Review: Benefit Cosmetics Carnaby Street Boutique

What’s the buzz? Kitsch and super-popular make-up brand Benefit’s had a beauty boutique in Carnaby for just over a year now. The top floor hosts their colourful make-up emporium; their fast beauty boutique is nestled underground. The decor is as pink and Fifties-inspired as you’d expect from the brand but they’re not wedded to vintage styles when it comes to their blowout bar: in fact, unusually for a fast beauty place, you can have any style you want — although there is a menu to choose from if you want to, with big bouncy blowouts and up-dos being particularly popular.

Hair stylist Priya is the woman to go to: she’s Sassoon-trained and has a consultative approach — again, quite unusual for a fast beauty place. I stuck to the menu and chose the Tilly, a wavy style created with a styling wand and, at my request, minimal styling products — just some volumising spray and hairspray. Priya created body by using the stying wand in tiers and the result was super-cute. It did drop during the day but despite this attracted a lot of cooing from my workmates and it passed the Mum test too — having seen me and my hair on TV that evening, Mrs S called to do some cooing of her own. Now that’s proof of a good hairdo. I’m going back.

Location: Carnaby Street, W1

How much does it cost? Blow-dry from £26.50