Berkhamsted beauty spots swap gossip for lifestyle magazines in move to promote positive wellbeing

Cecily Day Spa, Koha Skin Clinics and Alchemy and I, have all removed celebrity gossip magazines from their salons and will only be providing positive material such as wellness and lifestyle publications.

The day spa, skin care clinic and hair salon have decided to no longer provide the magazines for clients while they enjoy treatments as they believe they can negatively impact individuals, in some cases leading to damaged confidence levels.

Haylee Benton, founder of the three beauty brands, said: “When people visit us, they’re looking for a space to unwind and relax while enjoying some well earnt self-care.

"However, the negativity hiding between the pages of these magazines can really damage that happy place.

“At Cecily, Koha and Alchemy, wellness and mental health is vitally important to every member of the team.

"So, instead of promoting magazines that can ridicule and have negative gossip about people, we want to enhance lives, and will now only be providing wellness, fashion and lifestyle publications.”

Nikki Marsh, Spa Manager at Cecily Spa, added; “While people are enjoying relaxing treatments, they’re taking a break from the everyday stresses of life, so clients often put down their phones to have some much-needed ‘me’ time and opt to flick through magazines while getting their pedicures.

“However, if that break from the norm is reading content that puts others down, it doesn’t provide a healthy headspace to relax and unwind in.

"Cecily has a strong ethos for wellbeing and this negativity is simply something we don’t want to welcome.”

The move comes following the tragic death of Caroline Flack. The news has led to a major reconsideration of celebrity culture and the impact it can have on individuals.

Hayley added: “Seeing these magazines in public spaces has simply become the norm.

"But Caroline’s heart-breaking death has given us all a startling reminder of the very real affect that some of these stories can have on people’s lives, and it’s certainly not what we want to promote within our beauty brands.”

The salons say the move has been praised by clients.