If you’ve been a follower of mine for a while then you’ll know that I do quite a bit of work with Benedict Hair and Beauty in Luton and absolutely love the team there. They’ve magically transformed my hair from a black box dye into a gorgeous blonde balayage that I adore. I’ve helped to promote their services on my social media pages and we’ve built up a great relationship. But up until recently, the company was only a hairdressers, offering everything from cuts to styles to colours. As of last month, they are now a fully fledged hair and beauty salon that is a hairdressers upstairs but a complete beauty salon downstairs.
They offer everything from massages, to facials, waxing, Botox and even nails and lashes. When I was asked if I’d like to come down to experience a full body exfoliation and massage – I jumped at the chance. I’d never had a massage before, only in Turkey on a family holiday back in 2012 but that was a full on Turkish bath so does that count? So I was really excited for the experience and to see what all the fuss was about.
On my arrival I was taken downstairs to the beauty floor where I was met by my beautician who sat me down in the waiting room. Since it was my first visit to the salon’s beauty parlor I had a form to fill out with regards to my health and skin. They were only basic questions such as do I have any health issues, am I on any medication and about the skincare I use on a daily basis and what sort of skin type I had. This was to ensure I was okay to have the treatment and would effect me in a negative way.
The waiting room itself is so cute. Two beautiful rose pink arm chairs with a rose gold lamp and table. The rose gold interior continues throughout the waiting room with features on the mirror, and coffee table with a gorgeous flower arrangement and leaflets of treatments they offer. With a calming atmosphere, the waiting area is the perfect place to enjoy a drink and a biscuit before your treatment.
Since it was a full body massage, I did have to strip down to nothing but a paper of paper knickers which are not the most flattering of garments nor is it comfortable either, but it does the job. The lady left the room whilst I got undressed and sorted myself out before I laid on the bed as requested underneath the towel. After a little while she came back in and prepared me for my massage by wrapping my hair into a head band to clear it off my face and keep it in place.
She first began with a deep facial massage, cleansing my pores of dirt and hydrating them again. I did stress that I have oily skin and so I don’t think she used too many oils on my skin which I appreciated and showed she was listening to my concerns. My skin doesn’t get the best TLC in the world as I can be quite lazy so it was nice to feel like my skin was being tended to and cleansed of all toxins.
The facial continued down to my neck which felt quite tense that morning and seemed to relieve any stress of trapped pain I had there. I think the same oils were used on my face and neck and both didn’t seem to have a harsh or strong smell which I liked because there is nothing worse than feeling overwhelmed with fragrances.
To rinse my skin of the oils that were used during the massage, a warm cloth was wrapped around my face which felt amazing and before I knew it, the facial was finished.
We began the massage with an exfoliation of the body which clears all the dead skin and makes way for the fresh baby soft skin underneath. The scrub was very natural and organic and again, didn’t have a strong smell. We started from my shoulders, chest, onto my arms, fingers, down to my legs and feet and then I rolled onto my front so the backs of my legs arms and back could be exfoliated too. It’s such a strange feeling have somebody else exfoliate your body but if you’re a fake tan lover like me and are used to exfoliating regularly, you’ll know know nice it feels to have the dead skin and old layer of tan scrubbed away.
From there, the massage began and my muscles actually started to feel looser the longer I laid there. I thought the effects of the massage would take longer to take effect me, such as that evening, but I instantly felt relaxed. The treatmeant was overall around 60 minutes which seemed to fly by and before I knew it I was done. Considering the circumstances I was in, my beautician made me feel very comfortable and relaxed which helped the overall experience.
Benedict Hair and Beauty know their stuff and have won a few awards over the years; some including Good Salon 5 Stars, Phorest Customer Service of the Year and Community Business of the Year 2018. They take all your needs into consideration and even have a private women’s only room in the hairdressing department if you would like some privacy whilst having your hair done, if you want to bring your laptop with you for your appointment to continue working or if you wear a headscarf, you can have your hair done privately in this room.