Category Archives: Beauty

Interview with Camille Goutal of Annick Goutal

A while ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Camille Goutal, daughter of legendary perfumer Annick Goutal, for a feature in Prestige magazine – which you can read here, if you’re so inclined. I found Camille a lovely, warm and gracious interviewee (especially since I imagine she gets asked many of these same questions for around a decade now!), and I loved how passionate she was about the evocative power of scent – she really gets the emotion and feelings behind creating and describing a scent, rather than just being all about whatever’s new or on-trend.

As always with these things, you put yourself through the torture of listening to your voice on repeat for hours to transcribe your interview, only to end up using about a third of your chat for print, so I thought I’d put up the whole thing for any fellow Annick Goutal lovers out there. Of course, I then forgot about this intention for about a year… but here it is now! And next time you’re met with a snooty perfume assistant, remember that, in Camille’s words, “You’re never wrong when you talk about fragrance!”

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Plateau Spa’s Rose Indulgence package – spa day at Grand Hyatt Hong Kong

grand-hyatt-hong-kong-pool

I’m no fan of Valentine’s Day – an arbitrary date that is most definitely the least special of all special occasions. But Valentine’s Day spa deals? Sign me up with a trite poem, ugly teddy and bunch of wilting roses… I’m in!

And before you start complaining that your partner hates all things pampering –so does mine. In fact, so do lots of people’s partners, meaning there are plenty of us spa spinsters ready and waiting to be paired up precisely for the purpose of taking advantage of couple’s pampering packages. Which is exactly how my blogger BFF Kate and I came to be at the Rose Indulgence treatment at Grand Hyatt Hong Kong’s Plateau Spa.

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ENVIRON Optimal Skin Facial at The Mandarin Spa, Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong review

mandarin-oriental-hong-kong-spa

Another new day, another new spa treatment to review – it’s a tough job but someone has to do it, right? Provided anyone is still reading having not boiled over with beauty blogger hatred (#sorrynotsorry), the latest treatment on my pampering dance card was the ENVIRON Optimal Skin Facial at The Mandarin Spa in the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong.

These days, a simple cleanse, tone and moisturise just doesn’t cut it; in the quest for the final frontier of pampering perfection, facials are jumping aboard the high-tech space-shuttle, with more futuristic gadgets on show than the average episode of Star Trek. The Optimal Skin Facial is a case in point, utilising a fancy DF II Machine that helps ENVIRON’s supercharged serums penetrate deeper into your skin, with suitably rejuvenating results.

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Deborah Lippman – Weird Science nail polish review

deborah-lippmann-weird-science

Something wicked this way comes – wickedly good, that is.

I’m normally of the opinion that Halloween is a bit of a waste of time… unless it gives me an excuse to break out a brand new nail polish of course – and Deborah Lippmann’s Weird Science is exactly the kind of special sauce that spooky season screams out for!

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MiraSpa’s Splunch package – spa day at The Mira Hong Kong

mira-hong-kong-swimming-pool

Freelance life has many perks, but chief among them has to be the ability to take a spa day whenever I want (all in the name of “research”, of course) – especially when you have a business partner who loves spa days every bit as much as you do! So when the invite to The Mira Hong Kong’s Splunch package arrived in the Editors’ Ink inbox, my business partner and blogger bestie Kate aka Accidental Tai Tai and I were in there like a flash.

Running until the end of March 2017, the somewhat cringily-titled Splunch – which sounds like something Jay off The Inbetweeners might say – equates to a full day of pampering goodness for only $1388 per person, including:

  • A 60-minute Mira Massage
  • A 60-minute Aromatherapy Associates Rose Aromatic Facial
  • A buffet lunch at Yamm
  • Full use of MiraSpa’s heat facilities, swimming pool and fitness centre

Let’s dive in! Well, apart from the fitness centre…. Kate and I ignored that obviously.

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Christian Louboutin Jazz Doll nail polish review

christian-louboutin-jazz-doll

Autumn is coming! OK, that doesn’t sound quite as epic as Game Of Thrones had led me to believe it would, but the sentiment is still the same… which means it’s probably about time I brought you my review of the final polish from Christian Louboutin’s Red Nail Extensions CollectionJazz Doll.

Jazz Doll is actually the most unique of the scarlet trio (which totally sounds like it should be the name of a jazz band… or potentially a criminal gang from the 1940s), a cool-leaning cherry red with an underlying seam of pink shimmer. This is definite Snow White enchanted apple territory – except if Snow White met her fate via a bunch of poisoned cherries, or perhaps some enticingly shiny boiled sweets. Yes, all my references are edible!

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Natura Bissé Diamond Brilliant Facial at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, Oriental Spa review

Natura Bisse Facial Landmark Mandarin Oriental Spa Hong Kong

This summer has to be one of the wettest, greyest, most miserable on record – and I’ve been feeling rather dull and deflated as a result. So thank heavens (when torrential storms aren’t pouring out of them, that is) for lovely spa treatments that act as the perfect rainy day pick-me-up, like the Natura Bissé Diamond Brilliant Facial at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong’s Oriental Spa.

This facial isn’t just a pick-me-up for your rain-soaked soul though; it’s designed to be a real pick-me-up for dull skin, brightening your complexion and reducing uneven pigmentation… And with sun-deprived, sallow skin in desperate need of a rapid shot of radiance, I couldn’t reply to my trial invite quick enough!

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Christian Louboutin Lady Peep nail polish review

christian louboutin lady peep

Red – the colour of danger, love, anger, fire, blood, lust and, in Chinese culture, luck. You can see red, paint the town red, raise a red flag, catch someone red-handed, celebrate a red letter day and discover a red herring… and that’s before we’ve even got onto scarlet women, strawberry fields, crimson tides and ruby slippers. Basically, that’s a lot of connotations for a simple three-letter word!

So it’s no surprise that my second pick from the Christian Louboutin Red Nail Extensions Collection manages to be quite so different from the first. Lady Peep is dark and brooding where Edgypopi was bright and fresh; it’s the arched eyebrow of maturity to the fist pump of youth, the sophistication to Edgypopi’s sass. This is a long-winded way of saying it’s a dark red.

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Christian Louboutin Edgypopi nail polish review

christian louboutin edgypopi

I probably have over 100 nail polish reviews on my blog – but you might have noticed one colour that’s conspicuous by its absence. And that colour is red.

Red nail polish comes next to a standard French manicure in the boring stakes for me. Why opt for boring, conformist, crowd-pleasing red when there are glittery turquoises or colour-shifting metallics to play with instead? So if I’m going to do a red, I’m going to do it right… which can only mean Christian Louboutin.

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Chuan Tao of Detox treatment at Chuan Spa, Cordis Hong Kong review

Chuan Spa Cordis Hong Kong

When you think of Mong Kok, “relaxing oasis of calm” probably isn’t the first phrase that springs to mind; in fact, “crazy-intense shopping insanity that sets my teeth on edge the minute I arrive at the MTR station” is probably a lot more apt. But the second you step out of the crush and into Chuan Spa, the stress all just melts away.

Located in Cordis Hong Kong – the hotel formerly known as Langham Place Hong Kong – Chuan Spa is a pampering destination with a difference, being one of the only fancy hotel spas to concentrate more on traditional Chinese medicine. This manifests itself both in the décor, which is all dark wood, jade and Asian antique design touches – I loved the gorgeous medicine cabinet in the waiting room and the trickling water feature in the corridors between therapy rooms – and the treatments themselves, which have been designed to balance the traditional five elements of water, earth, fire, wood and metal.

Cordis Hong Kong Chuan Spa View

I was invited to try the Chuan Tao of Detox treatment, a bumper 150 minutes of pampering bliss. But before hitting the massage bed, there’s a short questionnaire to complete in the spa’s serene contemplation room – which boasts some pretty cool views over Kowloon to boot – to discover what element you most identify with, which in turn matches with one of five custom Chuan Spa oil blends. I did this, discovered my element then swiftly went off-piste to pick whichever one featured my beloved lavender instead (wood, by the way)!

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