So
the phone rang and, to my utter amazement, I picked it up.
‘Hello.’
‘Hello,
stranger.’
My
friend Nicky. My cohort in extreme exercise crime. Except since cracking myself
on the nose I haven’t seen her for…weeks.
‘I’ve
left you tons of messages,’ she said. I glanced at the ansaphone and winced.
Thirteen messages? Eek.
‘Shit.
Sorry. Er, wanna coffee?’ I said and we
both laughed cos we don’t ‘do’ coffee. We usually ‘do’ three hours of Zumba or
killer Pilates with weights and wotnot. Come to think of it, I don’t even drink
coffee but hey…
‘Sure,’
she said. ‘But let’s go to Bampton.’
So
we went to Bampton. Lo and behold a
parking space right outside my mum’s old house. Sigh.
And
we toddled over the road into Toucan, which is this really nice café/bistro on Front Street. When Mum was alive it was her second home –
she loved the place. So Nicky and I shot
the breeze and then she said, ‘Come and have a look at this…’ And she pulled me
up the stairs.
Huh?
She wanted me to go to the loo? But it seems that Toucan has a brand new beauty room, all beautifully clean and fresh
and kitted out in tones of cool grey and zingy lime. Soft music playing - Rumer. Aromatherapy candle burning - possibly fig.
Well, blow me down with a feather - it turns
out that Nicky’s daughter, Charlotte Richards, is setting up shop as a beauty therapist here. Now this is seriously good news
if you live in or around Bampton. Cos
Charlotte is good, damn good. Actually more than damn good. She doesn’t do healing and wotnot but if you
want really professional, effective beauty treatments, she’s your girl. I used to visit her a lot while she was training
and she’s a total natural. Firm assured
touch, lovely manner and she doesn’t feed you any bullshit. Yes, she’s young but don’t let that put you
off – it means her training is up to the minute and she’s fresh and
enthusiastic. And, to be honest, she’s
way better than the majority of people who’ve been doing it for years.
What
can I recommend? Well, all of it
really. She uses Dermalogica products which are pretty nice. Not my absolute favourite but still...they ain't half bad. She’s given me lots of facials
and they were all really good. Her body massages are divine. Pedicures
and manicures are the business.
Eyelash and eyebrow tinting? Yup. And the girl’s a whizz with the
wax. Let it be said – very clearly – she
was NOT the one responsible for the butchered badger – no sirree. She does a very neat bikini line - and makes you laugh at the same time, which is no mean feat.
Anyhow…check it out. Book yourself a treat or buy a voucher for a friend. Go see her and say hello from me. She doesn’t know I’ve posted this so
hopefully it will come as a nice surprise. J
Brook
Street Studios, Toucan Café, Brook Street, Bampton, EX16 9LY
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