blow LTD: Fast Beauty in Covent Garden

Ever needed to be somewhere ASAP and not had enough time to get ready? Be it for either a very important meeting or a night out? Well there's a new beauty bar open in Covent Garden, that is sure to be the answer to your needs.

It's called Blow LTD and it's situated in a convenient central location in Covent Garden. Basically, they can make you look like a movie star in 25 mins.

The blow dry craze never really took off here, even with bars like Hershesons blow dry bar, it was either too expensive for us or took too long. British women have never really taken that much time to pamper themselves, unlike the Americans. We look after ourselves, but not too much.

Blow, however, leaves us with no excuse not to look after ourselves. It brings the concept of fast beauty to London. Whereas places like Hershesons and other blow dry bars only specialise in hair, Blow LTD leaves their competition far behind they not only blow dry your hair in 25 minutes, they can also do your makeup in 15 mins and do your nails at the same time as your hair. You can go in having just rolled out of bed and in about 40 mins you can exit looking like a Goddess. 

Let me talk you through the concept. Blow has a menu, from which you can choose one of 9 styles, everything from up-dos to super sleek hair, plus one or two seasonal specials. The most popular styles are the "Luxe", loose waves, and the "Beach Blow", which is tighter waves. Then choose your makeup, natural, evening or party and then choose the kind of nails you want. 

I visited Blow and decided to go for something I would never normally have, a Starlet blow, which is like that Veronica Waves look. A real classic movie star.

Staff were very friendly and it did only take 25 minutes to complete. 

#nomakeup #selfie The Starlet in progress....


From the side, this hairstyle is stunning. They plait your hair tightly and clip it to one side so it stays in position. It's an absolute dream.

Blow is not just a beauty salon. They consider themselves a beauty bar. Fantastically, they also stock all the products they use on you, so if you love a lip colour or a blush, you can buy them in store too. They stock amazing cult beauty brands, like Jouer, Lord and Berry or GlamGlow, brands that were previously only available online or abroad.

I walked out feeling like a true 1930s Hollywood movie star. I just know I will be revisiting Blow LTD again when I'm in need of a transformation before that night out, or simply in need of a little lift in the form of a quick pamper.

Check out their website here blowltd.com to see the products they sell and the styles they do, or to book yourself an appointment!

Spot Treatments

So you’ve been eating all that Easter chocolate, which is great fun and I reckon most people, like me, have since upped their daily sugar intake by a good 75% so your skin might be suffering from lack of real nutrition. You can see the spots forming, bubbling under the surface, ready to turn into a version of the Himalayas on your forehead.  I know, I feel your pain. As someone who has oily skin it has been a near on daily battle my entire life, but over the years I have discovered a few tricks and miracle workers that really help to get rid of them.

I recently did a post of La Roche-Posay's Effaclar Duo, a quick fix for getting rid of imperfections, but then I thought, really you should tackle the root cause of imperfections too, to make them few and far between.

First, you must have a good skin care routine. Cleanse, tone and moisturise thoroughly day and night and exfoliate once or twice a week. Last year I became a convert to cream hot cloth cleansers and I will never look back to liquid or foaming cleansers. The hot cloth provides a soft exfoliation every day and it really does get rid of all dirt and makeup. My skin feels really clean after. I love Liz Earle's Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser, £14.75. It is for all skin types and all natural.

Face cleanser

Exfoliating can cause spots because it gets rid of trapped oils and dirt in your skin, but in the long term it stops imperfections because of the thorough cleansing. I like Clinique’s exfoliators, £17.50; they do versions for sensitive and normal skin and they’re cheaper than many other brands out there. They also use microbeads which are less harsh on the skin than natural exfoliators, which use grains of sand.

Using an oil at night can help regulate oil levels and therefore stops spots from forming. I like Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Concentrate, £36. With a hint of lavender it smells gorgeous and you only need to use 2-3 drops a night for skin to appear bright and refreshed in the morning. It might seem a lot of money but 8 months down the line I’m only half way through my 30ml bottle. If you have a bit more cash to burn, Estee Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair, £58, is a godsend. A little miracle worker, it does all sorts for your skin including brightening, anti-aging and protecting from harsh environments. Rub a little extra over the bumps in your skin and by morning feel them fade away.

Body cleanser, $26 / Beauty product, $20 / Advanced Night Repair | Estee Lauder Official Site

For get-rid-of-them-quick schemes, I've already told you about La Roche-Posay, but another favourite of mine is Clinique's Anti-Blemish Solution Spot Treatment Gel, £13.50. This small tube will last you a long time so don't be put off by the price. It dries out the affected area quickly so an imperfection usually never gets time to form properly.

So, now the skin is sorted, back to eating all that left-over chocolate.

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo

I have oily skin so I'm very prone to breakouts. Over the years I have discovered a few tricks to help tackle and target spots. My usual spot treatment is Clinique's Spot Healing Gel, however a friend introduced me to La Roche-Posay's Effaclar Duo, Anti-Imperfection Care.
You hear a lot about how these French branded drug-store beauty products are great, like Vichy and Bioderm, but I have never tried them. I will admit I am quite snooty when it comes to makeup and my skin. I like buying from a over a counter, not in a pharmacy, which I am working really hard to get over!

Image from laroche-posay.com

You can purchase from Boots, £13.

So this is one of my first steps on the road to drug-store redemption, see also: Revlon Lip Butters and Max Factor Mascaras.

Now my friend has acne prone skin and acne scars, which I don't have, and she swore that her skin had really cleared up and her scars had calmed down. So I thought, if it has worked wonders on acne, it must work on my few spots here and there right?! 

You can use it as a treatment under moisturiser morning and or night, or use it like I did directly over imperfections. I put it on an annoying red spot that I have on my cheek at the moment and within a day it has completely dried out. My skin still looks a little red, but the spot definitely no longer exists. 

What is even better about this product is that it is supposedly unclogs sebum-blocked pores (I guess that's how the spot goes down?) and is mattifying too! 

I am like a jackdaw when it comes to mattifying products. I try them all. Since the middle of last year I suddenly developed a very shiny forehead. No idea why, I've had a fringe now for two years so it couldn't have been that. I know my fringe covers the oil slick on my forehead, but it bothers me that it is there and I want to stop the cause of the problem.

Recently I went to get my eyebrows threaded and the first thing the lady said when I pulled my fringe back was "Wow! You have a shiny forehead!" No word of a lie. It was mortifying.

So I have used Estée Lauder's Mattifying Toner - save your money, it doesn't work. And tried all kinds of moisturisers and oils, including Trilogy's Rosehip oil. Nope, no effects.

So I decided to also dab a little of the Effaclar Duo on my forehead and I am shocked. I did not hold high hopes as no mattifying product had, as yet, helped my situation but by the end of the day my forehead is still matte. There is a tiny hint of sheen, but literally that is all it is - a sheen and we are talking a good 12 hours since I put it on. 

Finally!! An product that claims it can mattify - which is not even its main purpose - and OMG it actually can!! That is the best thing about this product, for me. The spot treatment is just a bonus.

So I definitely trust the French brands more in the pharmacy now I have first-hand experience of a product that works great. So gimme more!! Vive la revolution!!