CACI Non-Surgical Face Lift For: Sagging skin Where: St. Gregory Spa, Level 4, Pan Pacific Singapore, 7 Raffles Boulevard, tel: 6826-8140 Price: $220 Duration: 60 minutes How: After cleansing and toning, the therapist applies a firming gel and uses two handheld wands that transmit microcurrents to pinch and lift muscles on my neck and jawline. Next, she does the same to my face for 20 minutes. To further target frown lines, two microcurrent-emitting electrodes are attached to my forehead for 10 minutes. After they’re removed, the wands return – this time at a faster pace that promises to strengthen facial muscles to keep them lifted. Lastly, hydrating and anti-ageing skincare are applied to my face and neck. Verdict: An overall pain-free experience, save for slight prickly sensations, this made my skin look plumper, smoother and firmer immediately with no redness. My eye, mouth and brow areas also looked slightly lifted. – IO
CACI Non-Surgical Face Lift
For: Sagging skin
Where: St. Gregory Spa, Level 4, Pan Pacific Singapore, 7 Raffles Boulevard, tel: 6826-8140
Price: $220
Duration: 60 minutes
How: After cleansing and toning, the therapist applies a firming gel and uses two handheld wands that transmit microcurrents to pinch and lift muscles on my neck and jawline. Next, she does the same to my face for 20 minutes. To further target frown lines, two microcurrent-emitting electrodes are attached to my forehead for 10 minutes. After they’re removed, the wands return – this time at a faster pace that promises to strengthen facial muscles to keep them lifted. Lastly, hydrating and anti-ageing skincare are applied to my face and neck.
Verdict: An overall pain-free experience, save for slight prickly sensations, this made my skin look plumper, smoother and firmer immediately with no redness. My eye, mouth and brow areas also looked slightly lifted. – IO
Trilogy System Resculpting Supreme
For: Volume, shape and curls
Where: Chez Vous, #05-05 Ngee Ann City Podium, tel: 6732-9388
Price: From $375 Duration: 180 minutes
How:After a consultation with the salon director, my hair is washed, and a nourishing treatment is applied to supposedly strengthen my locks. He then shapes my hair with a trim, before applying the perm solution for 20 minutes. After that is rinsed off, my hair is put into rollers, doused in a keratin solution, then permed with heat for 20 minutes, before a neutraliser solution is applied to keep my locks in shape. After another rinse, a refinish solution is applied to hydrate and smooth, before my hair is washed and styled with a leave-in serum.
Verdict: The keratin solution nourishes and smooths strands, so you don’t get the frizziness and dryness commonly associated with chemical treatments. The best part? My loose waves felt and looked soft and natural for weeks after. – MSY
Freia Red Carpet Oxygen Facial
For: Dull, dry skin
Where: Freia Aesthetics, #19-02 Wisma Atria Office Tower, tel: 6735-8180
Price: From $380
Duration: 90 minutes
How:After a relaxing shoulder and neck massage, the therapist double cleanses my face and analyses my skin. She follows this with a scrub, before applying steam to open up pores – the extraction after is quick and painless. After toner, the two-part oxygen section of the facial begins. Using an applicator spray gun, which uses pure oxygen to push in nutrients from serums, she airbrushes a hydrating solution over my entire face, before switching to Skinceuticals Phyto Corrective Fluid to soothe sensitivity. After patting in the excess essence, a collagen sheet mask is left on for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, I get a firm facial massage (that reportedly helps lift facial contours) before Skinceuticals basic skincare is applied.
Verdict: Fast results, but still extremely pampering, thanks to the series of massages. My skin looked radiant, plump and dewy, while the fine lines on my forehead became noticeably less obvious. – MSY
CULT HIT
In Singapore for the launch of her eponymous beauty line, US celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D shares her beauty must-haves, Instagram accounts she’s obsessed with, and the hottest place for a tattoo now.
Her signature look “I use the Lock-it Liquid Foundation, which gives full coverage – just a pump of it will even cover my tattoos. It’s also bulletproof in humidity. For my brows, I use the Tattoo Liner, because I like them to look powerful. It has over 300 bristles, which helps create a precise or thick line. It also gives a beautiful sheen when dry. I finish my look with a red lipstick.”
Best beauty Instagrams“@drac_makens for her goth approach to lip and eye makeup; @lipstickittty for out-of-the-box ways of applying lipstick shades (think gradient metallic blues and greens, and an affinity for glitter); and @juscallmetara, whose makeup tricks and eyeliner looks I’ve tried to recreate on my own Youtube channel.”
Hottest tattoo trend “In the past, women would get tattoos that are easily covered up, but now they’re getting them where they’re really visible, or in places like on their ribs, which is such a sexy, feminine spot – even though it hurts.”
Home Ground
Rose fragrances are plentiful, so what makes La Colle Noire EDP, Dior’s latest scent for its premium La Collection Privee range, so unique?
For one, it’s a sensorial tribute to Christian Dior and the picturesque stone castle he lived in during his last years. Restoring the Chateau de La Colle Noire in Montauroux in the South of France – which covered 549,000 sq ft of land for flowers and fruit harvests – had been Dior’s final dream. The star bloom of the area, the May rose, is the key ingredient in the fragrance and gives the scent a subtle, feminine warmth. “It expresses all the raw and radiant beauty of the region,” says perfumer-creator Francois Demachy.
It’s also a refreshingly modern take on rose-infused scents, which tend to be heavy and powdery (read: old-fashioned). Opening with the slightly fruity aroma of the May rose, the scent then gives way to Madagascan clove essence and sandalwood for an unexpected, slightly spicy element. Milky sandalwood then rounds it off.
Survival Of The Chicest
Whether you’re spending the next months in Singapore’s muggy heat or heading to the Greek islands for a vacay, Nars has you covered with three limited edition kits of hand-selected makeup essentials for the summer. We especially love the Cult Survival Kit ($400), which is packaged in a red and white box to resemble a first-aid kit, and contains 11 of the brand’s most coveted classics: Pandora Duo Eyeshadow, Exhibit A and Orgasm Blush, Laguna Bronzing Powder, Schiap Lipstick, Cruella Velvet Matte Lip Pencil, Turkish Delight Lip Gloss, Via Veneto Larger Than Life Eyeliner, Black Moon Audacious Mascara, Light Reflecting Setting Powder Pressed, and Monoi Body Glow II. Pina colada, anyone?
City Sleeper
“Urban fatigue” (noun): Constantly feeling exhausted from being on the go, multi-tasking, and always being contactable. Visible symptoms include dark circles, eye bags, puffiness, redness, dullness and dehydration. A recent study done by Lancome on women aged between 25 and 35 in major global cities revealed that almost half the participants admitted to being tired on a daily basis. And while skin might be able to recover quickly in your 20s, the tell-tale signs begin to set in during your 30s.
To combat this, Lancome has launched its Energie de Vie range, an antioxidant-rich line designed to strengthen and detoxify skin. It has a cocktail of French lemon balm, goji berry and gentian root extract that promises to fight inflammation and oxidation, as well as energise skin cells.
The range has six products: The Foam Cleanser ($55), The Smoothing & Plumping Pearly Lotion ($105), The Smoothing & Illuminating Refreshing Milky Lotion ($120), The Smoothing & Plumping Water-Infused Cream ($110), The Overnight Recovery Sleeping Mask ($95), and The Liquid Care ($115). If you go for just one, it’s got to be The Liquid Care. This all-in-one serum is so hydrating, you could get away with skipping your regular moisturiser (read: extra time in the morning). Infused with high concentrations of antioxidants and active ingredients, it also smooths, brightens and plumps skin for a more radiant complexion.
