Gemma Phelan

Gemma Phelan

Phelan is The Review’s beauty editor. Aside from reviewing the hottest new beauty products and services, she also runs her own digital marketing agency, DigitalBinx. Phelan has previously worked at the Daily Mirror and Elle Magazine, and is a lover of red lipstick, vintage fashion and ‘oldies’ tag radio.

Beauty

Skin Deep

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It’s usually around the end of February, after several months of cold, rain and wind that my skin just gives up. No matter how many creams and potions I apply, nothing can alleviate the dry dullness that’s become synonymous with these winter months. I needed an intervention. Spa Illuminata, located just off Park Lane, is a tall Victorian building that looks like a high-end corner shop. If it wasn’t for the large gold lettering, I would have walked straight past. Once inside, it was obviously nothing of the sort. The decor gives the illusion of high ceilings being held up by Roman-esque pillars; the floor and fixtures are all marble…

Beauty, Travel

Bedford Lodge Spa & Hotel

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Riding the jam-packed Jubilee Line on a Monday morning with passengers grimacing at each other in silent solidarity, I decided I needed a break. Not just a break from work, but a break from the city. A mid-morning trawl of the internet brought up the Bedford Lodge Spa and Hotel, an eighteenth-century hunting lodge that had been converted into a hotel in the 1940s. The Hotel is in Newmarket, about an hour and a half from London. Far enough away to feel like you’re out of the city, but not so far that you spend the majority of your weekend in a car. Bedford Lodge is set in 3 acres…

Beauty, Health, Travel

Spa Illuminata, London, W1K

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It’s usually around the end of February, after several months of cold, rain and wind that my skin just gives up. No matter how many creams and potions I apply, nothing can alleviate the dry dullness that’s become synonymous with these winter months. I needed an intervention. Spa Illuminata, located just off Park Lane, is a tall Victorian building that looks like a high-end corner shop. If it wasn’t for the large gold lettering, I would have walked straight past. Once inside, it was obviously nothing of the sort. The decor gives the illusion of high ceilings being held up by Roman-esque pillars; the floor and fixtures are all marble…

Beauty

Skin Deep

By

Braun SkinSpa Finally, an excuse to get rid of your shaving gel, blunt razors and that half empty tube of hair removal cream you’ve had in the bathroom draw for the past year. The Braun SkinSpa has. it. all. Close-Grip-Technology makes the epilator tool one of the most effective I’ve used, removing hairs as short as 0.5mm. You can feel the power of the machine as it picks up speed in your hand. Nought to sixty in under 3 seconds. Plus, switching between attachments couldn’t be simpler and more fiddle-free. The shaver tool is equally as efficient at removing hair, almost as close a shave as a razor. All functions…

Beauty, Style

Highbrow Makeup

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Our beauty editor Gemma Phelan discusses semi-permanent make-up. Whether you’re the victim of overzealous plucking, Alopecia, or, like me, you were simply not blessed with Cara Delevingne-esqe brows to mould and shape as you please, semi-permanent make-up may be just the ticket. I have spent the last decade pencilling in my eyebrows and although I had perfected the art, the thought of being free of this daily chore is something that’s excited me for years. Undergoing any kind of permanent make-up procedure is daunting. The result is going to be on your face for 2-5 years, so choosing the right consultant is paramount. Be warned, there are hundreds of shysters…