It’s that time of year again where awards applications are flying around everywhere and I can barely scroll through my Facebook feed without seeing throwback images to the amazing BABTAC awards that opened for entry about this time last year – wow time goes fast! We were lucky enough to be recognised in not one but two categories in the 2016 awards – Large Salon and Best website.

BABTAC stands for British Association of Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology and they are the uks leading membership organisation for professionals working in the beauty, hair, holistic and sports therapy industries. To be recognised by a company created by industry professionals for industry professionals is about as good as it gets.

It was such a buzz to be called up onto the stage with my team to collect the awards and to be in the presence of my industry idols was just wonderful! Wishing all of this years applicants the very best of luck and I hope to see you there ❤️

I have to admit that I’m a sucker for spa treatments. I’m never happier than when my face is being steamed, wiped and smothered in masks. Shallow but true.

Beauty at the Bay, set in leafy Braiswick on the edge of town, is a very welcoming place. Marie, the owner welcomes me as if I am her family, gets me a cup of teapigs herb tea before I’m led to one of their new treatment rooms in a converted stable to the rear of the premises. Warm underfoot, I’m snuggled on a massage bed where a 30-minute aromatherapy back, neck and shoulder massage irons out many of the knots on my shoulders.

But it’s not over yet. Now it’s time for my all time favourite beauty treatment: a facial with added technology. South African brand Environ is a product line newly-introduced to the salon. Although well established, it’s not that widely known outside of salons, but it should be. A warm pad is placed under my back before Lilli gets cracking. Relaxing but thorough cleansing precedes the application of a serum A&C serum 1 pushed into the skin with pulsed currents and sound waves to penetrate the skin and make the products work effectively. ‘You might see flashing lights’ warns Lilli. Later a thick, putty-like mask made of algae is applied even over my mouth and eyes, two probes attached, and the treatment continues to work. I’m a bit claustrophic but strangely don’t mind this mummification in the name of beauty. I look smoother and less tired, which can’t be a bad thing…

* Back, neck and shoulder massage £27.50, Active Vitamin facial, £65, beautyatthebay.co.uk

Link to the review is below…

https://www.i-loveessex.com/blog/2017/1/5/beauty-at-the-bay-colchester

It was great to see our recent award wins recognised in business magazine inbusinessessex.co.uk. We would like to send out a huge thanks to media team Green Square communications who have worked tirelessly on our website helping us to achieve “Best Website” at the 2016 Babtac Awards as well as “Best Large Salon”.

The Beauty Awards season is in full swing and Beauty at the Bay is in the running to pick up yet more awards.

Whilst we are waiting to hear about how we fare in the forthcoming Newsquest North Essex Business Awards at Braxted Park on July 1st, where we have been nominated in two categories (more about that later), we have found out in the last 24 hours that we have won the British Hair and Beauty Awards Beauty Salon of the Year award which is fabulous news for all our  staff and more importantly our wonderful clients. It may sound like a cliche but we really could not have won without our incredibly loyal and appreciative following. We LOVE you all!!

If this news wasn’t amazing enough we have also been contacted by Scratch magazine who have informed us that we have made it through as finalists to their glitzy 2016 Scratch Stars Awards ceremony in both their Nail Salon of the Year (Salon Environment) AND Retail Salon of the Year categories. We had the best time with them last year and walked away with two winners trophies. Can history repeat itself?  Winners will be announced on Sunday 5 June at a lavish party at London’s Cafe de Paris hosted by George Lamb. We’ll keep you posted.

And we are not finished yet……… Today we received yet more good news, that we have made it through as finalists in the BABTAC & CIBTAC Awards whose prestigious ceremony takes place at The Hurlingham Club in London on the 12th June. Again we are up for not one but two awards, namely Best Large Salon and Best Website. Obviously winning Best Large Salon would put us in dreamland but we are really excited about the possibility of winning the Best Website award as along with our marketing partner, Green Square Design, Print & Web we have put a lot of time, resource and energy into building a truly informative and interactive website with pretty much everything we could imagine being included within it. We want to win this one for Green Square!

We thought 2015 was a good year but 2016 looks like being even better.

Thank you once again for helping all our hard work pay off. The last few months have been very eventful and at the same time very exciting, with every new client being viewed as a possible secret shopper representing the various beauty awards organisations listed above. It’s a good job we make it our mission to treat even our most regular customers like every visit was their first.

Keep reading our blogs and you’ll be amongst the first to know if we win in any of the categories that we are finalists in.

Marie x

Beauty at the Bay are proud to be named as Teapigs’ stockist of the month. Anyone who visits the Bay regularly will know how much we love Teapigs and will have enjoyed a cup or two as part of their treatments.

Nick Kilby and Louise Allen started Teapigs in November 2006. They met whilst working for a really big tea company, where they learned all about tea and drank lots of it. And the more they learned, and the more they drank, the more they came to realise something: that there’s a whole world of quality teas out there that simply aren’t getting the attention they deserve. And so Teapigs was born.

Nick describes himself as a tea evangelist (although much nicer than those shouty ones on American TV). Louise, an experienced tea taster who has travelled the world tasting teas, is a self-confessed tea addict (not seeking rehab).

Together they founded Teapigs and, since 2006, the Teapigs team has grown a little. As well as Nick and Louise, there’s now a team of 20!

Beautea (sic) at the Bay stocks every flavour and all are available to purchase so why not take advantage and take away some Teapigs after your next visit?

What happens if you don’t enjoy the flavours? Oh yeah and Teapigs might fly!