Well and Happy in Shoreditch

I work in Hackney just down the road from Shoreditch High Street so every so often myself and my friends will go exploring at lunch time. As I am having a vegan week my friend told me she knew of a place selling amazing vegan cakes that we should try. I didn't need telling twice as I would go for vegan treats any day of the week. In my experience the places that make vegan/ raw desserts are absolutely delicious and they usually rely on natural, sin-free ingredients so it's an indulgence without the guilt! 

So today we went to Celestine Eleven on Hollywell Lane in Shoreditch. This place is a clothes shop come wellness centre and it's such a dream concept. There's magazines to read, cakes to eat, a seating area and best of all, we were greeted by this little guy...

So back to the cakes and the reason I am writing this post. Over the summer they hosted a pop up food shop called Well and Happy which is where we got our amazing cakes. They will be finishing their stint at the shop at the end of the week so get yourselves down there!  I chose the millionaire shortbread and a carrot cupcake, whilst they were both lovely the shortbread is an absolute dream. My friend warned me it was rich and I would only be able to eat half but I was left wishing I had more and more as it was so yummy! 

Millionaire Shortbread with the little Carrot Cupcake on top from Well and Happy

Cakes back at the desk

They use raw ingredients in their cakes and are completely vegan friendly. They also had salads on offer and free falafel tasting at the door!

Well and Happy also added some cute details to the shop, such as a large jar of crystal infused water that you can help yourself to. They also have little cards with inspiring quotes on the back for customers.

Celestine Eleven has some lovely décor of its own. I looked on their webpage and they offer yoga classes and other wellness treatments at the shop. Although I'll be eagerly waiting to find out where Well and Happy next pop up I'm also interested to see what else Celestine Eleven has to offer as it is definitely somewhere I will be returning to.

Clothes on sale at Celestine Eleven

Book/ Magazine shelf in the shop

The Low down on HD Brows!

For a while now I've been hearing about this new craze for "HD" eyebrows and then recently I saw a photo of Stephanie Pratt on Twitter sporting a seriously good eyebrow game and the caption stated that she had just received the HD treatment.

I'm not really one for beauty treatments, I enjoy being pampered as must as the rest but I don't have a regular salon or beautician that I go to and I don't go very regularly but with my best friend's hen party around the corner and my brows in a bit of a sorry state I decided to treat myself and give this a whirl.

The cost is around £40 in most salons which sounds pretty steep for an eyebrow treatment when you compare to the usual thread/tint combo so as I was going to spend this much I wanted to make sure I went to a good salon where I could feel confident that I was in safe hands.

Time Out has a list of the top ten eyebrow bars in London here. I decided to go with iBrows etc as they were listed as offering the HD brows service and are located just behind Marble Arch station so are really easy to get to. Booking was quite simple, it can be all done online through their website and you need to pay a deposit of £10. Because of the dye that they use there is a requirement that you have a patch test done before your appointment to check for any allergic reactions. This can be a bit of a pain but they offer to post out the test to you or you can pop in to the salon before the appointment to have it done. I tint my eyebrows myself at home so I signed a waiver to say that I was happy not to have a patch test done (and accept all responsibility!)

iBrows etc sent me a text before the day reminding me of my appointment date and time which is really handy when you have lots on and as I've also booked in for eye lash extensions (going all out!) it saved me getting everything mixed up.

The salon itself is really nice, decor was lovely and classy looking and it looked very clean. The lady on reception was very friendly and all in all I had a good impression of iBrows etc.

The website states that the treatment lasts for 45 mins but it probably took around 30 mins in total. I laid back in a reclining chair and the Stylist asked me what is was that I was hoping to achieve, I explained that I needed them shaped up and wanted to have my eyebrows stand out more. I was also asked what colour I would like them and how dark and then the tint was applied. Following this the Stylist then waxed my brows, threaded them and plucked them. Now I have quite fair and sparse brows anyway so all this waxing, threading and plucking that was going on was starting to make me nervous that I would have any hair left by the time she had finished but when she was done I was given a mirror to have a peak at them and they were looking much thicker, groomed and shaped. The Stylist then pointed out areas which needed a bit more growth and advised me to leave these areas to thicken up and also pointed out areas that needed some shading in with an eyebrow pencil and then proceeded to do that for me to complete the look.

Overall I was happy with my new HD brows. At £40 a time I don't think it will be something I start to do regularly but over time my eyebrows can get a bit unruly and I end up plucking them in to all sorts of shapes, I think it's good to have a professional take charge and get them back in shape so you can start over with a bit of guidance. Oh, and they email you before and after photos as well so you know your money was well spent!

The Salon - iBrows etc

My eyebrows before the HD treatment

  

HD ready!