Cosmetics à la Carte

This popular beauty salon-cum luxury cosmetics brand has been in the same hands for more than 40 years. It's the kind of place where grandmothers bring their teenage granddaughters for their first make-up lesson, thirtysomethings drop in for a seasonal make-up bag refresher, and brides-to-be visit in preparation for the big day.

It's all about bespoke service, so gone are the days of buying an eyeshadow trio because you like two of the shades - here you can design your own palette with whichever shades suit you (eye, lip and cheek colours are priced from £14). Having trouble finding your perfect foundation? If one of the ready-made shades doesn’t match your complexion perfectly, you can have one specially mixed for £50.

Make-up artists are on hand to give advice, even if you don’t opt for one of the lessons (£20-£200). Recent additions to the ever-expanding collection include the water-based eyebrow pen Brow Ink, transparent gel blush Bare Cheek and new colours for the selection of highly pigmented non-crease Matte and Shimmer Outliner gel-cream eyeshadows.