As a mum of two girls I can't say the Lego Friends range really appeals to me - it's pink - as in decidedly girlie, stereotype ridden and pretty low on actual construction but, whether I like it or not I have to admit that the six year old is enamoured. This set, a present from Granny, is probably her favourite of all that she has and has been played with a lot in the six months she has owned it.

The Beauty Shop comes with 221 pieces and is about £25 to buy new. Quite a few of the pieces are not for construction purposes but for play, so that 221 figure actually equates to a lot less than you would think. Making this took the 6 year old about an hour with minimal assistance - Lego have designed the build well, there are two bags and the shop is built first before the inside is kitted out. She enjoyed constructing the shop as well as the details that stand outside it - a fountain, a sign and a bench. There was nothing too challenging about the build and the instructions were clear, there were 50 steps in all.

The shop itself is, it has to be said, a lot smaller than you would think from the picture - by my measurements a measly 12cm tall, by 16cm. There's no big board to put this on but instead a small pink base. That said, there's quite a lot of pleasing detail in the shop - there's a revolving mirror and chair, a mini cash till complete with lego money and plenty of little accessories such as bows, hearts and sunglasses that fit onto the two minifigures' heads and count as lego pieces whilst actually being very small and quite easy to hoover up. The two characters supplied, called Sarah and Emma apparently, are rather Barbiesque, and, weirdly in my eyes anyway, have hair that comes off and is interchangeable. Even more strangely they have giant lipsticks (8 of these in the set) that they can clutch in their little non-revolving hands and a supply of girlie accessories such as a hairdryer, a brush and a tiny mirror. The six year old likes playing with these items and doesn't seem to mind that their legs are just jointed at the bottom and move as one. The shop does promote imaginative play - she will play at customer and hairdresser and get the characters to talk and buy lipstick from each other and she will quite happily use the items with the other sets she has. As you would expect from Lego everything is pretty durable, although there are quite a few stickers with this set they have worn well so far and it's a bonus that you get quite a few unusual bricks, albeit in girlie shades such as purple, pink and a baby blue.

Overall then this is a good toy to build with a fair bit of play potential after construction. It's a bit of a shame it has an over-promising big box, and doesn't involve more building and less playing with lipsticks and make up, but it's not a bad set. I can't say I particularly like the message behind the whole series (glass ceiling anyone?), however my child enjoys this set and it's not been a five minute wonder, so on that basis I recommend it.