After getting a quick manicure from Sacha at the Yelp Links of London event I knew I needed to pay…read moreher a visit again! I love doing my nails myself and grow bored of my manicures quickly so I tend not to pay to get them done, but I'm no nail technician! My nails were in such a bad state shape-wise and I really needed to see a professional to sort the situation out! You can book in with Sacha via email and she works out of the Toni Cook salon. When I visited it was in their old location in Merchant City, but she informed me that they were in the process of moving to a swanky new salon just off Buchanan Street (above The Lab, where they are currently situated). I booked in about 2 weeks before my desired appointment time and I would recommend booking early as she's a busy little bee and appointments go quickly! I opted to go for a gel polish on my own nails rather than false acrylic nails. While I waited my turn in the salon I got a little nail wheel to browse the colours. There's a lot to choose from, lots of nice pastel-y colours and lovely dark vampy colours, as well as some sparkly numbers! I didn't really know what sort of design or look I wanted so Sacha suggested a few looks to me and I ended up going for a V design on some accent nails in alternating colours. I was getting my nails done specifically for my friends wedding and had a picture of my dress with me and Sacha helped me pick out some colours that matched well. Sacha was very professional and chatty during my manicure. She remembered me from the Yelp event which was really nice! I felt very relaxed while I was there and it seemed like my manicure flew in! I've been to some really standoffish nail techs in the past and have been entirely ignored while I've had my nails done, so I appreciate when someone can hold a conversation and still deliver an A+ manicure! I loved my nails when there were done and after 2 weeks they're still looking as good! My manicure came in at £25 which I think is pretty good considering how long it'll last. You can pay with cash or via paypal, card payments are also accepted but require a £1 service fee. Gel polish removal comes in at £4 which is nothing if you don't want to wreck your nails doing it yourself!! I've already booked in for my next manicure! I'd really recommend Sacha if you're looking to get your nails done, she does a banging manicure, she's super nice and her wee dog (who is really well behaved and comes to work with her) is so cute!! :)

Haven't gotten a manicure since I moved to Glasgow methinks so I thought, what better way to treat…read moremy nails than for a special occasion like Christmas? :) I made my booking with Sacha like a month+ in advance because I know she's busy, especially during the festive seasons. Lucky for my efficiency, I got a spot, and told her I wanted gel nails! I remember Queen B getting em and they lasted forever! Perfect, since I'll be away from Glasgow for 3 weeks! Anyway, I easily found the salon via Yelp, headed through the alley and up the stairs. To my pleasant surprise, was greeted by Sacha's wee chihuahua. He cuddled me while I waited for Sacha to be done with the previous client. What a good way to keep me occupied! Haha So, Sacha is a wonderful manicurist. She uses a brand of polish from the UK (I don't remember the name unfortunately. Artist polish? Something like that) and says she insists on only using those because of its high quality. I appreciate her sincerity! And the nail polish is after all, super nice! She's also very welcoming, friendly and open to trying fun artsy things in your nails. "Open to experiments" she says! :) she uses an LED nail dryer thinggy that makes your gel nails set asap and that's like super amazing to me haha no more wrecked nails! Anyway I love my nails! I have candy canes and a wee Christmas pudding on my ring fingers! The salon is spacious. Sacha is amazing and bubbly! Will definitely go back next year for a touch up or some new nail art hehehe Highly recommend!

Dior in Frasers is one of the most helpful and friendly makeup concessions I've been to…read more I never enter looking great but always leave looking (and smelling) amazing. Never felt pressurised to buy anything and always made to feel most important person there no matter how busy. I've shopped in the concession in Debenhams and walked out not entirely sure the purchase I made was right for me. Now I choose Frasers every time - even if product is cheaper elsewhere. It's about an overall experience and this is one to enjoy again and again.

Hmmmm. My friend and I were approached in a bar when having a quiet drink by a PR girl from this…read moreplace asking us if we wanted to enter a competition to win a completely free makeover for this company. My friend was very keen and so I went along with it too and quickly scribbled down my details. A week or so later my friend excitedly informed me that she had won and was to take along a friend for support. (Oddly I missed several phonecalls from this number when I was work for weeks - I get the feeling everyone 'won' and this 'competition' was to gain a huge database of numbers). We turned up on the day appointed and, much to my surprise, I was to get a makeover too. The makeover consisted of getting our make-up done by a make-up artist and a few curls added to our hair. The girl who did our make-up was lovely and did listen to what we liked. Next up was photo time. You know how it works - a million photos with various pieces of silk over you, with props and in differing positions. It all felt a bit silly to me to be honest, taking a good while as each of us looked on when it wasnt our turn. We were then told to leave for an hour or so and come back to see the photos. We went for a bite to eat and I was quite embarrassed when I saw how much make-up had been piled onto my face. Then back we went. This was where it got awkward. Our phones were taken from us for security and we were taken into a room with a slide show of all the photos as the lady 'ooh'ed and 'aah'ed over how gorgeous they were and ran through the prices of set photos. I have seen much better photos of myself. Regardless, we could not even afford the cheapest. Plus I'm not sure why I would want to purchase a photo of me. She left us for five minutes to decide what we wanted to buy (ha!) Luckily my friend is not quite so easily embarrassed by these things and immediately said that we had not expected it to be so expensive but thank you anyway. They swiftly removed the pile of photos and showed us out. A hard one to review - we had a nice enough day (although slightly uncomfortable) and all but I can't help feeling we just escaped being sucked in.

The cosmetics at Laura Mercier can only be described as delicious! The aim of this brand is to…read morecreate flawless, natural looking make-up and they have so much of this to choose from. As well a huge make-up range they also do their own skincare. My favourite Laura Mercier products have to be their candles, body and bath range. Their Creme Brulee Honey Bath is to die for, it smells good enough to eat and comes with the cutest ever wooden honey dipper. My Mum got a set of Laura Mercier candles for her Christmas a couple of years ago which were chocolate, creme brulee and coconut scented, they had hours of burn tim and the whole house smelled amazing. I always try to get my Mum to buy as many bath products from here as possible - the more the Mercier!

Laura Mercier is one of those brands that is mentioned time and time again in all the fashion…read moremagazines such as Elle and Vogue, as such I was expecting the prices in this store to be exorbitantly high. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the products were no more expensive than Bobbi Brown or Mac. Laura Mercier's foundations are fast becoming iconic although I personally have found them too heavy for my liking. I was very pleased when Laura released a range of mineral makeup as I find this still gives great coverage but it doesn't feel as though you have a load of slap on! I have to agree with Eleanor that the bath and body products are divine! I have very sensitive skin but Laura Mercier's products don't seem to irritate it which is great. Any good makeup artist will tell you that great makeup is nothing without the right tools and Laura Mercier's makeup brushes are the best I've tried. My mum bought me a set for Christmas and I look after them like they are made of solid gold! I bought baby shampoo purely for washing my special makeup brushes, sad but true! This store is definitely worth a look if you fancy treating yourself but very few people could afford to kit themselves out with loads of Laura Mercier products. They're not as expensive as I expected but that doesn't mean they're cheap either!

Wow, what an amazing store! Somehow I've never been into Space NK before even though I knew it had…read morea great reputation for beauty and makeup products. I've been looking for something for dehydrated skin (the bane of my life) and decided to pop in here to see if I could get some help. Now this review was nearly a 2-star because the staff initially seemed a bit like they couldn't be assed and I was struggling to catch someone's else even though I'd been loitering in the skin care area for ages. Finally I got someone to help me and she was great - actually really helpful, showing me the products and happily gave me decent sized mini tubs to take home and try. I mean, if I'm going to spend £60 on moisturiser, I want to make sure it's amazing. This store is also a lot bigger than I expected and has a range of candles/bubble baths. If you're looking for something a bit more upmarket than Boots/Superdrug for your skin care and makeup, then Space NK is pretty damn amazing.

I just love Space NK, they have a fantastic range of innovative beauty products that you'll rarely…read moresee in other cosmetic stores in Glasgow. They stock NARS, Laura Mercier and stunning Shu Uemura eyelashes that will definitely make a statement. The staff are very helpful and you can get free consultations on the best products for your skin and tips on getting a flawless complection. I was once put in the direction of "Dr. Seabagh Foaming Cleanser" after a couple of months of breakout hell. I'd tried everything and this was a last resort, It wasn't cheap, £22 for 100ml bottle and I was sceptical but I decided to give it a go. It cleared up my skin in about 5 days, it was like a miracle! I swore by the stuff for nearly two years but then I moved to Germany for ten months and it stopped working. It could have been the water there but I haven't used it since. I might pop back soon to give it another shot as when it worked the results were fantastic and I'd recommend it to anyone who is looking for quick results for breakouts. As far as I'm aware Space NK is the only stockist in Glasgow, hurrah! They used to stock loads of Philosophy products but they don't have so many anymore. My favourite purchase from here was a lipgloss set from Philosophy which was called "A Few Good Men", these men were, "The Muffin Man" - a lemon muffin flavoured lipgloss, "The Gingerbread Man" - a tasty gingerbread lipgloss and my favourite, "The Ice-Cream Man." Unfortunately they don't have this set anymore, but who knows, maybe one day they'll make a return. Space NK is great, quite expensive but sometimes you need to pay that little bit extra when it comes to cosmetics. They also do sales now and then so you could grab yourself a bargain!