get an even finish, which equals A LOT of drying time. Luckily Countryfile was on and it was John Craven’s 25^th anniversary, so I was enthralled and the drying time just flew by.

Once your colour is completely dry add a slick of the topcoat (included in the set) to one nail and with tweezers place the dried flowers onto the wet topcoat. Push down gently (with the tweezers) to get the flower to adhere to the topcoat and lie as flat as possible. Repeat on each nail, placing the flowers irregularly and mixing up the colours, until the flower fairies would be WELL JEL.This would work really well on one or two feature nails, but I decided to go the full hog, because, no reason.

Finally, over the top of the flowers you apply the top-coat to seal them to the nail and add a glossy finish. You can then file off any flower bits around the top of the nail: I used a pair of small nail scissors to take off any larger sections.

It is quite a long process, but totally worth it I think. The mini-pansy flowers lie flatter on the nail but I prefer the effect of the purple flowers, even though they are more 3D.

I don’t imagine this is very long-lasting but for a special summer night this is a super-pretty manicure and great value too. The set includes a mini paint pot, a full-size top coat, two pots of flowers (I’ve got loads left), tweezers and a basic nail file; for just £18. And that equals some serious blooms for your buck.  

The Fine Print: PR Sample

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ByTerry Rose Infernal Collection: Eye Powder-Kajal, Rose de Rose, and Baume de Rose Fig Fiction

It's too darn hot right now, and when that happens, my mind always starts to think wistfully about cooler seasons, I'm not a happy summer bunny, alas.  Not to mention that I always prefer the Autumn and Winter makeup collections to the ubiquitous summer bronze (with a splash of "unexpected" blue) that we've been seeing all summer every summer since, well, time began.

ByTerry is one of my favourite brands, and this micro-collection of makeup staples (the wider collection has two fragrances and some really lovely skincare, which I'll tell you about another time) is a lovely one:

Yeah, 'scuse the finger marks, I couldn't wait to try the lipbalm.  Sorry!  Not sorry.

Consisting of a triple-shade blush in Rose Infernal, a powder eyeliner in Oriental Black, and for the first time the iconic lip balm, Baume de Rose comes in colour! There are six shades, and this is number 5 Fig Fiction.

The Rose de Rose contains three shades, a pink-coral, a salmon-peach, and a pearly pink highlight.  It comes complete with a small brush, and a good-sized embossed mirror.  It does kick up a lot of dust on application, but it's really nice - pinker than you'd expect - colour on the skin:

This has been applied with a heavy hand to get the colour to show up in pictures, but a lighter application leaves you with a sheer pink rosy glow that looks almost lit from within.  The different colours are probably too small to be able to get to the individual shades with the average blusher brush, but the pan is a great size for swirling. The powder smells divinely of roses, as does almost everything in this collection.

I do love a powder eyeliner, I own an entire set of the Guerlain loose kohls for example, and this is a good one.  The tip of the applicator is actually a sponge, which is really handy, as it adds a bit of flexibility to the application process - Boots No7 did a limited powder liner with this kind of tip a few years ago, I've always wondered why they didn't bring it back to be honest - and with a black this black (for it is indeed very black.  Indeed) you're going to need all the help you can get when you're putting it on:

It blends out easily, and a little goes a long, long way, so if you want to do a soft but intense smokey eye, this is great.  You can see from the swatch above that there is not much grey in the formulation, so you're not going to end up with a wan, pale grey smokey eye here.  You will get a lot of fall-out with this - it is the nature of the beast with eyeliners of this nature, to be honest, there's no avoiding it - so I suggest you do your eyes first and then do the rest of your make up, and especially your base, afterwards.  It lasts and lasts, particularly on the waterline, and barely fades at all.  I've not noticed any staining, but this is a great BLACK liner.

I'm not a massive fan of the original Baume de Rose, to be honest.  It's actually a great balm, and has a really nourishing formulation, but the milky film of colour it leaves on the lips is, for me, a killer.  With that in mind, I may have given a tiny whoop of delight when I saw the six new shades of Baume de Rose recently.  This is Fig Fiction, a sheer and easily wearable plum colour.

Anything that isn't milky on the lips is a winner for me, and the sheer but not unpigmented colour is great.  With the same gorgeous rosey scent as the original, this feels nourishing and cushiony on the lips, but it IS a balm, and therefore won't last very long.  It's a pleasure to reapply (even though it does come in a pot, a particular bugbear of mine), so this shouldn't be too much of a hardship.

The ByTerry Rose Infernal collection will be instore from September (the blush costs £72, and the eyeliner will cost £29) but the coloured Baume de Rose collection is in SpaceNK now, and they cost £35 each.  I'll be picking up Cherry Bomb and Bloom Berry come payday ...

The Fine Print: PR Samples

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ARK Skincare Derriere Facial

By Laurin

When I first agreed to contribute to Get Lippie at the beginning of this year, I imagined filing some light-hearted musings on perfume each week, maybe with a few words on moisturiser here and there. I did not expect to spend my mornings rollerballing napalm onto my bottom, or my evenings applying thigh creams that caused my flesh to stick together like sweaty plastic cheese slices. And so it was last week, when I found myself en route to the ARK Salon in Putney to test their brand new “Derriere Facial”, that I realised that I had unwittingly become Get Lippie’s Official @rse Correspondent. I’m updating my CV even as we speak.

Obligatory Disclaimer: Quick fix creams and treatments work for those who are either blessed with good genes, or those who already put in the work at the gym and need a bit of extra help. For anything greater, you need a plastic surgeon or a sorcerer, and I got kicked out of Hogwarts for lewd behaviour during Charms lessons. Sorry.

The Ark Salon sits on a busy stretch of Putney Bridge Road, flanked by a gourmet burger bar and a Brazilian barbeque joint. High quality skincare and delicious meat snacks pretty much covers all my basic needs, and I immediately begin making mental plans to relocate to SW15.

Inside, the spa is an oasis of calm and cool. I am greeted by Judy the spa manager, and spend the obligatory five minutes filling out forms of the medical variety. On the dot of 2:45pm, my therapist Georgina ascends the stairs to collect me for my treatment. Before she begins, she asks me what I’d like to achieve that day. The treatment can be adapted somewhat, depending on whether your main concern is cellulite, sagging or skin tone in general. I explain that I’d be happy to leave with smoother, more even-toned skin, and she leaves me to get undressed.

On my own in the room, the first thing I notice is the small shelf beneath the head of the massage table. It is, I am later informed, for resting your arms during the treatment. Hallelujah and praise be. At this exact moment, I know this is going to be great. I am convinced that it is these tiny concessions to a client’s comfort, these small, well thought-out gestures that ultimately make a treatment worthwhile. I always find massage tables slightly too narrow to accommodate my arms, so they usually end up tucked awkwardly beneath my body, where they start to fall asleep halfway through the treatment.

I remove my skirt and put on the Tarzan-chic paper knickers provided to spare the client’s blushes. It’s less the thong I anticipated, but more of a hospital style banana hammock. The treatment itself follows the general format of a facial, but on your bum. It begins with gentle body brushing on the full length of the leg, after which Ark’s own cleanser is applied to the area and buffed away with a body scrub. The treatment then moves on to steaming and a gentle massage with a personalised blend of serums. At this point, I start to nod off. This almost never happens when I have a massage or facial – the circus of my mind is open for business twenty-four hours a day. Again, I am impressed. A masque is applied, and Georgina massages my feet while it does its business. The treatment ends with the application of a light body lotion and you’re left to get dressed in peace.

Telling your friends that you’re off to let a stranger rub ointments into your bum sounds like a confession best left to the wee hours of the morning and the bottom of a bottle of Bombay Sapphire. I was a bit apprehensive that the Derriere Facial would be awkward and maybe a bit embarrassing, but it turned out to be one of the nicest beauty treatments I’ve ever had. The entire experience felt tailor-made with the client’s comfort in mind, from the aforementioned arm-shelf to the serene yet unobtrusive music that played in the treatment room. My only complaint was that it was over after 45 minutes. I would have been happy to lay there in a state of quiet repose until dinner, when I would at least have a legitimate excuse to pop next door for a burger.

I felt so relaxed when I left the spa that I would have been pleased to think of it as a happy hour spent on a sunny afternoon. A week later though, I looked in my mirror and realised that actually, my bum was looking Mighty Fine, thank you for asking. I felt others ought to experience the benefits of this, but sadly I was alone in my house.  If you’re off on holiday soon, or you’re just really vain (hi!), or you just like beauty treatments in quiet rooms that smell gorgeous, Ark is a hidden gem in South West London that is absolutely worth a visit. Go now. Your bum and anyone who has the pleasure of walking behind it will thank you.

The ARK Derriere Facial is £49 for 45 minutes. Details on how to book can be found at http://www.arkskincare.com/find-a-skincare-centre/ 

The Fine Print: Laurin was a guest of Ark Spa. Pictures courtesy of Victoria Waite at Ark.  

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