So this is my first year working full time as a Midwife in the run up to Christmas and to be honest I’ve been really struggling to get myself into the festive mood – I’ve just been getting into my new routine with work and haven’t been thinking about Christmas shopping or getting myself all festive.
Well this was all turned on its head at the ND Hair & Beauty Festive Clarins evening I was invited to recently. I cannot tell you the rush of Christmas spirit that I got walking through the doors; the window displays at this amazing salon are full to bursting with beautiful gifts, decorations and lights, and literally the moment I walked in I was presented with a glass of fizz and platters of christmassy nibbles, all accompanied with the best festive music – I mean, what more can a girl ask for?!
The evening was set up in collaboration with Clarins, and had several different zones for the different products and treatments which we all rotated around. The whole salon had been specially set up and decorated to feel extra festive so within minutes I was feeling all that festivity I had been missing – and was feeling pretty pampered too!
For me, I started at the makeup section where we were talked through the brilliant products by Lyndsey, who really knows her stuff and was able to offer advice and support to everyone and answer questions about the Clarins makeup range. We also got to have a play with the products and work out which we liked and what shades worked best for us – always useful!
I was particularly sold on the fab “Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch” Primer which just creates a really soft and smooth base to apply your makeup to, and the new “Joli Blush” blusher and bronzer range which were the perfect balance of adding colour without being so pigmented that you end up looking like a comedy puppet! The “Wonder Perfect 4D Mascara” also caught my eye, and I was really impressed; I’m very picky when it comes to mascara, just because I need it to stay on all day for 13 hours at the hospital and also not be too thick or clumpy so my eyes get tired or sore – this seemed to have the balance between reliability and consistency really well!
After the makeup zone we moved on to the treatment zone, where we were shown a demonstration of two new Clarins Wellness treatments; one which will help you sleep more soundly and get to sleep more easily, “Beauty Sleep”, and one which will help you wake up feeling more refreshed and rejuvenated, “Rise and Shine”. We were shown the lamp that is used to create appropriate mood lighting for the treatment, as well as the amazing water pillow that is placed under your feet during the massage treatment – the lady being demonstrated on (worst job ever, I know!) was saying it felt like her whole body was floating just by having the water pillow there! As a midwife, I think I need both treatments to be honest but I reckon the one that would help most for me is the “Rise and Shine” because my poor body really really hates mornings and anything that can help with that is an absolute winner for me – I’ll be booking in soon, without a doubt!
After the treatment demonstration we moved to the skincare zone, where Clarins’ own Kimberley was there to talk us through all things skincare. There was a really wide demographic of ladies at the event and Kimberley managed to make everyone feel accommodated for, talking us through the huge range of skincare products that Clarins do, and giving us a few top tips along the way. For me, I have learnt that I really need a good eye cream (to help with the eye bags after nights apart from anything else!); and have been advised which one to get too (Clarins Hydra-Essentiel Cooling Eye Mask). I also tried out a few different moisturisers and topped up my current supply as well.
Everything smelled absolutely amazing; there is just something about clarins products, they just have that indulgent relaxing spa-like smell, even when you are using them at home – it just feels so luxurious!
ND Hair & Beauty also had one of their fantastic hairdressers, Lee, there to demonstrate the new GHD Oracle which, if you haven’t seen it already, you seriously need to look into. It has an M-shaped barrel that curls and then cools your hair, setting the curl into place – completely fool-proof and to be honest, I’m absolutely sold! The other really good thing about the Oracle is that GHD are only selling it in salons, to support the high street, so although you might have a little bit of a wait to get hold of them (they’ve been that popular that literally everywhere is sold out!) you know that you are supporting real people instead of adding to online retailers pockets when you buy them, which I like!
I’ll be putting my name down for a pair as soon as they are back in stock at ND Hair & Beauty in the new year – they are so reasonably priced too! Once I get my hands on a pair I’ll definitely share some photos and a bit of a review because they really are amazing!
The whole front of the salon at ND Hair & Beauty has been made into a cross between a boutique gift shop and a normal hairdressers shop; with L’Oreal, Paul Mitchell & Kerastase hair ranges & GHD products on sale as well as Clarins beauty and makeup, Neom candles, Katie Loxton handbags and so many more beautiful gifts and goodies available – so being given the opportunity to browse and take advantage of the brilliant Christmas deals they had on was a real luxury! Needless to say I definitely indulged and bought myself a few goodies, including the “Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch” primer as well as a new moisturiser and a few extra bits and bobs too (well, it’d be rude not to!)
All in all, I left ND Hair & Beauty feeling truly pampered and extremely festive, as well as having a few really good new products to try out and even a few Christmas prezzie ideas under my belt too!
Thank you to the whole fantastic team at ND Hair & Beauty and to Kimberley from Clarins for showing me such a fab evening and smothering me in Christmas Cheer – I think I’m just about ready for it to be December now!
ND Hair & Beauty can be found at www.ndhairandbeauty.co.uk and at 19 High Street, Tettenhall, Wolverhampton.
See more of the Clarins range at www.clarins.co.uk.
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