Beauty From SoLo

With 20 years experience, Sue Lamb, the owner of Beauty @ SoLo has established herself  a successful beauty treatment salon in the heart of Carlisle's city centre.

There are a lot of spa's around Carlisle, all offering similar services and treatments but the beauty about SoLo is that her staff are all self-employed and have been with her for the last four years.

"I don't have a big staff turnover and the girls have built up excellent relationships with our customers and clients," said Sue.

This contributes to a reliable service that Sue delivers to the people of Carlisle and is quite possibly one of the reasons SoLo is so popular.

Beauty @ SoLo offers a range of treatments but I was most interested in finding out what's going to be popular this spring/summer. 

The staff were very enthusiastic about the ‘always-booked-up’ nail treatments they offer, explaining how they are always popular but this year, they have seen many of the clients wanting something more alternative.

Sue explained: "We do Gelish Nails at SoLo, and they're a really good alternative to nail varnish as they last three weeks without chipping or peeling."

Gelish Nails come in an array of colours and start from £20. They are also proven to last up to eight weeks on toe nails which is perfect for the upcoming summer months.

Another similar treatment on offer is Kooky Nails which is very popular with the younger clientele. They are nail wraps and come in a variety of designs and colours so there’s bound to be something to suit everyone!

"It launched last summer with us here and has won an award," says Sue.

However it goes without saying that one of the most popular treatments on offer at SoLo is their professional spray tanning service.

"There's two types of spray tan on offer at SoLo. We do California Tan which develops overnight and has been very successful for a few years now. It comes in medium to dark shades, and then we also do Sienna X tan in ‘Tonight’s The Night’ which was sponsored by and used at The Brit Awards," says Sue.

SoLo also sells top-up products to prolong their clients spray tan, with prices starting from £17.50. 


Sue showed me her own tan while I was at the salon and it still looked brown three weeks after she had it done!

"False lashes are also set to be huge again this summer," says Sue, who explained how she has been trained to apply them.

Flare Lashes are a popular type of lash extension, costing around £170, but because of the typical Carlisle customer, there is little chance of that being a popular treatment at SoLo so Sue has taken on a lash treatment which gives fuller looking lashes for one-week, and costs £15. 

"Basically it's a cheaper alternative to Flaire Lashes, I just use a different type of glue to hold them in place," explains Sue.

Alongside the treatments, Sue also sells a few products in the salon which is proving to be a success in itself; a lot of the items in SoLo don’t commonly retail in the likes of Boots or Superdrug. 

An excellent example of this, and one that Sue recommends highly is the new Australian Acnigon. 


It is a cheaper alternative to the Dermologica range that she also stocks, but it is a fraction of the price at £9.99, it gives ‘immediate results’ and it has rave reviews.

The product is a oil and cream free solution for acne, spots and pimples, leaving no side-effects, is dermatologically tested and is kind to skin

On top of all this, Beauty @ SoLo is lucky to work in conjunction with Elisabeth Makepeace, an experienced aesthetic practitioner who offers Botox and Dermal filler treatments through pre-booked appointments.

Elisabeth’s Botox and Dermal Fillers come at a cost but her treatments are also proving to be popular as it is a convenient way to receive such a treatment, through your local salon.

Sue went onto explain how she has had a sudden influx of interest with new clients and people enquiring about the services and treatments on offer at Beauty @ SoLo and she merely puts this down to word-of-mouth, and she says how the website which has really taken off in the last six months. 

Long may the success continue for Sue and her girls at SoLo!