Lockdown left my skin feeling dull, dry and covered in maskne, so I booked myself in for a facial at Bronze and Beautyful to give me my glow back.
The salon, based in the gorgeous and quaint Slater’s Village near Baldwin’s Gate, is a tropical paradise run by Lauren Lily Lea Hamer. I’d booked in for a luxury dermaplaning facial after seeing the most satisfying facemask on the salon’s Instagram.
Bronze and Beautyful is an Instagram-babes dream, filled with floral walls, neon signs and pretty patterned wallpaper.
Lauren took me into a private treatment room playing soothing music before diving into the skincare magic. She double cleansed by skin using the Dermaquest essentials cleanser – containing hyaluronic acid for hydration. Skin specific cleansers are selected for each client, and my skin has been super dry as we headed into winter. I’ve often wondered what my skin type is as I always thought it was combination, but Lauren assured my it’s quite dry and sensitive, so I can select everyday products to rehydrate my skin at home.
Then Lauren applied an oil balm to aid the dermaplaning blade to glide across the skin and prevent drag. Dermaplaning is an exfoliating technique which uses a scalpel over the top of the skin to remove peach fuzz hairs and dead skin cells. The treatment doesn’t make the hair grow back darker or thicker, as many think – but keeps your skin glowing for weeks, and helps your makeup look flawless. I absolutely love watching dermaplane videos online, and find it insane how much dirt comes off the surface of your skin.
After the dermaplaning, Lauren applied an enzyme peel to draw out dead skin from the pores and exfoliate the skin. She then extracted some of the blackheads on my nose, which is one of my major skin insecurities seeing as I seem to be prone to them on my nose and chin.
The most satisfying part was the jelly mask which is applied all over the face, and feels so soothing. Lauren picked out the 24K gold jelly mask which is absolutely gorgeous and shimmery, and covers your eyes and lips. It contains gold for its healing properties, as well as magnesium and seaweed to sooth and hydrate skin.
Whilst this set, Lauren massaged my arms and hands with a warm, stress-relieving essential oil which really helped me relax and release tension. I’ve definitely been carrying a lot of stress in my shoulders and arms recently, so it was amazing to wind down and take time to let go of that.
Lauren then removed the jelly mask – which was incredibly satisfying – and applied a dermal moisturiser followed by a hyaluronic moisturiser with SPF. It’s still really important to protect your skin from UV rays, even in the winter months, to prevent aging.
Dermaplaning facials are recommended every six weeks or so due to the 28 day skin cell turnover, and to allow the fluffy facial hair to slowly grow back. My treatment cost £45 and lasted around one hour.
I definitely left the salon with a spring in my step, feeling more confident and relaxed. My skin felt incredible and smooth, and the blackheads on my nose were visibly reduced. It felt great to treat myself to a luxury experience after what feels like the longest year, and Bronze and Beautyful was totally Covid-safe and professional. I’m already factoring it into next years budget every couple of months, because the difference in myself after taking time to self care is so worth it.
