La Brasiliana

By

Imelda Vazquez

After years of living in the sun, straightening my hair and using home colour kit products, I found my hair very dehydrated, brittle and coarse – -it also tends to be quite frizzy. 

So I decided to treat myself to a complimentary consultation with John at Heaven Spa in Didsbury Manchester. I was precise in what I wanted which was simply manageable, shiny, frizz free hair.

John told me all about La Brasiliana hair treatment which is a Keratin and Collagen treatment and this is specifically for dry unruly hair which I had so I opted for it. It is sometimes called the permanent blow dry. It takes a couple of hours in the salon but the results last for up to 3 months.

John, Senior Stylist @ Heaven spa

Since  I went along and had the amazing treatment I feel reborn with this new head of hair. I will definitely keep up with it. It is just brilliant to know your hair looks good everyday.

I found my saviour at Heaven Spa!!

Although hair styling has thankfully moved away from poker straight and decidedly frazzled looking locks to simply smooth and sleek, some of us are still guilty of over styling and under protecting.

With the masses of heat protection products on the market, there really is no excuse for subjecting our crowning glory to extremes of temperatures usually only found in the Sahara desert!

This month, we are obsessed with Redkens’ ‘Blown away’ 09 protective blow dry gel.

Before you start to panic that you may have fallen through a government engineered black hole and landed back in the 1980s,

let me reassure you that this is completely new millennium technology. This amazing product not only acts like a hairspray, serum and gloss-in-one, but it also contains ‘hair memory’ technology which maintains your style, and the big plus to this range of products is that when you reapply heat with your dryer or styling irons, the polymers are reactivated and continue to protect, de-frizz and smooth without further application, Fabuloso! Especially if like naughty me, you ‘comb’ your hair with the straighteners!!

Simply apply a grape sized amount of gel to damp hair and blow dry… What could be easier?

Hi my name is Scott.

Although I am fairly new to working on the shop floor as a stylist, I am now the Redken Specialist for Heaven spa and one of the ‘La Brasiliana Technicians’.

In my spare time I love to take part in hair dressing competitions, last year I took part in one at my training school and won awards in several categories and I was delighted to be made overall winner too!! I received two gold medals and three trophy cups and because of this achievement, I was recently asked by my training school to represent them at the Cheshire championship 2009.

Please feel free to call Heaven spa and ask for me personally if you have any enquiries about any of our hair services or hair products.

Hope to see you in the near future.

Scott

My name is Amy and I am a Beauty Therapist at Heaven Spa in Didsbury and I’d love to share my experience of using  Redken shampoo and conditioner with you.

I never believed that shampoo and conditioner could make such a difference to your hair, I’ve always used Herbal essences or Pantene Pro V because I loved the smell and saw the adverts on the telly. So one day I was moaning about how dry and dull my hair was and Josh told me to take a Redken tester home to try.

So that night I went home to try it. I opened the packet and thought ‘that’s a bit stingey’ because there was only a small amount of product and my hair is so long and thick. When I put the conditioner on I nearly added my other conditioner to it because I didn’t feel like there was enough, but fortunately I didn’t.

As I was blowing my hair dry I actually could get a brush through it!!! I then straightened it spraying satin silk heat protector through it, and voila!! my hair felt so soft and looked so shiny I was actually amazed! (Even my boyfriend said it felt so nice and he never notices anything).

I came into work the next day and everyone commented on how nice my hair looked, (nobody ever normally does as I always have it shoved up in a bobble) so I spoke to the hairdressers and they advised me which shampoo and conditioner to get as there are quite a few different types. I chose All soft to keep my locks in tip top condition.

I didn’t actually need to get any shampoo at the time but I just had to have it. I don’t think I have ever done that with a hair product before.

As for my old shampoo I let my boyfriend use it, he thinks he’s special now because he gets to use my things.

Everyone loves a good holiday and next year literally hundreds of thousands of us will be hitting the slopes. The excitement of such an event often overwhelms us and we forget to pack properly. Yes it’s a chore but packaging properly can really help make your holiday an unforgettable experience. You hardly want to be attempting to ski in stilettos because you forgot your ski boots. Anyway not to worry as we have put together an essential guide of all the things you will need to take.

Sun Cream – Just because its freezing cold and there’s snow on the ground it doesn’t mean you can’t get burnt. You will need to consider what factor sun cream you need. We recommend you always buy a cream that is a couple of factors stronger than the one you first thought of. Pevonia offer an excellent range of sun care. Check out our Pevonia sun line range.

Moisturiser – Before you hit the slopes and slap on your sun cream apply some moisturiser. In these cold conditions skin becomes very dry. Keeping your skin hydrated is essential. We recommend Skinceuticals Hydrating B5 gel and Skinceuticals Daily Moisture.

Smelling Good & Body Wash – Skiing all day and if your like us falling over every 5 mins leaves you bruised and achy so why not unwind properly in a nice warm bath. Body wash can help sooth your skin and leave you smelling fantastic. We recommend NEOM Organic Body wash.

Lip Care – Protect your lips while out on the slopes. Carrying around a small lip balm or lip cream is ideal. We recommend the Malin+Goetz Lip Moisturiser.

We hope you enjoy the slopes guys and have a fantastic time.

Not many people are blessed with the good fortunes of having beautifully smooth and clear skin and many of us suffer from common problems such as excessively dry or oily skin. These problems have baffled scientists for years but in recent times scientists and industry experts have come together to solve the great mystery.

Most skin problems are in fact a result of imbalances in the skin and people not eating the right things. Luckily for us the clever guys at Skinceuticals have come up with some great skin care products to help people rejuvenate our skin. Skinceuticals have been around since 1997 and work on the ethos that all their products are back by science. So effectively they have tested and retested their products to ensure that they do work. This is particularly important within our industry as consumers have mistrust as to whether products actually work.

At Heaven Spa we have recently taken stock of the Skinceuticals range and are excited by the prospect of being able to share it with our consumers. The skinceuticals skin care products vary from body polish to body firming lotion. Like most of our products the Skinceuticals range is at the premium end of the market and you will often read about celebrities using the products.

To help keep your skin looking smooth and healthy we recommend you use some form of skincare on a daily basis. It is also important to look after your health and body on a day to day basis. Regular exercise and eating healthily can make a world of difference.

Over the last few years the number of gym memberships has risen significantly and more and more people are working to lose those pounds. This has been part of a national initiative and it has been interesting to see the diverse gym patterns that have occurred. Some people like to go to the gym before work while others like to go after. In fact many people will go from work to the gym and then straight out again. The problem with this is that people don’t want to go home to change but rather go out straight from the gym. The problem is people don’t feel fresh after a long shower at the gym.

This is where Solar Sport can help. They have a fantastic range of anti-perspirant, shaving oil and foot spa spray products. These are not only made with the gym enthusiast in mind but also come at very reasonable prices. At Heaven Spa we stock most the Solar Sport product range and can give you expert advice on any of the products.

We are also able to see these products in use first hand as one of our salons is in the famous Hilton building in Manchester which of course has a huge gym facility. We have had some great feedback on the product range.

Who thought it would ever be possible? We all want to do our part for the environment and at Heaven Spa we are no exception as we want to help you do your bit by providing you with alternative eco friendly skin care products. A while ago we came across a company called Pevonia Botanica who we thought had a particularly interesting ethos.

We liked Pevonia Botanica because they had some strong values which we think makes them different from other manufacturers. Firstly they are completely against animal testing and they believe in producing sustainable products. All Pevonia botanica skin care products contain natural marine and botanical elements and the packaging used is completely recyclable. So it’s not just the product but also the packaging and processes that make Pevonia Botanica an environmentally friendly company.

So you can really do your bit for the environment while making yourself look beautiful. We stock a great range of body and skin care products from Pevonia Botanica. If you would like any advice on these products then don’t hesitate to give us a call.

Well we could follow authors Cynthia Rowley & Ilene Rosenzweig’s guide to turning heads but for this blog post we are going to take our own approach. Incidentally their book ‘Swell Style – A Girls Guide To Turning Heads’ is a great read and definitely worth checking out. They give a more complete guide and we love the tone that they adopt throughout the book.

Fabulous, darlingness! It’s all about peplums and shoulder pads. Chartreuse is the new black this season. A bateau neck with a three-quarter sleeve on a five-eighths coat with a full-circle skirt? Forbidden! Leopard is my passion this spring. Fashion tortures us, yet it makes us weep…

Swell Style – A Girls Guide To Turning Heads – Cynthia Rowley & Ilene Rosenzweig

Anyway on our guide. We think one of the secrets to looking good is through the hair. A fabulous hair style can really make or break an outfit. Having the right hair style to complement the outfit is essential.

So what to do with your hair! Well there are so many options. Do we go straight, do we curl it, do we put it up in a fancy twist or do we go for the rough and ready look. Again it’s got to go with the outfit but what is essential is that you have the right tools to style your hair.

We recommend the T3 Tourmaline straighteners range. This is because the operate at good temperatures and give a great quality finish. The beauty is that you can do anything you want with your hair once you have straightened it.

So go on girls get your T3 Tourmaline straighteners out and give your hair that added edge. You will be guaranteed to turn heads.

Your current pair of straighteners has just died and you’re left with the life changing dilemma of which straighteners to buy next. This difficult decision would ruffle anyone’s feathers so at Heaven Spa we have decided to give you a little helping hand in making your decision. To gain an insight into what brand people love best and where people are getting the best experiences we ran a poll on Facebook. The poll asked 97 women what are your favourite hair straighteners?

The results in someway are fairly surprising. We expected the GHD’s to come up highly as they have an excellent product and the marketing for the product is quite staggering. Despite the early safety worries with GHD’s they have gone on to create high quality and reliable straighteners. The biggest surprise from the results is the performance of She. At Heaven Spa we see She Hair straighteners as an up and coming product and many of our customers have been asking about them. At our salons we like to let customers try out different straighteners.

The other surprise was how close Remington and Babyliss came together. We thought that people would either favour one or the other as they both offer quite similar products and at reasonable prices. It maybe the case that people test both brands and that the difference between the two is minimal.

Other things to consider include budget and usage. GHD’s for example are expensive but you are paying for the unrivalled quality. Whereas if you are on a budget then you may wish to consider Remington or Babyliss straighteners. From the poll we can see these products are popular with people and they are known for their sturdiness. If you are really flash then you may want to consider purchasing a pair of GHD straighteners for everyday use and then a secondary cheap pair of straighteners for travelling. This seems to be a popular option at the moment.

Whichever straighteners you decide to buy Heaven Spa can help. We sell a range of straighteners including GHD straighteners and She Hair straighteners.