This is a natural health centre based in Penarth, where there are beauty treatments and salon type…read moremassages available, as well as a shop for all you natural health and beauty needs. Slightly off the main road, it took me a while to realise that this place was here. In direct competition with other salons on Windsor Road, Ener-chi offers something a little bit more unusual. Once upon a time Penarth was, and still is if we're honest, full of middle-aged women wearing flax and smelling of sandalwood. This is the type of audience Ener-chi seems to be catering for; people with a taste for the relaxing with a bit too much money on their hands. With lots of treatments to choose from, including massage and 'beauty treatments', whatever that might mean. In their shop, they have a good range of beauty, health and aromatherapy products, but with quite high price tags. I don't know. There's just something a little not right about this place; something a little off kilter which stops it becoming a 4 or 5 star business. It might have something to do with the super-white smiles of the staff.

Selling a broad range of natural health products, as well as providing a range of treatments and…read moreservices, Ener-chi caters specifically to those interested in maintaining a healthy and beautiful body. Friendly staff will greet customers with a beaming smile, with the smells and warmth of the shop almost enough to sooth customers alone. The range of goods on offer is of the high quality, natural produce variety, with various moisturisers and hair care likely to appeal to women in search of eternal youth. Apart from just being a well-stocked shop, the range of treatments offered is also fairly extensive. The treatments on offer range from massages to pedicures, with a high quality service guaranteed. This is a great little place to go and have some attention paid to your aesthetics, with the reasonably priced services sure to go down well.

I had never used a sunbed before. I scare pretty easily and I wasn't really that interested in…read moreusing a piece of equipment which will apparently definitely kill you. However, my friend was going and is a regular sunbed user. Thinking that I'd be alright if I just tried it once - maybe sunbeds are like smoking, or drugs? - I went along too. I'm glad that I did go because the service was good and so were the prices. The shop itself made me feel somehow calmer, wrapped almost in a cocoon of girly protection. The end result was that I actually felt a little unwell and my skin was extremely sensitive. However, my friend had no adverse reaction and I think that this is just because I had never used it before and my skin is a little wussy. There is no reason not to use this place at all.

Wonderland Nails and Beauty has been created specially for all the pamper-vamps and glamour-puss's…read moreout there. Treatments are indulgent, a little exotic, consummately executed and expensive... and pretty comprehensive! I called in the other day to enquire about eyelash extensions as I have grown increasingly allergic to make-up and felt in the mood to have a bit of a splurge. I'm now sat with the full list of treatments available at Wonderland Nails and Beauty, (which is just as well, as the subscription to the website seems to have lapsed)... and, well... I'm struggling to navigate the paper version too. It's not that the eyelash extension section of the leaflet is difficult to find, and is thankfully pretty short and succinct. There's three options; 1/2 Natural Look (£60.00) which will lend me another 40 to 60 lashes per eye, or The Look (£70.00) which offers me another 100 to 150 lashes per eye, or the Regular Fill (30.00) with no details given... hmmm... that one seems to be the more financially attractive option, but I have no idea what it actually means. So that's all pretty self explanatory, (apart from the bit that's not), it's just that the sheer vastness of the range of beauty-care and the terminology used on the rest of the leaflet has sucked me in and spat me out feeling rather bewildered. There's about 30 different nail options with another six side order choices (decorations and fake jewels etc), and that's even before we break into the manicure and pedicure section, which takes up another page! There are over twenty different waxing options, and then there's the facial and body treatments... the latter come with the most elaborate explanations, but I'm stumped by the names, let alone the blurb! Body treatments range from £40.00 to £65.00 aqnd the facials, including anti-aging options range from £30.00 to £55.00. The costs involved in the other treatments all seem to comply with the going rate with little exception. Eyelash tints are £6.50 as opposed to £70.00 for The Look! HMMM... I'm going to have to think about that one!

Bodywise is my 'local' beauty spot and venue for all of my brilliant spray tans. It's cheap, quick…read moreand efficient. Just the way I like it. For £15 you can get blasted with a hose full of brown dye and be on your way within half an hour. One of the women there asks me how my job interview went every time I go there and I don't have the heart to tell her that she's probably mistaken me for another girl. Still, she maintains eye contact when I'm in the nude and has probably seen me naked more than anyone else has in the last few months. All the girls at Bodywise are sweet, friendly and easy to chat to when you're having your treatments. They will also do their best to accomodate you if you're in dire need of a tan/wax/tint. As if you needed any more convincing, at some point last September my best friend burst in with yeti legs and and an unruly bikini line and swears blind she had the quickest and least painful waxing of her life.

This is a calm and serene place to go for your treatments. It's beautiful and clean and the staff…read moreare friendly. Prices are not too bad and results make it worth it (even the pain of a bikini wax)!! I have recommended this to friends and I will do again!

The Instagrammers dream that is Dollymixers (formally known as Rehab Nail Bar) is located on Crwys…read moreRoad. The salon offers a range of treatments including St Tropez Spray Tans, Gel Manicures, Nail Wraps, Blow Drys, Colours, Cuts and (among others) Hair Extensions. Upon my last visit I opted for a Blow Wave and 'Colour Tip Nail Extensions' - both of which in total took 2 hours. Now, If like me you sometimes don't feel like sharing the general niceties you usually share with your beautician / hairdresser, Dollymixers is the salon for you! Watch a movie from your personal TV, browse the internet on one of their Apple iPads or opt to listen to their nostalgic choice of music while sipping your complimentary Milkshake (or glass of wine if you prefer) in-between bites of your complimentary cupcake! To view their Pricelist in full click: http://goo.gl/PxzzEZ *Note, there is FREE customer parking. Simply turn left at Subway!

Please don't let the name of this place fool you. Yes, they can help relax and soften you feet and…read moreyou face, but that's not all. Oh no, they also provide health, beauty and relaxation treatments on pretty much the rest of you too. This is a small and comfortable spa/salon situated in the swish Pontcanna area of Cardiff, under a mile from the centre of town. It's a bit of a one-stop-shop for all your salon needs, as they have a massive variety of treatments to choose from. Facials, manicures, chiropody, reflexology, Indian head massage, ear piercing, hot stone massage, seaweed treatments, waxing... The staff here are very lovely and, importantly, well qualified in their fields of expertise. You really get the impression that they know what they're talking about, and that was only when I went in for a price list. They also have a range of products and gifts on sale, as well as vouchers available if you wanted to treat someone to a relaxing afternoon (or if you know someone with an uno-brow, who just won't take the hint.)

The Feet and Face Place has always struck me as a little bit odd. Even more so now that they have…read more'before and after' shots of some kind of tummy treatment gracing their windows! Makes you wonder whether your feet and face are in all the right places! But, of course, they offer a comprehensive beauty spa range including; facials and anti aging treatments right through to massage, inch loss and hair removal. To be honest this is not my kind of place. I'm all for health and beauty, don't get me wrong, but I'd prefer a different start point than is offered here. I like to begin at the beginning, starting with the inside before I attempt to do anything superficial. I find it saves money! For this reason I'm more likely to go to Gaia around the corner. It's not as flash as The Feet and Face Place, but it offers curative treatments as well as the purely cosmetic. It also provides Ayurvedic nutrition and lifestyle consultations, which deal with health and beauty on an essential level. One thing in their favour is that the The Feet and Face Place offer Reflexology, which certainly does work on a more profound level than their other treatments.

Toni is fully qualified and insured for practicing professional beauty and holistic treatments in…read moreyour own home. She is friendly yet professional and easy to get along with. The service she offers is fantastic and convenient and she offers everything from an eyebrow wax to full body tanning services. No job is too small or too big. I've had an indian head massage and the experience was lovely. I've also had my eyebrows done a few times and i was really pleased with the service. The price is great and she works up until 9pm on weeknights. Its a great idea to have a few mates over and pamper yourselves too. Please note - Toni is not based in Barry Island - Qype Gremlins were at work when i tried to change this in the listing. Toni does cover the Vale of Glamorgan including Barry and Cardiff.

My main issue with this place is, surprise surprise, the price. The actual salon is quite…read morebeautiful, laid out in that relaxed, slightly new-age, high-market way you would expect from a salon. I only went to get my nails done but I definitely won't be going back regularly. The cheapest manicure treatment that they offer is £17.50, for a standard nail shape or cuticle fixer. To be fair, it's not as though you don't get your money's worth with regards to time. The longest treatment that they offer for your nails lasts for something crazy like an hour and a half. Salons, in general, scare me a little bit. I was recommended this one by a friend and was put off for a little while by the pictures of strange electronic machines all over the website. They seem to be used for slimming. I'll just eat less, thanks.

I would not recommend this place. I was kept waiting half an hour for a 930 am appt - the excuse…read morefor this was that they had to get the room ready!! I was the first appt so thought that was shoddy. Decided to give it another go and was telephoned the day before informing me that my appt had to be cancelled as they had double booked. Very poor customer service.

I love beauty treatments, even though I sort of despise the level of intimacy that comes with them…read more That's why I like to visit as many salons as possible because once another woman has coated you in a layer of brown sticky gloop whilst you stand in a pair of paper pants and a hair net it's very hard to look her in the eyes again. Having run out of things to talk about with my most recent beauty therapist I headed to Karma in Cowbridge in search of another human being to expose myself to. Annoyingly their spray tans were about 8 quid more than my local so I opted for the mini manicure instead. The shop itself is quite small and low key, also there is a handful of staff so it's very intimate which made me feel at ease and like I was sat in someone's living room. We chit chatted whilst she filed, buffed and polished my nails and I left just £10 poorer but with pretty hands and a feeling of being a little bit pampered. The salon also offers holistic services so next time I go I think I'm going to go for an Indian head massage. Not too intimate for a neurotic girl like me, yet hands on enough not to feel like a complete freak.

I had never visited this salon before but spotted a special offer (pretty much on par with what…read moreother salons offer) and as it was convenient location, I decided to give it a go. Unfortunately I was very disapointed with the poor hygene in this place and will not be returning. In addition, the owner was cheekily trying to con me by claiming entirely different terms and conditions to the offer (which I have in print!), effectively trying to pom me off with a quarter of the treatment I bought and already paid for in advance! Pretty much the worst first impression you can make on a potential new customer. As a minimum I'd expect a clean and hygenic salon, products not being scraped off one customer and reused on another, and to receive the service for which I had paid for. Rubbish on all accounts!