Hungover, made over

It was supposed to be the ultimate hangover cure: a makeover for two (£40 each) that guarantees to get you looking fresh and beautiful after a heavy night out. The idea was simple: swan over to meet a "team of hair and make-up artists", who would soothe and transform us into sirens and take a photograph of the miracle as proof. But on the Sunday morning when the alarm went off, my headache was banging like a barn door in a storm. The Double Take team had a big challenge if they were going to dispel that morning-after-the-night-before feeling.

A fresh-faced receptionist at the Clerkenwell studio greeted us with a buck's fizz. The champagne helped our shakes, but the laser-like studio lighting made our eyes smart. "This is my idea of hell," growled my friend Jen, 25, a commercial manager. The hair stylist, Kenneth Soh, helped me to a mirror. "I'm going to give you a glamorous, sunkissed, sexy look," he promised.

He slapped cotton wool soaked in cucumber essence on my eyes "to calm my angry skin" and began wrestling with hair tongs and make-up. Jen flopped out a limp arm for her detox aromatherapy hand-massage.

"Mmm, you look like J-Lo," said Kenneth. I peered into the mirror an hour later and saw a ringleted, Bonnie Langford clone. How was Jen getting on? "Rocky Horror," she murmured when asked about her new look.

Vanessa, the team's house photographer, guided us to a private studio for our complimentary portraits. I was told to peek cheekily from a bamboo fence with a fan blowing in my face. Jen was sprawled on a fur-covered chaise longue. Thank heavens for soft focus. Later that day, however, not only were my friends impressed, but we even got a few compliments from passers-by. Sadly, beauty is only skin deep. Inside, we still felt sick as parrots.

Double Take Studios is on 020 7843 1170.