Well it's been a while! I made a promise to myself before i started this blog not to put blogging before uni work (quite sensible I know!) which means I haven't been able to blog for a little while so i apologise for that but my degree comes first ( I have spent 3 years killing myself to finish it!) however there isn't much longer left! The end is in sight! I just thought I should explain my absence before continuing with this review. Anyway Onwards and upwards!
This week has been a very exciting week indeed! First of all Owen finally was able to hand in his dissertation after months of hard work not only that but on his birthday so once that was handed in the birthday excitement could commence! My big excitement of the week came in the form of the Assisi Salon in Cleethorpes. I had been kindly asked by the salon to come in and sample their salon experience, which consisted of my hair being coloured, washed, blow dried, cut and styled as well as a HD make-over experience! All of which was very kindly gifted and in return I would review my experience of the salon, which I must immediately say was excellent!
I always find first impressions of a salon are very important so I was very pleased when i first entered the salon it was a flood of the senses, everything looked so pristine, colourful and sparkly as well as smelling fantastic! I even blurted out as I walked in how great the place smelt! Definitely a cheerful environment, which immediately made me relax (I was feeling a bit nervous as I hadn't done anything like this before!), It also helped that I was greeted by friendly faces! This definitely felt like a salon I could just walk into without ever being here before to see about having a treatment done, whereas I find some salons especially ones up to this standard are a bit 'stuck up' and make a 'walk-ins' feel uncomfortable, that was definitely not the case with Assisi.
I was seen to immediately by the staff who got me settled and got the whole experience off to a great start by offering me a cup of tea! However I was a bit of a bad guest because I forgot to drink the first one whilst my foils were being put in, although the staff were more than happy to get me another, accentuating the fact they were very attentive and happy to help at all times.
Now anyone who knows me will know that I'm not a massive talker especially to people I've just met, so I tend to be a bit awkward for stylists to chat to. Although i felt quite at home chatting away to my senior stylist Ben, telling each other about our upcoming trips and just generally chatting about everything and anything, a very traditional part of the salon experience that i actually seemed to take part in for once!
The foils didn't actually take as long as i thought they would to apply seen as i had the full head foils. which was an obvious bonus because nobody wants a numb bum! I have to say though i was amazed at the amount of precision and care that went into applying the colour. I've found before that some stylists can be a bit messy and careless with hair and pull it about here there and everywhere, however this whole experience was very relaxing and i didn't get any of the colour on my scalp, clothes or skin! This i have to say pleased me a lot as i tend to be a bit of a perfectionist and its always feels comforting to know that the person in charge of something as important as colouring my hair also takes pride in achieving perfection!
I'll not bore you with going over the period of time where i was letting the colour take as I spent most of that time chatting and perusing pinterest for my new hair style! However I will mention one thing I noticed in particular which was the way other customers were treated, which was with the same care and attention as I was, whether they were new or well known customers was just a technicality.
I was very excited about having my hair washed! I know that might sound sad but i don't care! there's something so lovely about someone else washing your hair for you. At Assisi's it was like having a mini spa experience, the water was the perfect experience and Ben chose to use the best smelling shampoo in the salon, which then started a discussion on which our favourite shampoo brands were for smell throughout the whole salon. The shampoo used was one of the colour specific ones which i was recommended to use if i wanted my colour to last a few weeks longer, something i may have to invest in as would like my lovely colour to last as long as possible! (with normal shampoo i was told it should last 8-12 weeks which is plenty long enough!) The amazing smelling shampoo was massaged thoroughly into my hair and scalp adding to the spa like experience, also I swear my hair just feels noticeably cleaner and bouncer than i can ever get it! I honestly felt like i could just fall asleep or get a good book out and just lie there and read away as if I were having a nice long soak in the bath!
I have to say i think my favourite part of my experience had to be getting my hair blow dried, cut and styled, as its where you see all of the hard work put in by the stylist come to life and take shape and you get that lovely extra weight coming off feeling when they start to tidy up your hair. I showed Ben the picture of how i wanted my hair (a similar length to now with a few more layers to make it a bit more choppy and interesting), he was all too happy to do it the way i wanted and even made some suggestions that improved the look to suit my own style, e.g. allowing me to put my hair up if I wanted to. He also improved the look of my fringe massively as it was really getting on my nerves because it seemed to have become too long and basically non existent. Now its just right and perfect for when i put my hair back into a pony tail, which i tend to do quite a lot. Ben also kept talking me through the techniques he was using to get the desired result which i found very useful as i find my hair can be a bit difficult for someone inexperienced like me to blow dry sometimes and knowing how to get the desired result was going to come in very handy for recreating the salon look. I was also asked how i wished my hair to be styled, straight wavy curly etc... which I haven't experienced before, I've only ever been offered a straight style after finishing my hair which just showed how much more Assisi's were willing to do. I told Ben he could go crazy and do whatever he wanted, he chose curls (which i would have opted for myself as I love my hair curled). He curled them with the straighteners which had the perfect effect and seemed to make it easier to correctly style my fringe, i paid a lot of attention to him styling my fringe as I always find that the hardest part of curling my hair so I shall attempt to recreate that look at some point!
As you can probably tell from the included pictures my hair looked amazing once they had finished with it. I was extremely pleased with the end product which was reflected in the price of the treatments I received. I would definitely come back to have my hair done again and again. The style suited my face and look very well and was a huge improvement on the style I had before. I don't think I've ever been so pleased with how my hair looked after having it done at a salon, as normally i find there is something that didn't quite work out as i had imagined or perhaps the stylist took a bit too much hair off, nothing like that occurred and the end result was even better than I had imagined. This was not the end of my experience however! i was then taken upstairs to the lovely little glitter beauty bar, where i was having a HD makeover, something i hadn't experienced before so i was rather excited.
My beauty technician was lovely and started by asking me what sort of occasion i was having the make up done for, whether or not i was going out that night etc... That way she was able to tailor a look centred around my specific style needs. It just so happened that it was owen's birthday the next day so we were hoping to go out the night before so I asked for a night out look, which i later found out mostly involved the pallets named vamp. I was talked through all of the techniques she was using, as well as giving me tips to ensure i could get a lovely look each time i applied my make up, even if i was rushing (which I normally am!). She actually mixed two of the foundations available to match my skin colour which is very fair, so don't worry if there doesn't seem to be one there which matches your skin tone as the beauty technicians are able to create one from the ones available. I was also convinced to try a bronzer on my cheek bones, i don't normally use a bronzer myself because I worry about making it look too dark however i have been converted as she showed me the perfect technique to get a lovely sun kissed look that accentuated my cheek bones. The foundation felt great on my face, not too heavy and there was definitely no caked up feeling you get with some foundations, it really gave my skin an air brushed look by covering up all of my blemishes and uneven skin tones.
The eye pallet used on my lids was the vamp one, which had purple, blue, pink and neutral tones that really complimented my skin and eye colour (which is green). I loved the way she extended the purple shadow to match the flick of the eye-liner, it really seemed to open my eyes up and make them more sultry and well vampy! (if that was a word). Speaking of the eye-liner that was excellent! I hadn't ever used a gel eye-liner before but I feel as though I may have to invest in this one as it stayed put all day and didn't even smudge when my eyes watered a bit from hay fever and even when i rubbed them forgetting i had it on! (that's how light weight the whole make up felt). It sets in something like 20 seconds too which means you don't have to worry about accidentally smudging it while applying any more make up. The mascara was great too, it really made my eyes look bigger and gave such great volume and length to my lashes, something I always like to strive for! It didn't take many coats either to get the desired effect, meaning it would last a long time. I also had my eyebrows done so that they would be more defined and able to frame my face better. The effect was immediate and i could see why people take so much care with there eye brows. Normally I would just pluck mine, however sometimes i don't even do that because they are so light they can hardly be seen anyway. I think though if i were to have them done again i would opt to have them a bit lighter as they did seem a bit too dark for my skin tone, although other than that they looked great!
The whole look was finished off with a lick of gloss over my lips which looked great, I don't normally go for lip gloss because i find its too sticky and my hair gets caught in it, but this was not the case with the HD lip gloss. It was perfectly hydrating but at the same time wasn't noticeably wet or sticky. In fact it had more of a consistency of a balm which i loved. The colour was lovely too, my technician decided an understated colour would work best as i had such bold colours on my eyes. It was just slightly more pigmented than my natural lip colour bringing it out to compliment the rest of my look. Finally the make up was set with a loose powder which helped to combat any shine too and just added to the camera ready look that had been created.
When i looked in the mirror i couldn't believe the transformation that had occurred, the whole look was perfect and i almost had that surreal moment of is that actually me?
My experience of Assisi's salon was amazing, I can't recommend it enough and i would definitely go back for more treatments. I may even try something new as they also do HD brows as well as having a nail bar. I would definitely give my whole experience a 10/10 the atmosphere was welcoming and lovely, the staff were attentive and friendly and the treatments were brilliant, apart from my brows being a tad dark I can find no fault.
You can find Assisi's salon and glitter beauty bar at:
18 Sea View Street,
Cleethorpes,
North East Lincolnshire,
