Helen opened the doors of Loved in 2001, though it went through a few transformations before that point and even before it reached its current state, and will no doubt continue to evolve as Helen watches the market and makes change accordingly:

“I’m always innovating, always pushing forwards – it’s what my clients expect of me and the only way I’m happy to operate!” says Helen.

Helen hasn’t always been involved in the beauty business, though it was her original intention. She achieved a highly sought-after place on a Masters course in Health & Beauty, which in addition to two years study required a year working in the industry. This year however, spent at a top Spa in Manchester, convinced her that the last place she wanted to be was working in a beauty salon!

Instead she took a cabin crew position with BA and flew long haul for many years.

“With the arrival of my children however, I had to re-think my lifestyle, so I went part-time and also ran fitness classes locally.

“I always wanted to work for myself though, and a business idea had been growing in my mind. I wanted to return to the beauty industry but put a different slant on it. Having spent a lot of time in places such as California with my job, I thought it would be great to attach a juice bar to a high class beauty salon, employ positive, friendly staff and create a haven for people to meet, kick back and escape from the pressures of everyday life! Bramhall wasn’t quite ready for a juice bar 10 years ago, so a year or two later a fully licensed coffee bar was born.

“In the early days I was still working part-time for BA, and trying to run the salon alongside. The catalyst for change came when I got caught up in the 911 disaster. We were mid-flight to New York, and got diverted to Newfoundland for days. It was an extremely tough time despite the amazing camaraderie of all involved. We had people on board who learned they’d lost friends and family in the attacks and when my son broke down and begged me not to go on my next rostered flight I knew it was time to leave.”

“I decided it was time to change. I researched and invested in more clinical, cutting edge technology, brought in Elemis Spa Therapy… and Loved was born.”

Loved offers everything you’d expect from a beauty salon in Bramhall, and then some. And much of what customers can find
there is the very best you can get, resulting from Helen’s constant search for the best of the best in the industry:

“My philosophy has always been to seek out treatments and procedures that will make the skin work for itself – we all want eternal youth but there are a lot of talked about therapies that I won’t touch – I need to see real results and understand the science behind the technology.

“A lot of technology used for cosmetic enhancements today was developed for medical purposes first – such as Endermologie and Intense Pulse Light for example. The levels of testing they’ve had to go through reassure me that it’s safe and effective for use at Loved.”

One piece of technology very close to her heart is her Mole Scanning Device. This extraordinary machine can scan a mole anywhere on your face or body with such detailed analysis, giving an answer on the spot as to the nature of the mole.

Helen is backed by and works closely with Dr John Ashworth, a dermatology consultant specialising in skin cancer.

“I will undertake a mole scan and the machine analyses what it sees. After studying all aspects of the mole it calculates a score and anything that comes up over a six is immediately referred to Dr Ashworth for further analysis and removal. Alternatively the client’s GP is informed and immediate action can be taken. We’ve caught a few cancerous moles that on the surface looked OK. I have a number of very grateful people as a result.”

Helen also works with a Harley Street consultant for fillers and Botox treatments. There’s been rather a backlash lately against the over-use of Botox by celebrities, and Helen can quite understand why.

“Done poorly, or overtreated, and it can look horrific. It took me a long time to find the right person to bring into Loved – and until I did I wouldn’t offer any of the injectable treatments. Dr Connell has an amazing reputation and takes the view that less is more. He places the fillers very carefully to achieve a natural, ‘freshened’ look, rather than the ‘plastic doll face’ you see all too often!”

Helen’s most recent innovation is semi-permanent make-up. She trained with the team behind the fresh-faced beauty of Danni Minogue and a whole host of TV stars.

“I’d watched developments in permanent cosmetics for years,” says Helen. “But until now I wasn’t comfortable that it could be used to enhance, not ‘over-write’.

“The delicacy of application and range of colour and shading that is available now means that it ticks all the many, many boxes on my list! It’s fantastic – eye-liner, brow hair stroke design, lips, it’s all marvellous!”

Having seen the truth in Helen herself I confess to being more than a little tempted by the eye-liner idea… I’ve yet to find one that doesn’t end up giving me panda eyes before the night’s over!

She’s also very excited about the Age Defence treatment recently introduced. It’s an IPL treatment that has been medically proven to increase collagen production by 300 per cent.

What?! Speaking as someone over 40, when collagen production pretty much halves, this is an incredible notion!

“It is amazing!” says Helen. “We apply a special lotion over a period of an hour before treatment. Then we use a very low pulse of IPL across the face. Customers leave looking a little flushed at most. And unlike pigment removal, there’s no pain.

“As the collagen is produced over time, it’s like a secret face-lift! You need to have three treatments and then sit back and watch the change!”

Loved is filled with amazing treatments, all of which could tempt even the most low maintenance woman – HD Brows (a seven stage brow perfection process), semi-permanent lashes, Elemis Spa treatments, massage, facials, nails…

I’m going back – she’s promised to work wonders with my brows… and then there’s that eye-liner thing… and who doesn’t need more collagen…

Loved
10 Ack Lane
Bramhall SK7 2BY
0161 440 0001
www.lovedbeauty.com