Brits Love Healthy Hair & Skin

When it comes to beauty, Londoners are all about products that are healthy for the individual, considerate of the wider world and, lastly, actually work well.  ­They care about long-term nourishment of their hair, skin and nails, rather than quick fixes that might look good but cause untold damage.

Podiatrist Margaret Dabbs uses foot and hand health as a basis for beautiful nails. She disapproves of shellac or gel treatments and needless to say does not offer them in her London salons. Her mani-pedi-cures address the comfort and health of the hands and feet: she can tell you about your own lifestyle just by looking at your feet. Her salons are clinical – she banishes ingrown nails and dry skin leaving you with beautiful feet and hands that have no varnish on them whatsoever. She does offer polish, but insists on using Rococo Nail Varnishes, which do not contain formaldehyde, toluene and DBP (plasticizer)– all of which all damage the nails.

World-renowned British trichologist Philip Kingsley, who made products for Audrey Hepburn, has health at the heart of his work. His brand motto is “healthy hair is beautiful hair.” He looks at the scalp first, hair second. He refuses to let any of his staff blow dry customer hair in his Mayfair clinic, because he believes it is so damaging. His strict technique means that his rich clients have to either style their own hair before they go, or leave with wet hair.

In the last couple of years, buying vitamins from the chemist, like Boots or Holland & Barrett, is no longer enough as people grow wise to low-quality products. Dr. Perricone’s ethos when it comes to good skin is tied into eating well. That is his first step, then he introduces potent food supplements and before finally addressing topical skincare. These supplements are so strong that the difference to the skin is visible in a month. Not a British brand, but in offices all over London, people have Dr. Perricone’s supplement packs with multi-complex, omega 3 and derma-complex vitamins on their desks (they come in separate pouches so you can’t get confused about doses).