Now that the days are getting shorter, the nights are getting colder and the sun is but a distant memory, there’s no better time to start thinking about a winter sun break. With the heady summer a distant memory, the Olympics over and those pesky school kids back where they belong, the price of holidays has dropped and the last few weeks have seen Brits flocking to snap up bargain deals.
If you’re planning a speedy last minute getaway, I’ve shared my top three pre-holiday beauty pit stops with you below, so you can jet off perfectly prepared for the sun!
9am – Topshop Beauty Rooms (Oxford Circus) First things first, head into town to Topshop Oxford Circus and make a beeline for the newly-expanded Beauty Rooms. Including WAH Nails, a branch of Bleach hair salon, Hersheson’s Blow Dry Bar, Strip Wax Bar and – should you fancy it – Metal Morphosis tattoo and piercing studio, my pit stop was the Blink walk-in brow bar. Book in for an eyebrow tint (£12) and thread (£17) and in a swift twenty minutes or so you will be left with beautifully flawless brows that perfectly frame your face with enough time for a speedy supermarket sweep for new sunglasses and amazing Topshop make up when you’re done. If you have time spare, pop into Strip while you’re there – their Brazilian don’t come cheap but it’s undoubtedly the best bikini wax I’ve ever had. www.blinkbrowbar.com www.stripwaxbar.com
10.30am – Perfect Eyelashes (Holborn) Hop on the Central line and head east to Holborn, where my holiday secret weapon lies in wait. Perfect Eyelashes are the masters of lash transformation. I love eyelash extensions for holidays; not having to worry about mascara running in the pool or smudging in the heat is a godsend. They are something of an investment, with prices starting at £80 for a full set, but if you look after them they will last for up to 6 weeks. The application takes around an hour and a half (perfect for a little mid-morning snooze…) and you’ll waltz out looking and feeling a million dollars! www.perfecteyelashes.co.uk
1pm – MW Nails (Chancery Lane or Spitalfields) After a quick lunch, the next stop on your beauty tour should be the incredible MW Nails. With branches in Chancery Lane and Spitalfields, the interior of this fantastic salon is decked out with the inside of an old 70s Air France jet. Have you ever heard anything cooler? Perfect to get you in the holiday mood. The seats are airplane recliners, the shelves plane windows, the trolleys original food trolleys – brilliant. The manicurists even wear cute little flight attendant hats and scarves, too kitsch. A good holiday recommendation is Two Weeks to Tahiti (£39), a gel manicure that remains perfect and chip-free for up to two weeks. I however indulged in the Fiji Full Set (£59) for my holiday (yes, all the treatments have amazing holiday-themed names!). The wonderful Jacqui first applied tips to my disappointingly short nails before filling them in with acrylic, creating perfectly long and luscious talons in the process. Two coats of a deliciously pearlescent white Essie polish and I was good to go. Three weeks later my nails are still chip free and going strong, growing out slightly so I’ll be booking in for an [b]In-Flight Infill to top them up next week – now I have a taste of the glam long nails I can’t go back! www.mwnails.com
So book in, relax, unwind, and enjoy the flight…
Love Laurel x
