Having experienced botox by the gentle and I was later to discover, experienced hand of Gupta, it…read moreis clear he is in a royal category. Not one person has guessed I have had botox and many have said to me I'm glad you've never done botox Karen. Just goes to show you!

I received a pamphlet of pre-cosmetic surgery advice along with a prescription for anti-biotics…read morewhich I commenced the the day before my procedure. On the day I nervously arrived at the clinic to be welcomed by Dr Gupta who has the most wonderful inter-personal skills of any doctor I have ever met (and I have worked in the NHS for over 20 years now). He was genuinely interested in my areas of concern at that point they were mainly pain control, my nerves and how long it would be before I could play polo again.

I love wigs! I really do. Is that sad? They are just so much fun. I only have one of my own, a…read moreluminous pink bob that was purchased for a festival and some silly party fun. It's not very good quality and you end up finding pink strands everywhere after wearing it, but it still brings me a lot of joy. I have considered paying quite a considerable amount for a good quality wig, I'm not a secret agent for MI5 (or am I??), nor do I have a problem with hair loss, I just love the way you can transform yourself with a simple pile of locks. CC Hair and Beauty have stacks and stacks of wigs to oggle at and I love browsing and trying them on. They also sell a range of extensions, made from human or synthetic hair. Plus Afro hair products, hair care products, make up, skin care, nail care, eye lashes, and various accessories such as clips, beads, pins, weaving threads and glue. As far as doing stuff with your hair goes, this place has it down to a T.

Whoa, there is certainly one thing that you'll notice about this place, and that is the wigs. As…read moreAlexandra has expressed, they have a number of them, and I share her sentiments entirely. I'd love to have one although it seems to be such a frivolous and expensive thing to purchase when there is no real need. I must say, however, one time I almost did need wigs and it certainly would have been good to know about this shop had I actually lost all my hair! (Essentially, in my attempts to be peroxide blond, I nearly made myself go bald. You laugh now, but at the time it was devastating!) Still, wigs is not all that this place is in business for. They hold a number of different beauty products relating to hair. Some are more useful than others, such as the various clips and such, but the others are all lots of fun. The hair extensions they have seem to be good quality. I don't use them regularly, more for fashion and silly photo shoots, but I must say once you've tried the real hair ones it's almost impossible to go back to the plasticky cheaper ones. False eyelashes too can be an addictive habit, although thankfully I do not have the time or inclination to use them more often than for the aforementioned photo shoots or a really special night out. Nonetheless, no matter how often or sparsely you might utilise these things, CC Hair and Beauty has them all stocked to burst!

In the same way that you shop around for the best deals on electrical equipment, my friend shops…read morearound for botox. Now I am not an avid fan of it but I am also not an avid fan of preaching so if it makes my friend feel better then I am happy for her. I went along with her when she came to visit and wanted to check out the practice and its prices. The clinic doesn't just do botox, its does a plethora of skin related treatments. From tattoo removal, microdermabrasion, laser hair removal, skin peel (that sounds scary in itself) acne treatment and teeth whitening amongst other things. It has ridiculously pretty receptions staff but I think that's to make your feel like you need the treatments more. My friend got a consultation right there and then and she was really happy with the price system and the practitioner. http://beautytruthsnotuglylies.blogspot.com/

I received a Skin Therapy voucher as part of my anniversary present…read more this looked very good; a full body massage and a facial; i was really looking forward to it. The mobile number provided went straight to voicemail but this wasn't a problem for me. I know that these companies often don't use receptionists but the therapists do ring back. Unfortunately not this time...... or the next time I left a message,......or the time after. The fourth time I rang I got one of those messages which tell you the number is unobtainable. Not to worry, I can always check it out on the internet! So I did and found a land line number. I rang it but it was engaged......several times a day....for three days. After that I got the message.... " the number you have rung is unobtainable" Ever an optimist, I was undaunted. Since I had to be in town today I thought I'd pop in and make an appointment. When I arrived I found four people sitting in a very attractive reception area and after a little while i was followed in by a young lady who turned out to be one of the therapists. I explained that I had a voucher and had been trying to contact them for some weeks to make an appointment. Her first assumption was that I wanted a refund; this struck me as odd since A) I'd talked of wanting to make an appointment B) I hadn't mentioned a refund C) Refunds come from the voucher company She also volunteered that the lack of response to my messages is because Skin Therapy only employs the therapists and has no reception staff. I know that this is common for beauty therapy services but other companies do manage to respond to voicemails. During this conversation therapist #2 arrived, overheard my part of the conversation and told me that there was a huge backlog of voicemails as the receptionist is on holiday. At this point it became clear that I couldn't have an appointment since the next available one is six weeks away and the voucher will have expired by then. I'm afraid that when #2 continued to expound on he subject of the absent receptionist I did laugh out loud. Perhaps I have warped sense of humour but there is something very comical about two people who expect to be believed while telling different stories to the same person. I may be jumping to conclusions here but I suspect that one or both of them might have been lying; the alternative is that either #1 isn't aware that they employ a receptionist or #2 isn't aware that they don't employ a receptionist. I suspect that the real explanation is that they don't check voicemails because they already have as much business as they can deal with. This is very nice for the company but then it is dishonest to offer vouchers under that situation. In short, I'm sure they are marvellous therapists and probably very nice girls but they really need a hand with their organisational and people skills. Not worth bothering with unless you can pay full price, make an appointment in person and want to wait six weeks for an appointment

My two housemates and I found an offer on Groupon for here - my housemate found one bad review and…read moredecided to go check the place out before buying anything... She came back and said she saw one of the staff having an argument with a customer and didn't like the look of the place (she's well accustomed to salons), so decided to leave it. My other housemate and I checked the place out (beauty salon newbies) and thought it was OK, so decided we'd give it a go. My advice, honestly - don't bother. While the beautician I've had is sweet, two in particular have absolutely NO bedside manner (which you definitely need when you're dealing with intimate areas - I'm having my bikini lasered). I was horrified when, on the day of my patch test, a man walked in and one of the staff called across the room (there were me and a couple of other women waitin - probably quite intimidating for a man wakling into a feminine environment) "You're 'avin' laser treatment, yeah?" Poor bloke. My housemate also heard one of the pair slagging off an 'awkward' customer outside her treatment curtain the other day. I was told my treatment would be a Hollywood, which means *everything* off (bikini line & front to back), but the beautician basically gave me a bikini laser - she was clearly too shy to get me to assume the positions that would allow her to give me the hollywood I thought I was getting. And I was too shy to ask. I also had to wait an HOUR to have my booked appointment today. After a 45 minute wait, I went into the treatment room, took my bottoms off and got up on the bed. The beautician went through what treatment I was having, but missed out my legs, so I just added to confirm, "And legs, yeah?" - she left the room for a minute, and then returned to ask me to put my bottoms on so that she could get the other two women in the waiting room done before me (they were bikini only). They did explain when I went in that they were running behind because there was a fire alarm not long before, but that they were only running 15 mins behind. Not a whole hr. ... But what made it worse was that last time, I'd had to wait 40 minuites (my appointment was 10:30am - the first or second of the day!!), and a few days ago, my housemate had to wait 45 minutes - and neither of those times did they at any point mention there was any delay. Honestly, this place is a stressful mess, and the staff aren't nice to deal with. Steer well clear.

Every so often there comes an occasion when I need to cheer myself up and the usual just looking at…read morepretty things doesn't work. I need a serious hit of luxury. This place has become my go to place when I am in serious need to a pick me up. It is costly I wont lie but the quality it superb. The moisturisers are silky smooth and divine on the skin. I am quite a fan of the Jemma Kidd make up range and it's not as expensive as you would think. I picked up an eye shadow for £12 and it has lasted me for ages. It is also a great idea to go for gift inspiration. Around Christmas they have some great deals and it's the perfect place to go and get something for that girly girl in your life. http://beautytruthsnotuglylies.blogspot.com/

You know what, after those January blues and many over indulgences over the festive period, I feel…read morelike spoiling myself. Why not? Sometimes every girl needs to be kind to themselves and I find that a big fat dose of Space NK does just the trick. Now I know it's hardly a revolutionary finding but I really am partial to the Leeds branch. Great customer service and a nice big selection of stock means it's always a winner for me. Just take your rather vitamin lacking behind in and take advantage of the help on hand or have a gander for yourselves. After several minutes I was pointed in the direction of the Facial Detox Elemental Herbology and I'm not a tad disappointed. Further more, the excellent staff aren't you pushy so if you've got a budget you won't have to blow it. I did wince a little at the prices of the miracle cure facial creams available and for that cost it should actually do your washing and ironing for you too, but I steered clear and came out feeling like I'd be a new woman within a month. Not sure that has worked out for me yet but I did feel a worthy customer and felt they listened to my needs (within reason) very well. So go on, you are worth it. I think they should have adverts with that tagline, oh wait a minute...

The first thing that strikes me is the huge amount of treatments on offer for such a small place. I…read morecould get pampered here for days and still not of tried every treatment so it's no surprise that they have a couple of awards to the name. They have a treatment for every part of the body, manicures and pedicures, gel nails, waxing, exfoliation, massage, facials, microdermabrasion, semi permanent makeup, botox and many more. I'm not too worried about wrinkly eyes just yet so I settled for a pedicure. My toes came away looking as pretty as toes can and I left feeling relaxed with the lovely girly décor and friendly staff. They do offer a selection of men's treatments and the boys might be pleased to know the staff is really pretty. http://beautytruthsnotuglylies.blogspot.com/

With accolades from Clarins and a glitzy website this a good place to posh it up for spa-style…read moretreatments. Very girly décor hits you from the street, bright lights and soft furnishings in the waiting area gear you up for your appointment. Clarins, Guinot and Jessica products are used in the treatments along side other well-known brands. Treatments very from waxing, manicures and pedicures to microdermabrasion and you can get gift boxes, wrapping and treatment sets if you are looking to spoil someone. TREATMENTS ARE AVAIALABLE FOR MEN TOO.