A beauty salon fit for a queen

We all like to pamper ourselves every now and then, whether your poison of choice is an occasional massage or lash extensions. But luckily for me, I've got an incredible beauty salon approximately 10 paces away from my desk at work (as it's in our building) so I can get treatments on my lunch break, rather than waiting for a free weekend!

Castle Beauty is an instagram dream from their flower wall and neon signs to the cute furniture and white marble counters. All the girls are really lovely too and I've never once been disappointed by a treatment. Did I also mention that it's free drinks? So if you want a few proseccos while you get pampered then where better! Here's the lowdown on a few of my favourite treatments.

Nails

Back when I was about 14, I used to religiously get french-tipped acrylics at the local Chinese nail bar (paid for with my school lunch money obviously). But not only do they completely wreck your nails, but as a contact lens wearer, I had a horrific experience where I accidentally sliced one in half with the corner of my acrylic (while still in my eye). I was busy picking out guide dog names for a couple of days until the tiny piece of contact lens eventually made its way out of my eye and it's safe to say that was the end of my love affair with acrylic nails.

However, when Castle Beauty opened (nearly a year ago), I thought I'd give one of their nail treatments a try. For years, I'd just worn nail varnish but it chipped within minutes and my nails grow fast but break easy so they were never getting any length on them.

I first tried Shellac which is known as power polish; stronger than standard nail varnish but not quite as strong as gel. I had a few sets of shellac (which were all beautiful) but I was still chipping them regularly. So I switched to BioSculpture (the yellow set was the swap) and I can safely say I'd never look back. Just look how lovely and long my nails have managed to get when given an extra layer of strength! That's all natural too.

There are so many gorgeous nail options at Castle beauty and I'm working my way nicely through them. I'm not the kind of girl who likes the same light blush pink every time; I've had dark, bright, light, foil, tape, glitter, marble and multi-colours. The possibilities are sure to keep me busy for a while yet.

A full set of BioSculpture costs £35, while a set of Shellac nails are slightly cheaper at £25 but for anyone who is heavy-handed (like me), I couldn't recommend Bio enough.

Lash lift

I think I've mentioned it in my are beauty posts but I've always had perpetually straight eyelashes. Any mascara that promises 'curl' and 'lift', trust me, I've probably given it a try. And yet with little success. I used to have to curl my lashes, apply mascara, curl my lashes again and then apply a second coat. Which any beauty expert would slap me for, because it's apparently really bad for your lashes and basically pulls them all out (oops). But a girl needs some curl!

Luckily, Castle beauty came to my rescue on that front too. I've stayed away from lash extensions so far, despite it being the thing that everyone gets now (mainly because I like eyeshadow and strip lashes and am too lazy to look after extensions properly). But a lash lift and tint is the perfect in-between as far as I'm concerned.

Giving you volume and longer-looking lashes that are mascara-ready (no eyelash curler required), the treatment is £50. I won't lie, it's not the nicest to actually get. Having your eyes taped shut while someone pulls around at your eyes for an hour is never going to be the best fun, especially since I have really watery eyes (which is why they use tape on me instead of the pads). However, the pain is more than worth the gain! And the girls are very accommodating at making it as nice as possible and they talk you through each stage so you know how long you've got left.

Dermaplaning

Dermaplaning is a treatment that I keep as an occasional treat rather than a regular necessity. However, it's one of the most satisfying things I've ever had done. It's basically a mini facial that begins with a couple of different cleansers and toners and stuff and then the real fun begins. They scrape your whole face with a blade to remove all those tiny fuzzy hairs that surround your hair line and cheeks, and then scrape for a second time to remove any dead skin cells or unremoved makeup. Then the whole thing is finished up with a few more products and you leave with a face that feels like a baby's bottom.

Despite the tools, it's not painful in the slightest and is actually really relaxing. Because it's done with a blade, as the hairs grow back, they don't grow back any different than they were before (so you don't have to worry about thicker, darker hair as it regrows). 

It's another £50 treatment and as I said, it's not something I couldn't live without (like my nails) but if you are looking to treat yourself and come away with a hairline sharper than a knife then I would highly recommend.

For more information on any of the treatments (and all the other ones they do), visit castlebeauty.co.uk