In life, there are beauty duties and there is pampering. Now, in my book, hair removal, especially bikini hair removal, comes under beauty duty. I tend to manicure my bikini line at home, mainly because previous experiences in that area have been none too pretty. My one and only Brazilian waxing experience was particularly harrowing. It lasted what felt like a lifetime (in reality only 45 minutes) because the woman wielding the wax strips kept getting stuck, if you know what I mean. Horrendous.

So it is with trepidation that I enter Strip, the dedicated waxing salon, in Chelsea where I'm reviewing the newly launched i-bar, for all things brow-related, and, gulp, the Brazilian wax. What’s that phrase I'm groping for... taking one for the team?

As soon as I enter the lavishly styled boutique-cum-waiting room at Strip's three-storey boutique, I'm immediately more optimistic about the experience. Stella McCartney, Elle Macpherson Intimates and Calvin Klein lingerie greet me. Then my therapist, the lovely Carleigh Rayner, leads me to the Chocolate room – an opulent boudoir complete with chandelier, comfy bed, velvet drapes and embossed wallpaper. She tells me the treatment rooms are themed according to the ‘flavoured’ Lycon waxes used – chocolate, berry, lavender and gold (this will leave you shimmering). 

We discuss my Brazilian requirements (since you ask, I opt to leave a triangle rather than the ‘traditional’ landing strip. Carleigh says a lot of people don’t realize you can do this.) and Carleigh sets to work putting me at ease by asking me to select what I’d like to watch on the plasma TV (nice touch). I channel surf while she cleanses the area, applying the pre oil so that the wax takes hold more effectively. Then we begin with the wax. I’m told the hard Lycon wax is just the thing for dealing with pesky bikini lines because it really moulds itself around even short hairs and ensures they’re pulled out at the root. Apparently, the thing about using linen or paper strips is that they act as an extra barrier -- a middle man if you will -- between the wax and the hair making the hair more likely to break.

Carleigh speedily whizzes around, going from side to side so if I want to chicken out early I can. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hurt... but it didn’t hurt much. Because it happens so quickly and the wax comes off directly it doesn’t sting half as much, plus Carleigh’s technique (universal across all Strip the practitioners) of adding pressure immediately after removing wax helps. After she applies cooling Tea Tree lotion and I’m smooth as a baby’s bum. There’s no stickiness, no post-stinging and irritation. And this is still true at bedtime after I’ve been out all evening in skinny jeans.

Now onto hair removal of a gentler variety: I also trialled the new i-bar for brow and lash care, located in the white, airy basement, complete with yet another plasma TV. Tamanna Sahatu is my brow guru – she has 20 years’ threading experience, and she’s soon sized me up and whipped my brows into a flattering, more streamlined arch. And it doesn’t hurt a bit. It’s true what they say - having your eyebrows shaped really does give you an instant facelift.

And, I don’t know if I want to admit this (but I will)... While checking out my brows in the mirror, Tamanna tactfully had a word with me, saying, ‘I think you need your top lip doing’. Now, I’ve been wondering if it’s time I tended to this but was worried about upkeep. I appreciate her honesty. Who else is going to tell me I’ve got a shadow? She soon gets rid of it; this does sting a bit, but it’s worth it. My experience is topped off with an amazing Indian head massage. I leave feeling preened, pampered and like a new woman... not at all like I've just been doing obligatory beauty duty.

• Brazilian wax (£45), basic bikini wax (£22)
• The ‘Brow Rehab’ package (includes 3 threading sessions, one eyebrow tint and specialist guidance to get poorly shaped or thinning brows back to perfection, £49)
• Eyebrow reshape with consultation and pressure point massage (£25)

Available at Strip, Notting Hill boutique: +44 (0)20 7727 2754  |  Chelsea boutique: +44 (0)20 7590 0050

Written by Alison Taylor for www.beautywoome.com.

How could I have forgotten what great products Neal’s Yard Remedies do? Funny how, as you wend your way through lotions and potions, falling for the excitement of the new and unknown, the ones you formerly loved become distant memories.

Good news, then, that a facial appointment at the new Neal’s Yard Remedies Organic Beauty Day Spa on the Kings Road not only introduced me to their lush spa treatments, but put me back onto the products – beautiful classic packaging, high natural ingredients content and reasonably priced to boot.

Welcomed into the shop with a cuppa, I was led downstairs to the treatment rooms to meet therapist Bernadette. As well as facials, the spa offers sugar waxing, body, and hand and foot treatments, using ingredients like orange flower, bergamot, grapefruit and jasmine. There’s also a Hot Box Detox – a 15-minute Far Infra Red rays sauna (£10) to help clean the system of bad chemicals and toxins.

Deciding on a Damask Rose Radiance-Boosting Facial to revive my perennially dehydrated skin, Bernadette wrapped my hair back to cleanse my face and eyelashes, relaxing my facial muscles with a fingertip massage before preparing for blackhead extraction (thorough and painless). The aromatic scents of damask rose oil, lavender and orange flower sent me into a blissful doze. More relaxing facial massage was followed by a Rose Formula Anti-Oxidant Facial Mask (cue more neck and shoulders rubs), which left my skin refreshed and plumped, my mind relaxed and pampered.

A recent convert to the Neal’s Yard Remedies range (after having worked with Dermalogica for many years), Bernadette shared a good beauty tip: I could get rid of the little white milia pimples under my eyes by using a light Rose Formula Hydrating Eye Cream (10ml for £21), which wouldn’t clog the fragile under-eye skin; she was horrified to hear I used my regular day cream under my eyes. While my milia entirely haven’t disappeared in two weeks, there are no new whiteheads popping up and, overall, they seem less noticeable.

My dehydrated skin has been kept at bay with the weekly clay-like Rose Formula Anti-Oxidant Facial Mask (50g for £21.60) and (another fantastic discovery-of-the-month) Shikai’s Borage Dry Skin Therapy Facial 24-hour Repair Cream, which I found at the High Street Ken Whole Foods.  After two weeks with this cream (just a dab each time), day and night, not a spot of dryness in sight. The final note of my 2009 autumn skincare opus is Neal Yard’s Remedies Beautiful Skin Tea (£6.50) with a mix of goji berries, rosehip, bilberry and hibiscus flower to up the chances of achieving a radiant autumnal glow.

Visit Neal's Yard Remedies Organic Beauty Spa  or print this voucher for a 20% discount on all first-time treatments and 15% off products bought after your treatment until October 31st, 2009.

Damask Rose Radiance-Boosting Facial, £65 for 60 minutes or £85 for 90 minutes at NYR Organic Beauty Day Spa, 124b Kings Road, London SW3 4TR (+44 (0)20 7225 2050).

Written by Julia Rebaudo for www.beautywoome.com.