When it comes to beauty treatments, Vaishalay Patel represents the gold standard. She runs her stylish clinic in Marylebone, London, with unfailing attention to detail, delivering a small but impeccable range of services. Her facials are the distillation of years of experience, making her a one-stop shop for radiant skin. She is also the best eyebrow threader in the business: efficient, fast and virtually pain-free.

In recent months, Patel has been expanding this already impressive repertoire, introducing new treatments and practitioners. This has not been a random exercise: all her “new girls” have been carefully chosen and trained, so that you would be hard-pushed to tell the difference between an eyebrow threaded by Patel and one shaped by a member of her team. Unlike many salons, where you risk falling foul of an inexperienced junior, Patel ensures a high standard of service across the board.

One of her newest recruits is Daxita, and Daxita’s speciality is eyelash extensions. These are tiny, featherlight synthetic lashes that are bonded, using glue, to your real lashes. Unlike old-fashioned falsies, attached to the skin of the eyelid, they look very natural and shed gradually like real lashes. Daxita does them in three styles: natural, fashion and, well, crazy – drag-queen crazy.

Being a coward, I decided to opt for the natural look – roughly 80 lashes, but of normal length. The process, which I have to confess I was dreading (I had visions of coming out looking like Bette Davis), could not have been simpler or less invasive. Daxita’s touch is as light and steady as a surgeon’s – I even fell asleep at one point. That didn’t stop me spending much of the session working out how I was going to get the damn things off without hurting Daxita's feelings.

When I opened my eyes, all my fears evaporated: they looked amazing. I batted my eyelids. They made a faint but satisfying whooshing sound. I ran my finger over them: they felt lighter than if I’d been wearing mascara. The extensions were perfectly positioned, each one swooping upwards and outwards, the bonds invisible to the naked eye.

Since then, I have not had to wear an ounce of eye make-up, which, as I have been suffering from an allergy, is fantastic. Every morning I wake up with a luscious, alert-looking set of eyelashes that require little more than a quick comb with a toothbrush before being all set for the day. Only one person has clocked that they are false – Lucy, my oldest friend. As far as I can tell, Daxita’s dexterity has only one drawback: it is highly addictive.

A full set of lash extensions with Daxita costs £150; top-ups are £45. For further details, call 020-7224 6088

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