Category Archives: Beauty

Sense Of Touch Tseung Kwan O Spa review – say sawadee to your own private pampering pavilion!

Sense Of Touch Hong Kong Bali Decoration

There is more to life than Central. And no, by that I don’t just mean Sheung Wan!

It can sometimes be hard to convince non-Central dwellers of this fact – but for those willing to stray beyond the blue line, a little tropical escape awaits you. Its name? Sense Of Touch Tseung Kwan O Spa.

Located at the far reaches of the (shock, horror) purple MTR line in the Crowne Plaza Hong Kong Kowloon East hotel, the Tseung Kwan O Sense Of Touch has to be one of the best, most unique spas I’ve found in Hong Kong. Most hotel spas here are grand, maze-like entities, with labyrinthine corridors leading to sumptuous treatment rooms; however, the Tseung Kwan O Sense Of Touch is instead a series of gorgeous, individual cabanas, spread out over a spacious tropical garden.

Sense Of Touch Tseung Kwan O Hong Kong Reception

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LAKA Manicure Express review: the fastest mani in Hong Kong!

UPDATE: LAKA Manicure Express has now closed in Hong Kong

I think you all know how much I love my nail polish by now… but you may have noticed the sweet stuff hasn’t been appearing much on Through The Looking Glass lately. Fact is, I just haven’t had that much time to devote to painting my nails recently – which is where LAKA Manicure Express comes in!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Faster than a harassed commuter dashing across the platform at Admiralty MTR, LAKA express manicures clock in at an impressive 20 minutes – the quickest I’ve found in Hong Kong so far. And far from being speedy but slapdash, their therapists are veritable varnish whizz kids, leaving you with a pristine and near-perfect mani that looks just as good as the ones that take waaaaay longer.

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Kate Somerville ExfoliKate review – your new favourite exfoliator

kate somerville exfolikate

May I introduce you to your new favourite exfoliator? She’s called ExfoliKate, she’s all the way from America and she will turn you into a one-scrub-only woman!

Renowned American skincare brand Kate Somerville recently arrived in Hong Kong at Lane Crawford – and I was thrilled to be invited to their launch party (where I met the lady herself!), where I managed to get my mitts on some of their hero products. First on my to-try list was the Kate Somerville ExfoliKate Intensive Exfoliating Treatment… and I soon understood why Somerville has earned her reputation as the “guru of glow”!

kate somerville exfolikate exfoliator

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Sisley Phyto-Lip Twist Lip Pencil in Cherry review – let’s twist again (and again… and again!)

Phyto-Lip Twists Lip Pencils Sisley

It’s weird; as a child, I never had any inclination for colouring in with crayons… yet as an adult, I simply can’t get enough of the things – but for my make-up kit, of course!

Ever since Clinique launched their Chubby Stick lip balms, beauty brands from the wallet-friendly to the high-end have been seeking “inspiration” from these jumbo crayons of awesomeness. New on the scene are Sisley’s Phyto-Lip Twist Lip Pencils – and they might just give the Chubster a run for its money.

sisley phyto-lip twist cherry

I was given the Sisley Phyto-Lip Twist in Cherry to try – my predilection for a strong red lip clearly precedes me! I immediately fell in love with the gorgeous packaging; the funky zebra-print design is eye-catchingly stylish, whilst thanks to its metal cap and chunky shape, the Phyto-Lip Twist has an expensive-feeling weight to it too. This is the kind of lip product you definitely want people to spot peeking out of your make-up bag!

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FACESSS beauty experiences – a Clarins facial, NARS makeover & Amika hairdo all under one roof!

nars make-up service faces hong kong

So we’ve talked about the new beauty brands available at the revamped FACESSS – but perhaps even better are the all-new beauty experiences now available there too!

I love getting up close and personal with beauty products in-store; it’s the best way to find out how they work… and more importantly, if they’re actually going to work for you! Given the army of offputtingly snooty/unhelpful/pushy sales assistants who give you stink eye whenever you try and swatch their products, I love that FACESSS are being proactive about advertising these beauty services – so you can book in for treatments and trials that guarantee product playtime and plenty of expert tips, rather than scuttling away post-haste when a MUA corners you against a wall of foundations… if a MUA even deigns to serve you in the first place!

I was lucky enough to trial three FACESSS’ beauty services from Clarins, NARS and Amika Hairdo Bar. Here’s how it all went down…

faces lab concept hong kong clarins treatment room

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FACESSS Hong Kong gets a makeover – Innisfree, Philosophy, Tony Moly and beauty brands galore hit LAB Concept!

Facesss Queensway Plaza lab concept hong kong

As a total beauty junkie, I’m an avid follower of the Hong Kong cosmetics scene – new stores, new brands, new products… the lot!

One of my favourite one-stop-shops in HK for all things pampering and prettifying is FACESSS, a “beauty retail concept” (read: loads of make-up and skincare counters all in one place i.e. total win) whose LAB Concept location in Admiralty has just had its very own makeover… making getting access to more fabulous brands and enticing experiences even easier.

I was invited for a whistlestop tour of the revamped LAB Concept location, so here’s a quick rundown of what’s new that’s cooking in the FACESSS kitchen:

innisfree hong kong green persimmon

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Clarins Blue Orchid Facial Treatment Oil review – pure liquid gold

clarins blue orchid face treatment oil

Hong Kong weather has been going a bit haywire recently. One minute, it’ll be so cold that you’re forced to dig out that long-lost mini convection heater whilst wearing seven layers of Uniqlo Heattech… the next it’ll be so muggy that even with dehumidifiers ramped up to the max in every single room of your apartment, water still streams down your walls like the Niagara – and on a couple of occasions, Hong Kong’s freaky ecological bubble has somehow managed to produce both conditions all at once!

The point of this story is – all this meteorological madness can play total havoc with a girl’s skin. But one product that I have fallen in love with recently to help combat the strange ecosystem that is my complexion is Clarins’ Blue Orchid Face Treatment Oil.

clarins face treatment oil

Now I know what you’re thinking… I have a greasy nose/chin/forehead/face (delete as applicable), why on earth would I add yet more oil to the mix?! Trust me sistah, I hear ya – and as the owner of a troublesome t-zone, it’s exactly why I’ve previously steered clear of facial oils. But be not afeard my child, for Clarins’ Blue Orchid Oil is friend not foe, I promise!

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Giorgio Armani Fluid Sheer Radiant Pigment highlighter in #13 review

Giorgio Armani Fluid Sheer Radiant Pigment 13

Whilst I would love to pretend that every morning I wake up glowing with radiance in the style of a Disney princess, the reality is probably closer to being a member of the Munster family! So for those days where you need a little bit of help to let in the light, may I introduce Giorgio Armani Beauty’s Fluid Sheer Radiant Pigment in #13, from their Spring 2014 Effetto Nudo Collection.

This translucent liquid highlighter is a pretty pearly queen designed to ramp up the radiance – but in a surprisingly subtle and gloriously universal way. However, branding it as just your typical “highlighter” rather undersells it; in addition to streaking it onto your cheek and brow-bones to bring flattering highlights to your face, it’s subtle enough to be blended into your base to give an overall soft glow, or it can even be used as an ever-so-slightly shimmery eye primer too.

giorgio armani fluid sheer radiance pigment

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Shu Uemura Dolly Red Lucid Rouge Unlimited Lipstick review

shu uemura dolly red lucid lipstick

Since my review of Shu Uemura’s Baby Flame lipstick got such a lovely response – my #FOTD selfie had over 40 likes on Instagram… you guys like me more than cookies! (Well pictures of cookies… but I’ll take it) – I decided it was high time I showed you another beauty from Shu Uemura’s Sweet Red Collection.

shu uemura sweet red collection dolly red lucidFront: Dolly Red Lucid; Back, left to right: Mon Shu Red, Baby Flame, Lacquer Red

The Dolly Red Lucid Rouge Unlimited Lipstick is the lightest shade of the bunch; however, it’s actually not much of a red at all! Instead, it’s a sweet pink-leaning coral that’s much softer than the comparably orange-leaning colour pop of Baby Flame. If Baby Flame was the bright and bubbly geranium in the Sweet Red bouquet, then Dolly Red is the romantic carnation playing peekaboo and fluttering her eyelashes coyly at the back!

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The best hand creams ever: Physiogel A1 Cream, Cetaphil Intensive Moisturising Cream & Herbacin Wuta Kamille Glycerine Hand Cream

best hand creams ever

Think you have dry hands?! Think again! I’ll show you some PROPER dry hands…

Actually, I won’t. My hands had reached such Sahara states of dryness that frankly, they were not fit for public viewing. Upon catching sight of my shedding digits, people would “ewww” entirely unprompted. There was talk of steroid cream. I genuinely had no fingerprints left.

[If you think I’m exaggerating for comic effect, Hong Kong ID Cards use fingerprint recognition machines at immigration; thanks to my fingers being a lovely combination of burn-victim raw red patches and papery dry cracks and ridges, my fingerprints no longer registered. So there!]

My beloved Sebamed Hand & Nail Repair Cream had halted further deterioration but didn’t seem able to actually rescue my skin. I had begun to make peace with the fact that I would be a reasonably preserved twentysomething with the hands of an ancient medieval peasant. But thankfully (!), I had to go to the doctor’s with yet another bout of gastroenteritis (welcome to Hong Kong!) and thought I’d get the good doc’s verdict on my hands whilst I was at it.

Lo and behold, he recommended me a couple of amazing hand creams that performed minor miracles. So I thought I’d spare you the $300 consultation fee and share my three handcare saviours: Physiogel A1 Cream, Cetaphil Intensive Moisturising Cream and Herbacin Wuta Kamille Glycerine Hand Cream.

These hand creams aren’t sexy. They don’t smell delicious, or feel luxurious, or look dressing table worthy. But they bloody hell do the job!

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