I recently had the pleasure of being invited along to visit John Lewis in Victoria Gate: Leeds! I have visited the John Lewis store there many times before, but this was more of an in-depth tour around the store and to get a better understanding of John Lewis the brand, and the many services that they had to offer such as, The Beauty Studio.

The Beauty Studio is found on the ground-floor of John Lewis and is your ultimate go-to when it comes to all things beauty/male grooming! If you need some help, advice or guidance on where to start when it comes to skincare/beauty, then The Beauty Studio is there to walk you through various brands, listen to your needs and suggest products and treatment that they feel will suit you best.

The first stop I made on the tour was a facial from Clarins. Found on the ground floor, I had a brief consultation beforehand and told the beauty therapist, what my skin-type was, if I had any issues and ultimately, how I wanted my skin to appear and feel after the treatment. The treatment I opted for was the ‘Mens Energiser Facial’ to give my skin a much needed boost. The facial itself was incredibly relaxing and at one point, I think I genuinely started to nod off! After using various products on my skin such as the Active Face Wash, Exfoliating Cleanser, Toning Lotion and Super Moisture Balm, my skin immediately felt cleaner, soft to the touch and had a fresh, healthy glow! My facial at Clarins lasted for around 10-15 minutes and afterwards, I then met up with a personal men’s shopper and stylist at John Lewis.

I was taken into the mens private personal shopping room found at the back of Menswear on the ground floor and I admitted that not only did I not notice this area before, but I wasn’t even aware they did personal shopping! He explained to me that the room was in fact quite new to the store and that John Lewis want to offer the customer a whole experience, as opposed to just going into store and rushing back out again, (something of which I am guilty of!) With the mens personal shopping service, this allows the customer to be able to tell the stylist/shopper what their style is, what it is that they’re looking for, if it’s for an event, or if it’s just to refresh their wardrobe. John Lewis offer two services when it comes to Personal Styling - the 1 hour Style Refresh, or the 2 hour Wardrobe Review and the best part? It’s completely free! We then took a quick tour around Menswear and I came across a few brands that I liked such as Maison Labiche, Reiss, HUGO BOSS and Tommy Hilfiger.

After learning more about Menswear and the Personal Styling services that they offer, I then had a consultation with Tom Ford and being a fan of Tom Ford, this was something I was rather excited for! I’m quite stubborn in the sense that when it comes to fragrances, I know what I like. End of. So it was rather nice being introduced to different fragrances from the Tom Ford brand that I may not necessarily have gone out of my way to sample beforehand! I met with Sophia who took me through each fragrance group and after about 7 sample cards, I then ended up selecting Soleil Blanc which Sophia mixed with Oud Mineralé and wow, what a stunning blend! I was then shown the full range of the Mens Grooming products, the women’s beauty range and Tom Ford’s candle line. I wanted it all! I was then gifted a lovely Tom Ford goody bag which had samples of Soleil Blanc, Oud Minerale and the new Fougere d’Argent alongside a sample of Perfect Illuminator.

I then had a brief introduction to Elemis where I got to learn a little more about the mens range before being taken up to the very top floor of John Lewis to learn more about the Beauty Salon… Similar to the mens personal shopping room, I had no idea this Beauty Salon was even up there, nor did I know it even existed! Hidden away in the corner of Childrenswear, this is truly a secret little haven. Upon first glance, you could easily just assume that this was just a hair salon, but behind a certain mirror, is a whole different world, quite literally! Behind this mirror, it takes you into a private beauty salon with different treatment rooms behind each door. As we were walking through, we had to be incredibly quiet as there were currently treatments taking place. The whole private beauty salon is set up almost exactly the same as a spa, the only difference being is that there is no steam room… (I still think it’s a spa regardless!) The sort of treatments you can expect to find here for men are the Manicure 20 which includes - Hand soak, nail shaping, cuticle maintenance and nail buff for 20 minutes. Manicure 40, the same treatment as the Manicure 20, just for 40 minutes!

My tour around John Lewis had come to an end and it was a lovely experience! I feel that I got to learn a lot more about John Lewis as a whole and how as a company they are now wanting to give their customer an experience, from start to finish, perhaps the way forward now with the way things are changing on the high street? Thank you to everybody who I met on the day and for making me feel so welcome!

Have you been in John Lewis: Leeds before? Which department do you tend to visit the most? Are you someone who wants to be in and out of a shop? Or do you like to take your time with shopping? Did you know about the services that John Lewis have to offer? Do let me know below as I’d love to hear from you, and don’t forget to click the ‘like’ button below!