Why brows are your beauty secret weapon 

‘I don’t wake up looking like Cindy Crawford,’ the timeless beauty once famously quipped.  

It’s reassuring to know that even the most super of supermodels needs a little help to look their best. Indeed, beauty maintenance can be a full-time occupation. Just how is a mere mortal supposed to find time for regular pilates sessions, nail, lash and hair extensions, cuts and blow dries, facials, massages and “tweakments”?  

But one area of beauty maintenance that often goes amiss is our eyebrows. The eyes may be the window to the soul, but a well-kempt set of brows are your beauty secret weapon, according to Suzanne Martin, creator of The Couture Brow at The Lanesborough Club & Spa.  

‘I always say that your brow is your most important beauty feature,’ she says under the halo-like glow of a makeup lamp inside the multi-award-winning spa. ‘I will look at a face and know instinctively how the brow should be to balance, to lift, to flatter. A perfect brow creates symmetry, enhancing the natural beauty of the eyes and lifts the face.’ 

A former makeup artist for Dior, Martin has long been obsessed with eyebrows, even recalling a childhood obsession with filling in the brows of the models in her mother’s fashion magazines. After establishing a loyal client base from her home studio in South Kensington, Martin knocked on the door of The Lanesborough (literally) to enquire about a potential collaboration. Seven years later, she’s one of the spa’s most sought-after specialists.  

‘I love Knightsbridge… and the [Lanesborough] spa is such a great fit for my high-profile clients. It’s very discreet,’ she adds.  

Patrons both new and repeat come to Martin for her signature Couture Brow, a technique she perfected after travelling in Asia.  

‘Couture Brow is the perfect bespoke eyebrow shape for you – the most flattering shape,’ she explains. ‘It’s a two-part process: first of all, I draw the shape and use that as the template and then, hair by hair, I draw with this very sharp pen, which is actually a needle – but my clients needn’t worry, as I use a very good, strong anaesthetic cream, so the process is not at all uncomfortable. It’s definitely not microblading, and the pigment is introduced just underneath the very top layer of the skin. There is an initial treatment, and then another treatment a month later, which is really finessing, and thereafter it’s just top ups, which would be typically [every] eight to 10 months to keep them looking in tip-top shape.’ 

At £1,400 a pop, The Couture Brow doesn’t come cheap, but it’s a small price to pay for a truly transformative experience. And it’s intricate work, with the first appointment taking two hours and the third around 90 minutes. Martin enthuses that her high-profile clientele (among them rumoured to be singer Ellie Goulding and actress Keeley Hawes) are always blown away by the results. 

So, if you’re already planning this year’s knock-out Christmas-party look, then you may wish to reconsider your priorities and make brows your starting point. But Martin also suggests investing in lash extensions and ‘a good gel manicure… and maybe some hair extensions just so you feel a bit more glamourous.’ 

Luckily, Knightsbridge is home to a plethora of health and beauty havens, not least The Lanesborough Spa itself, which – alongside Martin’s expertise – offers traditional facials and mani-pedis as well as high-tech aesthetics treatments and heavenly massages for post-party recovery. Harrods has a dizzying array of luxury beauty buys if you’re looking to update your makeup bag, plus a range of in-store hair and beauty treatments and even a dedicated Beauty Concierge. For a luxury blow dry, head to Duck & Dry Bar at Harvey Nichols – which will certainly get you in full party mode –  while The London Beauty Clinic and Dr Rasha Clinic both specialise in state-of-the-art aesthetics and laser treatments.  

And if you’re after a more holistic approach, The HVN is a revolutionary wellness, aesthetics and longevity centre offering bespoke treatments tailored to your individual health goals – well beyond the festive season.   

So, while none of us may wake up in the morning looking like a supermodel, at least with the right contacts (all SW1 based, naturally), we’re a little better equipped to give Cindy and co a run for their money.