Category: Henley News

30th May 2018 Henley News, Oxford News, Skincare

Want to maximise your facial by choosing the right home skincare products?

Here we make sense of the myriad of Decleor super powerful offerings!

Decleor’s huge and growing success is based around a fairly simple idea; combining of an aromessence (serum) with a moisturiser for day time skin care.

Just a few drops of the 100% pure elixir of Essential Oils – massaged gently into skin in the morning – helps rebalance your complexion as well as dramatically increase the effectiveness of your daily moisturiser. And the scientific results speak for themselves

But exactly which serum do you choose for your skin and which moisturiser will work with it to give you the skin transformation you are looking for?

We’ve simplified the selection to point you in the right direction and even chosen the ideal salon facial to have to continue your journey to fresh bare faced beauty. So whilst many of the products can be mixed with many of the moisturisers and facials can be swapped to achieve certain results, we think these are the best paired products and treatments. Oh and all Decleor Aromessences are 100% natural and 100% active so no need to worry about harmful chemicals or nasty ingredients.

Aromessence Néroli Amara, with a NEW triple efficiency of the bitter orange tree uses essential oils from the flower, fruit, leaves and twigs.
Protect from pollution and plum out those dehydration lines.
Which moisturiser? Neroli Amara works well with Decleor’s Moisture Quench day cream.
Which Facial? Choose the Decleor Hydra Floral facial

Aromessence Ylang Cananga (aka Ylang Ylang) helps reduce unwanted skin shine, tightens pores and helps clear imperfections. Rosemary stimulates and purifies, lavender relaxes, calms and soothes, hazelnut nourishes and softens the skin whilst sage helps stimulate the skin's natural defences.
Which moisturiser? Choose the Decleor Aroma Purete day cream
Which Facial? Choose the Decleor Purify and Rebalance Facial

Aromessence Mandarine Specially developed for busy women in their thirties, this super serum draws on the youth-protecting abilities of Mandarin Essential Oil, a potent active ingredient clinically proven to protect cells from free radical damage and repair DNA damaged by UV radiation. Other key ingredients include Hazelnut, Camellia and Sunflower Plant Oils to nourish the skin, protect from dehydration and boost radiance
Which moisturiser? Choose the Decleor Aroma Lisse day cream
Which Facial? Go for the Decleor Ultimate Vitamin Glow

Aromessence Rose D’Orient offers immediate softness, to strengthen the skin and to reduce any redness and irritation. With a delicate silky texture and subtle floral fragrance, it is quickly and easily absorbed leaving your skin calm and radiant.
Which moisturiser? Choose Decleor Harmonie Calm day cream
Which Facial? Go for the Decleor Soothe and Cocoon facial

Aromessence Marjolaine includes active ingredients Marjoram, Myrrh and Lavender Essential Oils for their moisturising and nourishing properties, Cocoa and Shea Butters to nurture the skin and envelop it in a cocoon of comfort, plus Cranberry, Argan and Avocado Oils to enrich the skin with vital nutrients and boost its natural protection.
Which moisturiser? Choose Decleor Intense Nutrition
Which Facial? Ask for the Decleor Devine Nutrition Facial

Lavandula Iris an award winning serum which helps firm mature skin, hydrates the look and feel of your skin, reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles for a youthful-looking complexion.
Which moisturiser? Decleor Prolagene Lift compliments this aromessence nicely
Which Facial? Try the Decleor Lift Yoga Facial

Magnolia formulated with essential oils of Magnolia and Ginger and with botanical oils of Hazelnut and Jojoba. It is a youthful concentrate of energy for the skin. The skin looks plumper and firmed, with a fresh and luminous glow.
Which moisturiser? Definitely Decleor OrExcellence
Which Facial? Go for Decleor Facial Pilates

30th May 2018 Henley News, Manicures & Pedicures, Oxford News

Biosculpture Gel Bohemiem Beauty

‘Shellac’, ‘BioSculpture’, ‘GELeration’, ‘3 week manicures’, when researching gel polish manicures, a plethora of brand names and strap lines are out there influencing your decision. We all want to feel we are getting a good price but at what cost? Rock bottom pricing can mean sacrificing the health of your nails…and your safety!

A couple of years ago the ‘gel manicure’ swept onto almost every beauty salon price list in a matter of minutes and is fast becoming one of the most popular manicure treatments. Certainly at Cannelle Beauty the number of gel nail treatments now far outnumbers traditional manicures .

Gel manicures offer clients a long lasting, durable polish that dries in seconds under a UV or LED lamp. The polish remains chip resistant for up to 3 weeks, uber glossy and can be as hard wearing as artificial nails. No blowing or flapping your polish dry, no smudges or chips getting out car keys. As soon as you reach for your purse to pay your nails are totally ‘cured’ … aka dry.

In theory, gel polish manicures don’t damage your nails in the same way a ‘false’ gel or acrylic manicure can. So, what’s not to love? Well, not so much the treatment as WHO DOES the treatment.

There are now a huge number of nail salons (typically ones which have traditionally focused on acrylic nail extensions) that are compromising the general health and safety of clients in order to provide quick treatment times. Fast treatment times means more clients through the door, more clients through the door of course means more cash.

To my horror when I stepped into one nail bar in Oxford for a gel polish application the therapist brandished a drill and began drilling the natural surface of my nail prior to applying the polish. This was to ensure the polish bonded with my natural nail i.e. that the polish remained in place for the maximum length of time possible (up t o 3 weeks). However these drills if used incorrectly (if used at all in my opinion) can remove a dangerously large amount of your nail and can damage your nail bed and cuticle area. They are high speed razor sharp drills…drilling within a fraction of a millimeter of your cuticle and skin.

Electric nail drills are sophisticated bits of machinery that require careful maintenance and should only be used (again – if at all – in my opinion) by qualified, licensed professional beauty therapists. In many salons you just don’t get the care and attention that you need in order for your basic safety and hygiene to be guaranteed.

In my personal experience, drills and files are swapped between multiple clients throughout the day with zero serialization, clients that already have the gel nail polish applied and want it removed and re-applied are provided with bowls filled to the brim with acetone remover and told to sit with their fingers submerged in the potent liquid usually while another client’s treatment is being finished. Sometimes for in excess of 15 minutes.

Acetone is extremely strong stuff (you only have to smell it to give you an idea of how potent it is) and it dries your nails rapidly if left in contact for too long.

The safest way to apply the acetone gel polish remover is to place acetone soaked cotton wool on the polish just long enough to soften it, with dedicated therapist watching and testing the polish at all times.

In September 2012 Samantha Sweet, a spokesperson for Shellac said to the Mail Online “Applying Shellac shouldn’t damage the nail surface,’ she says. ‘The polish has a honeycomb construction, making it porous. The oils penetrate and nourish nails.” In other words you do not need to drill a natural nail in order for the gel polish to bond. The maximum that might ever be required is a light, careful buffing by hand with a soft file, never a drill.

Sweet also emphasises that proper removal is essential to the health of nails. ‘You shouldn’t be saturating the nail with acetone, and you certainly shouldn’t soak the entire hand in a bowl of acetone,’

So having experienced the cheaper alternatives in Oxford myself now (I have been to a total of five nail bars) my nails are hugely damaged, my nail beds sore and at times have bled during treatment. It it has definitely not been worth the few quid I’ve saved.

In addition the top brands cost. Salons invest in these polishes because they provide good results and they don’t come cheap. If a salon is offering rock bottom prices on gel nails the chances are the gel polish they are claiming is ‘Shellac’ or ‘BioSculpture’ actually isn’t.

Please don’t think that a lower priced salon will provide you with the same treatment. It nearly always won’t and when it’s time to pay you may well find yourself asking “what’s the damage?” in the literal sense.

Read more about Biosculpture Gel Manicures and Pedicures

30th May 2018 Anti Ageing, CACI, Henley News, Oxford News

CACI Jaw Lift

CACI Jowl Lift

Being Marketing Manager for Cannelle I normally wouldn’t write a review for one of our treatments. After all it’s my job to promote the treatments we sell so a review by me wouldn’t necessarily be unbiased right?

THIS time however I feel I need to write one! Because I genuinely needed to be ‘sold to’ for one of our treatments as much as many clients! The non-surgical jaw lift treatment from CACI.

‘Celebrity favourite’, ‘not a knife in sight’, ‘World-famous and award winning CACI Facial Toning treatment’, ‘voted the most effective anti-ageing treatment available’ are all phrases flying around the internet when you search for CACI Ultimate face lift. It sounds too good to be true.jawlift

Well, I have to say, it isn’t too good to be true. It really does work. This is my experience of the CACI jaw Lift treatment. A shorter version of the full CACI Ultimate face lift.

On 11th January 2014 I got married and had the most fantastic day I could imagine. And I have to admit that a small part of my ‘radiant glow’ was the confidence I felt in my newly toned, lifted, tightened 40 year old face.

In the two weeks prior to my wedding I decided to invest in a course of CACI treatments. Not the full CACI Ultimate non surgical facelift 90 minute treatment I might add. I had neither the time to do this nor did the salon have the free spaces to justify me doing the long version of the treatment.

I invested in the CACI Ultimate jaw/jowl lift. This is a shorter 45 minute treatment. Which costs £35 each time.

As with all the CACI treatments the long-term benefits develop over a period of time, after a course of treatments. I have to say though after just one treatment I noticed a visible lift to my cheekbones, a tightening to my skin and a firmer line around my jaw.

This however was a short term result. It lasted 24 hours. After that I felt back to normal. It would have been great before a night out but I was a little disappointed that it didn’t last after the weekend.

However, the recommendation is to follow a course of 10 treatments at a rate of 2/3 a week. Yes this is a big time (as well as financial) commitment. And after just two treatments I was still unsure. I noticed a definite improvement in the lines around my eyes – less visible, and my therapist had done a bit of eye lift during the jaw lift treatment which definitely opened my eyes and lifted my brow area and slightly sagging eyelids. But after the weekend again I felt my skin and face contours had gone back to normal.

The eye opener (excuse the pun) came after my 5th treatment. Exactly half way through the course. I received questions and compliments from people about my skin (even with no make up!). I felt the tighter skin tone and saw a recogniseable lift in cheek bones and my jaw line. Which lasted!

I continued the course and in the week before my wedding I did 3 treatments. (One the day before I got married) and my jawline, cheekbones and face was genuinely lifted, clearer and my eyelids noticeably raised.

A bride at 40 years old isn’t always how you imagine yourself as a little girl. But I have to say the CACI Ultimate Jaw lift really made the difference and I felt 20!

Recommended maintenance is one treatment a month after the course. Again I will be perfectly honest. I feel this isn’t enough. At least one a fortnight and if possible one a week is ideal. But compared to the growing price of ‘facelifts in a jar’ creams (the latest 111 Skin Celestial Black Diamond Cream now stocked at Harrods is a cool £600) – can a CREAM really penetrate and lift muscle and skin structure as well as their claims suggest? – I feel the CACI jowl/jaw lift treatment really does rejuvenate the facial contours.

With its Quad (four!) probe applicators designed to double the lifting action of the CACI treatment system it offers superb results. This 30-40 minute facial treatment helps to improve the appearance of sagging jowls because it uses the Quad Probes which have been specifically developed to target the muscles around the jaw line. These Probes emit tiny electrical impulses to lift, firm and redefine facial contours, something I have yet to see a cream do.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a cream enthusiast for plumping the skin, hydrating and eventually reducing the appearance of fine lines and surface ageing symptoms. But for a non surgical face lift? For actually lifting sagging, ageing jowls and cheekbones and eyelids? CACI has really got me hooked. It works.

Read more about CACI