BEAUTY HAVEN
Earl of East
Earl of East has opened its first beauty-focused store in the recently restored Quadrant Arcade in the heart of Soho. The lifestyle brand’s flawlessly stylish third store has a brilliant edit of niche and hard-to-find brands (from Crayon to Mirror Water, and Wonder Valley), alongside their own-brand candles, bath and body products.
PAMPERING PRESENTS
Grown Alchemist
One of six Christmas gift sets from Grown Alchemist, the ‘Giving Me Time’ set includes the brand’s Gentle Gel Facial Cleanser, Hydra-Repair Day Cream, Polishing Facial Exfoliant, and Instant Smoothing Serum. A failsafe gift for any beauty lover, it’s high up on our wishlists.
£105; grownalchemist.com
PERFECT BALANCE
Samaya
Ayurvedic skincare is a hot trend at the moment, as so many of us have overdone it on products with strong ingredients that compromise the skin’s barrier. SAMAYA is an all-natural skincare brand that uses Ayurvedic principles to balance out your particular dosha, with the aim of achieving overall balance and wellness.
Review
The Light Salon
Boost LED Face Mask
LED light-therapy masks are everywhere at the moment. The A-list are obsessed with them, and if you’ve scrolled through Instagram recently you’ve probably noticed your favourite beauty influencer wearing one of the futuristic (and let’s be honest, slightly alarming-looking) devices. The best ones use red and near infrared LEDs (Light-Emitting Diodes) to target multiple skin concerns at once – including acne, fine lines and wrinkles, sun damage and pigmentation, and skin conditions such as rosacea.
Being a busy mum, I love any beauty treatment that promises to deliver salon-quality results at home. So I was excited to try the Boost LED Face Mask from The Light Salon. The mask uses near-infrared light to boost circulation, help remove toxins, and nourish the skin. Red light enhances the production of collagen and elastin.
Since having my daughter, my skin has been prone to hormonal breakouts and I swear the tiredness of constant broken sleep has given me more lines than a supermarket checkout. LED light-therapy has been clinically proven to reduce fine lines and wrinkles, so I set about a diligent routine of wearing my mask five nights a week before bed.
The most surprising thing I found is how much I have enjoyed wearing the mask. After preparing the skin with The Light Salon’s enzymatic cleanser and mask, cleanse and recovery spray, and peptide serum, it’s been really relaxing just to lie there for 10 minutes and not be able to do anything at all.
After two months of wearing the mask, I’m miraculously no longer suffering from as many hormonal breakouts. My complexion appears much more even (to the point where I’ve even considered leaving the house without tinted moisturiser). And as for my fine lines? Well, I did get ID’d buying a bottle of wine this week, so I’m over the moon.
£395; thelight-salon.com
