Is this Manchester’s most opulent beauty salon?

Staring up at a crystal chandelier from a custom-made Italian bed as gentle hands caress your face, you get the impression that entrepreneur Evelyn Cong has a taste for luxury.

Close to King Street on Spring Gardens, Evelyn’s eponymous beauty salon is a candlelit rose gold boudoir with marble dressing tables, ceiling-to-floor mirror stations and near-blinding Murano crystal chandeliers throughout the salon. Costing a cool £1 million, it is perhaps the most opulent salon in the city. 

“It has been five years in the making,” says Evelyn, who moved to Manchester from Beijing to study business seven years ago. “I’m very particular about what I want so it’s taken a while to get right.”

All this opulence is not without substance. House of Evelyn is, in Evelyn’s words, a ‘one-stop-shop’, a 'temple of beauty', with all beauty bases covered. It’s as much a spa as it is a hair salon, nail and makeup studio, beauty store and clinic. House of Evelyn even boasts its own branded makeup line.

In fact, there’s not much they don't do - we checked. Micro-blading? “Yep”. Hair extensions? “Of course”. Botox? “Naturally”. Um… nipple tattoos? “Yes, we do that too”.

With no expense spared, our introduction to House of Evelyn’s treatments included ‘diamonds’. The signature Carita Diamond facial, costing £125 per session, is close to two hours of unrelenting pampering to help preserve the skin’s youthful appearance. It combines both scientific and traditional massage technique, including LED therapy, a cell stimulation machine plus arm, décolletage and foot massage. Plus lots of deeply nourishing oils.    

In our years of extensive research, it is one of the best facials we’ve ever experienced: thorough, nourishing, relaxing and most importantly, effective.

Based a few feet away from King Street’s Rosso, House of Evelyn is in glamorous company and the two businesses share a similar elite clientele (Hollywood actress Sadie Frost helped to launch the salon and Corrie's Kym Marsh is having her nails done when we next visit). Still, Evelyn is adamant her salon is not just for the A-list crowd, but a welcoming place for everyone to be beautified.

Diamond facials aside, prices are reasonable overall. A brow shape starts from £12, spray tans are £20, while their luxury manicures cost £35. 

Of course, Manchester isn't short of hair and beauty salons, however House of Evelyn is one of few independents which pull out all the stops. It feels decidedly more Cheshire than city centre (in the world of beauty there's certainly nothing wrong with that) and has all the glamour and luxury you'd hope for in a city centre getaway. 

For Evelyn, House of Evelyn is a dream come true, marking her love for beauty and the city she says made her feel welcome. 

"I decided right away that I wanted to provide a luxury service, not just a world class experience. Being able to pursue your passion and make a living from it is life's most precious gift."