Body beautiful

For some, beauty treatments are a special treat that are indulged in once in a blue moon. But according to Kamini, beautician extraordinaire, for a happy outlook both physically and mentally, you should go once a month. Nina Cuthbert went to meet the woman who can work wonders

Above: Kamini

I would have to describe Kamini as a universal mum. Upon meeting her, her smile lights up your day, her nature makes you feel completely at ease and at times, her dos and don’ts could be likened to your mum telling you to wear a coat on a freezing evening, even though it doesn’t look cool. You don’t care about the weather so long as that guy you want to impress can see what you have spent hours preparing to wear – and Kamini is just the same.

She originally grew up in Zimbabwe, knowing where her artistic talents lay by putting make-up on at the age of four. She started shaping eyebrows at 15 and it was a Kenyan lady who eventually introduced her to the art of threading. It was great to have someone shape her eyebrows through threading, but when she was at home, she wanted to know how to do it herself.

‘My husband teased me about my upper lip and I thought this has to go – tonight!’ Kamini laughs. ‘I spent three hours in front of the mirror with a piece of thread until it was all gone.’

This turned into hours of practise and realising that if the upper lip could be threaded to perfection – so could eyebrows. ‘At the start, I had no idea that plucking was any different,’ says Kamini. ‘But after I taught myself how to thread, I realised that the hair growing back after plucking was that much stronger. With a thread it was having a longer and more permanent effect.’ As a result, Kamini’s eyebrow threading took off and her artwork, as it were, is perfection in the extreme. I can safely say that my eyebrows and I have had a long relationship, tweezers being a dear friend. Not any more. Kamini has forbidden me from ever using tweezers again.

‘My ultimate aim is that people will need to see me only a few times a year and gradually, the hairs will stay away permanently. You get those tweezers out and you will be doing the unnecessary hard work forever.’

And if you thought that it stopped at eyebrows you are sorely mistaken. Kamini has an art to waxing also, so much so, she was used on the television programme Ten Years Younger. Her technique is so spectacular that where other waxing beauticians often cause in-growing hairs, she has yet to have a client with an in-grown hair and the flicking motion of her hands ensures that the hairs are removed in such a way that it lasts double the time.

‘I have trained my wonderful team of girls to wax like me. If they come here already knowing how to wax, I re-train them.’ Kamini says that her waxes take a matter of minutes to complete and while she cannot fulfil the pain-free desires of most women who wax regularly, she does confidently state that her waxes last longer and longer, meaning you need to go less frequently.

As well as this, Kamini’s beautiful haven of a salon on Lancer Square, just off Kensington Church Street offers a number of other treatments that are seriously worth indulging in. Facials involve massaging the skin, paying special attention to pressure points which help you internally. At the same time, facials incorporate both a head and foot massage which means that you are left feeling relaxed from top to toe, with glowing results. The Hopi Ear Candle treatment is perfect at this time of year as it helps cure blocked sinuses, colds, sore throats, swollen glands, allergies, ear infections and congestion – and I can guarantee that it is a lot more pleasant than putting your head over a bowl of steaming water.

The festive season is over, the presents have been given and received – but what’s stopping you starting the New Year with another treat? And this is a treat that lasts for a considerable period of time and you get a free surrogate mum as well.

Kamini, 14-16 Lancer Square, Kensington Church Street, W8020 7937 2411, www.kaminibeauty.com