SPA WATCH | Ayurvedic Massage at Blink Brow Bar

IF GIVEN my choice of treatments from a spa menu, massage is never a top choice. Massages get a bum wrap in my book because although I can feel the good they do, I can't see it (illogical I know, but true).

But running around central London the other day, a massage sounded like an amazing idea thanks to miles walked in heels and a few long-haul flights.

Blink Brow Bar Fenwick's New Bond Street location is one of the newer outposts offering full-on body treatments. Blink (mwhahaha) and you might miss the new treatment room, tucked just behind the women braving the threading chair on their lunch breaks. Because of the room's proximity to the beauty hall, no conversation goes unheard and you'll be in the beauty hall's line of sight when that door swings open so be forewarned if you're a slow dresser.

That said, once you're under the hands of the capable Blink therapists, it's surprisingly easy to tune out the noise.

Ancient Ayurvedic principles are used to tailor your massage, making it as bespoke a treatment as you'll find in a department store beauty hall. The products and technique used are specified for your dosha type. How do they know your dosha type? From the extensive questionnaire you complete before submitting to the surprisingly strong hands of your diminutive therapist. From diet to stress levels, personality traits and sleep patterns, all is noted to decode your dosha type - vata (space and air), pitta (fire and water) or kapha (water and earth).

What are doshas? The three metabolic types/humours/physiological principles of the human constitution. Each of us has a bit of all three but we're all predominantly one type. The aim is to keep them balanced. Most of us are out of balance, thanks to a pretty stressful modern lifestyle.

I'm Vata-Pitta according to my Blink questionnaire. (Take this dosha quiz and figure out which ones you are right now.)

During the treatment, the therapist spends at least 45 of the 60 minutes on my back, neck and legs with a lightly spicy rose-scented oil. It's so relaxing -- even with the pressure (which was perfect) she uses -- that I doze off for a minute. She works in a way that feels more organic than many massages but no less effective. In fact, I would argue the opposite.

Does tailoring the treatment to your dosha type really make a difference? It's hard to tell. But my relaxed, knot-free back is a telling sign that, Ayurvedic or not, the massage is a thoroughly good one.

THE DETAILS

Blink Ayurvedic Massage is £75 for 60 minutes at Fenwick, New Bond Street, Blink Brow Bar

Your eyebrow questions raised & answered by Vanita Parti

Eyebrows are clearly on my mind this week (even if they're barely present on my forehead), and with reason. First the Diorshow Brow Styler made my scrawny little guys look like the face-framing wonders I knew they were born to be. Second, Beauty Woo Me has had a few questions about brows recently so we asked eyebrow fixer-upper extraordinaire, Blink Brow Bar's Vanita Parti, to shed some light on the mythical art that is good eyebrow maintenance. You asked, Vanita answered:

Can everyone thread their eyebrows? I have tiny ones but am still interested because I still pluck the strays from time to time. Yes, threading is just a better alternative to plucking as it gets the tiniest of hair out from the roots without breaking them.

Where does threading come from? Threading originally comes from China but is now predominantly practised in India and the Middle East.

I have really sensitive skin. Will threading irritate it? As long as you do not have any allergies and have been able to remove hair without any reaction before it should be fine. If you are removing hair for the first time, it is often a good idea to do a small patch test to see if your skin reacts to having facial hair removed. Make sure that you apply a soothing and natural lotion (tea tree or calamine lotion) afterwards and do not use any make up or perfumed products on the skin for another 24 hours.

Does it hurt? Threading is a little painful the first few times you have it done. This is because your eyebrow hairs are tough and are being pulled out for the first time. Over time they gradually get weaker and hurt less. It is more of a tingling sensation than a painful one, that can make you sneeze and your eyes water. However, if having it for the first time, let your therapist know and they will go slow!

Does it work better than waxing or tweezing? Most definitely. The results are infinitely better and speak for themselves. No messy liquids and no sharp tweezers to mess around with. It is also much easier to guide the thread to the perfect shape and every little hair out.

What can I do to make my eyebrows standout more? Use a colour pencil to fill in any gaps and even them out and then wave a coat of eyebrow gel over them to make them glossy and keep them sleek.

Why is eyebrow grooming so important? I've never really been bothered before. It instantly lifts the face and makes you seem years younger. Having heavy and unkempt eyebrows can make your whole face seem heavier and older. Having beautifully groomed brows opens up the eyes and balances the whole face.

What tools should I have at home for eyebrow maintenance? A white eye pencil to mark the boundaries of your new eyebrows. Slanted Tweezerman tweezers. Eyebrow pencil to fill in any gaps and even out the brows, cooling lotion to calm down any redness, grooming gel to slick the brows into shape.

Which celebrity's eyebrows do you like the best? Kate Winslet, Penelope Cruz and Frieda Pinto.

Every time I shade in my eyebrows it looks fake. Help! Use a pencil that is not to chalky and does not smudge. Do gentle strokes in the direction of your hair growth and then blend with an eyebrow wand.

Vanita Parti is founder of UK-based Blink Brow Bar. 

If you have a beauty question (or otherwise), email it to beautywoome AT gmail DOT com.

London's Blink Brow Bar reviewed

A dedicated eyebrow plucker since my teens (I do a good arch with no nasty tweezer disasters to speak of), I’m not sure an eyebrow threading will do a whole lot for me. However, I still find myself wondering through the Selfridge's Beauty Hall, hip to hip with the stationery section, towards the busy Blink Brow Bar, favoured by the likes of Harper's Bazaar, where it was voted best for threading in 2008, and Glamour.

Within seconds my threader welcomes me to my chair. From my vantage point, I note the other women being threaded have all brought along big sunglasses to cover up the resulting redness. “Oh, the redness only lasts half an hour to an hour,” my therapist Varsha reassures me. She goes on to tell me that the most popular treatment, aside from eyebrow threading, is lash tinting. And some get their whole face threaded, which makes me wonder about the downy hairs on my checks and chin. Assessing my brows, Varsha is confident I will be happy with the results and asks if I’d be happy for her to start with the top, which I never pluck. “It’ll give a cleaner shape, open your forehead and frame your face much better.” Well I can’t argue with that. My eyes water as she skillfully sets upon my upper brow with her twisted cotton thread.

[Editor's note: For those unfamiliar with the threading technique (quite a common form of hair removal on the subcontinent and the middle east), the therapist takes a long piece of thread, folds it once over itself and twists it. She then runs it over the hairs and moves the twisted bit of the thead up and down with the fingers on the looped end, catching individual hairs with razor-like precision.]

Once she moves underneath my brows I’m on more comfortable territory. Within ten minutes we’re done. My eyebrows swabbed with a soothing toner and moisturiser and I survey the result. Yes, there’s some redness, but that aside I note the pleasing symmetry and sophisticated groomed look I’m now rocking. As I whip out my Linda Farrow sunnies, the Blink girls tell me that some people come in every month, some every other week, depending on hair darkness and re-growth. A week later I haven’t needed to pluck any stray hairs and the strong shape means I’m really noticing my eyebrows every time I look in the mirror. I love the groomed result – for £17 this is money well spent.

Treatments run from £5 to £60.

Blink Brow Bar is located in London, Heathrow Terminal 5, Manchester, Tunbridge Wells and Birmingham in various Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Fenwicks, House of Fraser and John Lewis locations. For more details, see their Location page.

 Written by Julia Rebaudo for www.beautywoome.com.