A night at Benjamin Ryan Hair and Beauty

The Great Western Arcade is one of Birmingham’s gems. A beautiful Victorian shopping arcade, Great Western houses some of the best independent stores in the City. Last week it was host to a special Christmas shopping evening, which saw the Arcade become alive with the sound of a festive choir, and treated customers to special discounts and late night openings at all stores. Benjamin Ryan Hair and Beauty welcomed bloggers and fashion folk for a glass of bubbly and nibbles, and a look around the wonderful salon.

Benjamin Ryan is one of Birmingham’s leading hair and beauty salons, offering a range of treatments that run from hair styling to Botox and Lipofirm. The salon itself was extended a couple of years ago and is a luxurious setting for the ultimate in pampering treats, with Decleor a key brand used in treatments. We were treated to glasses of bubbly and sweet and savoury festive treats with white iced cupcakes being a big favourite with the sweet toothed bloggers in attendance.

One of the highlights of the night was watching Style Birmingham’s Andrew Riley experiencing a wet shave with a cutthroat razor. This was useful as I got lots of tips and information to take home for the hubby, like how a hot towel applied to the face is perfect for drawing out the hair making it easier to remove. It was also interesting to hear how raised red spots on the skin can be caused by the removal of ingrowing hairs.

We were also treated to a tour around the salon by the lovely Claudia Matthews. Claudia was very knowledgable about the treatments offered at the salon and was able to lots of questions we fired at her. The salon is a great mixture of luxury and relaxation, the frenetic energy of the busy hair salon is equally matched by the tranquil atmosphere of the treatment rooms.

For me, the most fascinating part of the night was the opportunity to watch Natasha from the salon receive a first course of Botox treatment. Benjamin Ryan offer a number of skin and facial aesthetic treatments administered by Dr CV Elliot. Despite being a little squeamish when it comes to needles, I was fascinated by how quick and painless the treatment was. It was also interesting to hear about how Botox can be used as a preventative measure rather than a cure, how it is now used on girls as young as 14 for medical issues, and that, contrary to popular belief, Botox does not have to mean losing all movement in your face.

There was just time for one last demonstration, this time with Jess Fitzpatrick from Scene magazine as the model. Jess was treated to a fab and fast hair treatment using chalk/crayoning which is just perfect for the party season.