True to the season, the spring time sun set the tone for the evening, as we saw yet another fabulous Elite Event here in Leeds. Jollied and early with such anticipation, some forty folk came down to Architect Hair Salon of Headingley, to begin the carousal and get stuck into some serious pampering. Since half the guests arrived early, the wine was cracked open, and everyone had a good nosy and a mingle whilst waiting for the remainder of the crew to arrive. Once everyone was present, vino in hand and Yelp sunglasses pocketed, the proceedings began with a small introduction from Louise of Architect and her neighbour Laura of Apricot Beauty Salon. Once the introductions were made, explaining what was available for the evening to showcase the salons' talents, everyone topped up their glasses and dove in.
As some folk were whisked away for a personal consultation with the staff of Architect, the rest were able to sip some wine and watch the demonstrations, ranging from how to get that glamourous glossy blow dry look, hollywood waves and curls with styling irons, colour suitability consultations, exquisitely fabulous hair ups for an evening out and all the male grooming tips each guy could get from Architect's male barber Tom. Everyone took a turn to have something stylish done, whether it was to book for a fix-me-up appointment, or even plan a bridal hair do! Each member of staff coiffed, brushed and combed tirelessly, ensuring everyone each had a turn to look fabulous.
Whilst half the guests took their turns in the hairdressing seat, in this most delightful game of musical chairs, others had a nibble from the delicious bagel tray and topped up their wines. Meanwhile, next door at Apricot, readily glamourised, the group began to file in to see what the beauty salon had on offer for the event. Laura greeted each guest with yet more wine, cupcakes, and sweet treats with which to indulge in, and invited folks in to take a sneaky peak at their treatments. Yelpers got to take a gander at the teeth whitening process, in a live demo, having the technique explained as it was performed, as well as gel nail demos and other beautification procedures.
To many of the girls' delight, Apricot even offered a free file and polish to everyone, many of whom came skipping back over to Architect with the most sublimely newly varnished nails! Striking fear into folks' hearts, there was also a skin damage consultation available, using a specialised skin damage light box, as famed in the Channel Four television programme, 10 Years Younger. Although at first no one dared try it out, as soon as the first intrepid explorer had a turn, everyone queued up to see what their facial skin was like and what beauty regimes they might need to take up! Fortunately, it merely confirmed how beautiful everyone was, and what shining faces those that Yelp in Leeds have… It must be something in the Yorkshire water!
Once each person had taken their turn with all the pampering on offer, from the hair ups, to the nail polishes, to the personalised consultations, those that still remained returned to Architect Hair Salon for one final treat. In order to regain the balance, and man things up, a pub quiz was held with the remnants of the party – in honour of the manly moustache. That's right, in Leeds this is how we roll: beauty and the butch. Yelpers were each given a test sheet with ten hairy questions, all about the moustache, in a wee bit of friendly competition to round off the night. The overall winner, with a resounding and impressive 8 out of 10 questions correct, was newcomer Liz H! And finally, everyone had a quickfire round of questions to see what kind of moustache they would have, complete with a personalised picture, avec the offending facial hair.
In a wonderful moment of cameraderie, even the team at Architect had a moustache picture, before the last few drops of wine were drunk and folks were given a proper send off. As if the evening hadn't been fabulous enough, a select few lucky yelpers were even treated to a packed goody bag, with hoards of wonderful samples to try out at home, in a first come first served scenario. Perfectly pampered, and spoiled rotten, it was then time to bid farewell until the next social on the Yelp calendar – but not before a good few people booked a hair appointment with Architect!
This was yet another utterly marvellous event here in Leeds, celebrating the independents, and really getting to know more of the best hidden gems our fine city has to offer. Every inch of this event was met with warmth, passion, knowledge, and finesse, thanks to the fabulous and tireless staff at Architect and Apricot. A humungous thanks goes out to Louise, Laura, and their teams for such a warm welcome and their wonderful treatments, Cheryl and Sharon of SLB for their enthusiasm and hard work, and as ever, Matthew, whose photography skills are not only second to none, but imperative to make it a proper Yelp night here in Leeds.
Of course, don't just take my word for it, check out what folks themselves thought of the event on the review page, take a peek at the pictures, and get talking!
April K: "Another corking event! On arriving at Architect, we were greeted by a bright, clean and trendy salon and a lovely group of smiley ladies (and one fella that looked a bit like Will Young… if you squinted). Everyone was mingling with drinks and nibbles and the lovely Louise was designating her team to do the dos! Emma put my hair into an up-do, which was fab and very sophisticated. It's always good to find a new hairdresser (I've had my share of finding awful ones!) so my mum and I have booked in to have our hair done at later dates!
The Apricot beauty parlour next door was lovely too! Very chic and classy, and didn't stink of nail polish as is my experience of beauty parlours! We had a nice chat with the teeth whitening lady and saw our dehydrated and manky skin under the UV face annihilator – although I'm not as haggard as I thought!"
Alexis K: "Again, a fantastic evening from Yelp. The light airy salon in the darkened roadway of Victoria Road was refreshing and fun. The Architect Hair team were fantastic and were really helpful giving some great tips and hints on hair styles amid the chatter, hairspray and blowing hairdryers. There was a moustache pub quiz to round off a fun evening. A really friendly and happy environment to have your new do done in. The best image of the night was the full team grouped together with some dashing moustaches."
Until next time, party goers, I'll see you on Yelp!
Rowena H
Leeds Community Manager
