Celebrity Life

The 2021 beauty trends : according to our predictions many of the trends of 2020 will be resumed. The past year has been a rich year for makeup, staying at home much more has in fact led to experimenting with new beauty trends that especially social media have brought to the fore. In 2020 the […]

L'articolo The 2021 beauty trends : predictions proviene da La Coquette Italienne.

Longing for long hair.

The post The Best Hair Growth Shampoos For Lengthy Locks appeared first on Luxe Digital.

Longing for long hair.

The post The Best Hair Growth Shampoos For Lengthy Locks appeared first on Luxe Digital.

Longing for long hair.

The post The Best Hair Growth Shampoos For Lengthy Locks appeared first on Luxe Digital.

Bruneblonde, the luxury hair salon in Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, has been making women feel and look fantastic since they opened in 2013. We speak to one of the founders, Roland Boutin, on how to care for your hair during the winter.

The secret to great hair, according to Boutin, is “maintenance, maintenance, maintenance,” as great hair takes care, time and upkeep. “Our vision when opening Bruneblonde was to respect the code of the industry – impeccable quality of service, high standard hygiene practices, and to create and use a product range that is crafted from our own experience and expertise.”

Boutin learned the beauty of the haircare industry form his mother, and she instilled in him the standards of what a truly great salon experience should be. “I also have a great passion for architecture and nature, and I have carried this love into the Bruneblonde environment – I am proud of the unique space we have created,” he says. Sitting on the corner atop the stairs in Grand Hyatt, Bruneblonde has an intimate setting infused with Parisian charm overlooking the Wanchai harbour. “My love for nature has also been translated through the product range we have created as well as the time we spent sourcing the natural ingredients we needed to produce a range that promotes fantastic health for the hair and scalp.”

Named the Bruneblonde Series, this line of haircare uses the finest natural ingredients and essential oils sourced from America, France and Germany to ensure product effectiveness and consistency and then carefully produced in Hong Kong. The series has a total of 12 products that are all made with between 85-99% of natural ingredients in their original attributes. Free from silicon, synthetic fragrance, gluten, phthalates, paraffin, the Bruneblonde series also contain no animal derived ingredients nor are tested on animals. Suitable for men, women and children, the types of ingredients chosen are beneficial for all hair and scalp needs. “We are fortunate in Hong Kong that the winter is mild,” says Boutin. “I would recommend light products that do not weigh the hair down. Our Initial BB Bitter Orange and Petitgrain Shampoo and Leave in hydrator with ylang ylang are both suitable to keep the hair and scalp clean and healthy with the winter climate.”

Having styled a myriad of personalities in Hong Kong such as supermodel Gaile Lai, Boutin says he wants a woman to look in the mirror and feel fantastic by the results they see. During today’s trying times, he suggests leaving chemical services to a professional stylist. “If your colour is growing out, leave it until you feel ready to go to a salon again. Don’t be tempted to attempt your colour at home. The best thing you can do for your hair if you are staying at home is use a good quality shampoo and conditioner and return to the salon for your hair adjustments.” Although it’s been a tough time for all those in the beauty industry, Boutin is full of positivity and optimism as he loves what he does.

Pay him a visit or visit www.bruneblonde.com to make an appointment.

(Hero image by Matt Jacob Photography)

The post Bruneblonde’s Roland Boutin on Keeping Your Hair Healthy appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Three countries, three quarantines and I can’t even remember how many house moves… it’s been a busy year. My skin (and my husband) always bear…

The post Skincare Tips For a Life Change appeared first on The Expater.

Three countries, three quarantines and I can’t even remember how many house moves… it’s been a busy year. My skin (and my husband) always bear…

The post Skincare Tips For a Life Change appeared first on The Expater.

Dr Lisa Chan begins her series of monthly columns by concentrating on that most expressive and sensual element of the face: the lips. "Beauty is power; a smile is its sword,” said John Ray, a 17th-century English naturalist and philosopher. As fashionable as a moody, pouting model on Instagram may be, it’s still the curve of a lip and a sensual smile that attracts the eye. I’ve had patients who worry that they come across as aloof and unwelcoming, due to naturally thin lips or droopy mouth corners.

Sometimes this is also caused by ageing – with a loss of subcutaneous fat and collagen, a thinning of the lips and sagging around the mouth area can occur. This can often be corrected with the Smile Lipt (lip-plus-lift) technique, which is a minimally invasive procedure that combines the use of botulinum toxin and hyaluronic acid fillers.

Botulinum toxin reduces the contraction of muscles, such as the depressor anguli oris, which is a muscle that pulls the lip corners downwards. When this muscle is weakened, the lip corners will naturally curve upwards. The effects of botulinum toxin will take a few days to be seen, and can last anywhere from three to six months.

Hyaluronic acid fillers can re-volumise areas and strengthen lip definitions for an aesthetically pleasing result. The effects of fillers are seen instantly and can last approximately a year from injection, depending on viscosity and cross-linkage.

Popular lip shapes include:

• The Cupid's Bow: a classic lip shape with a well-defined vermilion border and the upper lip volume at 70 percent to the lower lip. This lip shape is set off beautifully with red-hued lipstick.
• Heart Shaped: a fuller-bodied lip shape with a gentle curve to the upper lip and a smooth contour to the lower lip. This lip shape is well suited to pink- and peach-toned lipsticks.
• Petal Shaped: an Asian favourite, with its delicate pout effect and lifting of the lip corners. The contours of this lip shape can be highlighted with two-toned lipsticks (darker in the lip centre, then fading out at the lip borders).

To avoid the dreaded trout pout caused by overfilling, an experienced injector will take care to inject in a ratio best suited to individual facial proportions. To minimise bruising, I typically ask my patients to refrain from aspirin, multivitamins and fish oil a week before injections. Other minimally invasive options for an irresistible smile include lower face lifting with the insertion of polydioxane threads, or the use of machines delivering high-intensity focused ultrasound or radio frequency energy. A range of treatments is available, which can be tailored to your needs.

All these options should be discussed with your physician, together with your medical history and aesthetic goals, in order to formulate the most appropriate treatment plan.

Follow Dr Chan on Instagram for more beauty tips and musings.

The post Dr Lisa Chan’s Secrets to an Alluring Smile appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

The new year brings new hope that things will get better soon, but in the meantime, there's no denying that our home spa set-up has gotten exceptionally elaborate. There's nothing like a good skincare ritual to nourish the skin, especially now, when the weather is cold and dry. Estée Lauder has made it possible for our eyes to travel to France even if we physically can't. Want to know Estée Lauder's secret to make your eyes look happy and spirited? It's the potent black diamond truffles from Southwest of France.

If your skin is calling out for a shot of some serious TLC, Estée Lauder's newest Re-Nutriv Ultimate Diamond Transformative Eye Serum is here to help. All the way from the Southwest of France to your home, the top-of-the-line Re-Nutriv Ultimate Diamond collection is infused with precious Black Diamond Truffle Extract and patented youth-sustaining technology, guaranteed to instantly lift tired eyes and make them look and feel sculpted and less puffy.

The Potent Black Diamond Truffle

French black diamond truffles are amongst the rarest and most luxurious ingredients in the world, harvested from the Southwest of France. Truffles have long been lauded for their delicious scent, but they also hold a lot of medicinal qualities — with rich and potent nutrients that can reveal a more sculpted look for eyes that reflect a multi-faceted brilliance.

The potency-retaining extraction process

Through a complex extraction process commissioned by Estée Lauder that takes nearly 10,000 hours, the black diamond truffles are extracted within days of harvesting to retain their potency, finely ground, and ultra-purified for use in Estée Lauder's Re-Nutriv Ultimate Diamond line. In vitro testing by Estée Lauder Research shows that it manipulates our skin cells to behave like younger skin cells, activating our skin's ability to renew and replenish itself for a more youthful appearance.

The potent eye serum also contains soothing ingredients such as lady thistle's extract and marine algae as well as precious refined 24k gold and south sea pearls with illuminating optics to brighten the skin. One drop of the serum will instantly de-puff the skin around the eyes and stimulate the production of natural collagen within two hours. In three days, collagen is increased by 215%, resulting in a brighter and tightened look around the eyes.

Patent-pending eye wand

The state-of-the-art, patent-pending ceramic eye wand that comes with the Re-Nutriv Ultimate Diamond Transformative Eye Serum can help you best extract the power and goodness of the black diamond truffle.

Indulgent application techniques

After applying the serum, use the eye wand and sweep the tip from the inner corner under the eye to the temple, and repeat. To take pampering to the next level, Re-Nutriv's expert aestheticians have developed three types of massage techniques: awakening, energising, and infinite Zen, to indulge the senses and maximise the effects of the eye serum. The power of time is literally at your fingertips.

Head to Estée Lauder's boutiques for a demonstration, or learn the techniques yourself by visiting their website here.

The post Black Diamond Truffle is Estée Lauder’s Secret to Spirited Eyes appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Head full.

The post Tackle Hair Loss Head On With These Men’s Shampoos appeared first on Luxe Digital.

Head full.

The post Tackle Hair Loss Head On With These Men’s Shampoos appeared first on Luxe Digital.

As the covid fourth wave surges and salons close indefinitely, we’re once again faced with the problem of keeping our skin in optimal condition — and all by ourselves with. We asked two beauty experts in Hong Kong about their favourite skincare products that can be used chez vous for the best home spa experiences.

Rare Skin Fuel founder Michelle Chen is no stranger to maintaining good skin within the confinement of her own home. Her obsession with anti-ageing culminated in her creation of a range of 100 percent Australian-made skincare products manufactured in strictly limited quantities with extensive certified organic and native Aussie ingredients. Made with a long and complex heat-free blending procedure, Rare Skin Fuel delivers a one-of-a-kind treatment for the skin.

With a heavy emphasis on only the finest botanical extracts and other natural nutrient-rich ingredients, Rare Skin Fuel’s products can just as easily be used at home as in a spa. With people having to stay indoors a lot more recently, constantly wearing face masks and going make-up-free, Rare Skin Fuel’s mission to “reveal, not conceal” true beauty rings strong. Its botanical ingredients are obtained via a new extraction technology that, unlike traditional methods which degrade the source material, works to preserve the plants as they exist in nature, so that they’re pure, stable and active for long periods. The two-step manufacturing process – the hot phase binds and blends the cream-based products’ ingredients, while the subsequent cold phase preserves the extracts’ minerals, vitamins and nutrients – ensures that the skin receives the benefits of the ingredients at their optimum quality and potency.

Eliminating the risk of contamination during transport, every product is manufactured, hand-blended and packed with Australian-grown ingredients at the same facility. Unlike many skincare companies that use hot and humid shipping containers, Rare Skin Fuel’s final-batch products are flown from Australia to an air-conditioned warehouse in Hong Kong, ensuring quality and effectiveness. Recently, it launched a home spa kit to help users create a spa-like experience. To achieve this, Chen suggests beginning with the Detoxifying Australian Clay Mask and Refreshing Activator, which deeply cleanses, refines and exfoliates pores and dead skin cells for clearer and smoother skin. Afterwards, to balance out the drying effect of the detoxifying clay, soothe and moisturise the skin with the Restoring Australian Clay Mask and Nourishing Activator.

Botanic Pretti5, another locally founded but Japanese- bred skincare brand, also has unique products and tools to achieve spa-grade results at home. Born out of a passion to create clean products inspired by nature, Botanic Pretti5 harnesses the power of Chinese medicine using cutting-edge Western technology. Its modern skincare solutions are designed to fortify the skin’s natural immunity to combat stress, pollution and premature ageing. The low-irritant, non-comedogenic [non-pore- blocking] formula works for everyone – especially those with sensitive skin and rosacea. In particular, the brand offers a De-Puff and Shine set that achieves the same results as a facial, providing three easy steps for deep hydration that can alleviate large pores, puffiness and dark eye circles.

The set includes an Antioxidant Hydrating Toning Essence, a Miracle Glow Facial Oil and a Rose Quartz Facial Roller. The brand’s award-winning Antioxidant Hydrating Toning Essence contains snow-mushroom extracts and Japanese Goldflower root extract to provide deep hydration and pore refinement. It’s pH-balanced and contains no alcohol, so as to avoid irritating sensitive skin, provide better oil control and reduce acne breakouts. Founder Dorothy Chau suggests moisturising the skin with this toning essence after showering, followed by applying one or two drops of the multi-purpose, 100 percent plant-based Miracle Glow Facial Oil, which has a non-greasy formula infused with squalene and jojoba oil. The ginger extract in the oil also helps improve blood circulation and reduces facial bloating and dark circles, is easy to absorb and can be applied to the eye area without causing milia. Follow up with a gentle face massage using the Rose Quartz Facial Roller, one of the best-known ancient Chinese beauty tools whose multiple benefits remain popular to this day. Using this roller helps to reduce puffiness, removes extra water retention and toxins in the skin, promotes collagen production and reduces the appearance of fine lines, while brightening the skin tone by improving blood circulation for healthy and nourished skin.

A properly drawn bath can work wonders as a home spa treatment

The dry winter weather makes hydration of utmost importance. Fortunately, NARS has also recently released a skincare collection, which contains algae extract from Brittany in France to help stimulate natural cellular renewal and help skin look smoother, brighter and more evenly toned. It also replenishes the skin with mineral seawater harvested from the lagoons of French Polynesia to deliver essential moisture and minerals – such as calcium, magnesium and sulphur – to the skin’s surface. For those worried about dull skin, this collection also contains uniquely shaped Light Active Micro-Prisms to diffuse external light, just as a prism would, to optimise light reflection and result in a more luminous and
radiant complexion.

If you’re looking for something more potent, Valmont has a Prime Renewing Pack that includes two exclusive anti-ageing and anti-wrinkle ingredients: Liposomed RNA and the Peptides+Cocktail, which can immediately smooth and repair skin so that the face glows with radiant youth. An anti-stress cellular mask, whose formula visibly smooths and relaxes the facial features, it also provides long-term anti-ageing benefits by stimulating the skin’s essential functions. Its moisturising line also provides effective, customised hydration and features a cream that also acts as a mask for optimal hydration, with just one application.

Aside from the face, body and hair-care spa treatments can also be undertaken at home with Augustinus Bader’s body collection and Laura Mercier’s bath products, as well as Aveda and Kérastase’s specialised hair masks. A game changer since it entered the market, Augustinus Bader recently launched a body lotion and oil. The body lotion contains a protective polysaccharide compound that boosts inter-cellular communication and the skin’s ability to retain water, while rejuvenating shea butter and soothing aloe vera also make it ideal for after-sun care. Informed and inspired by 30 years of research and innovation, the body oil is powered by Augustinus Bader’s proprietary TFC8 complex, which blends natural amino acids, high-grade vitamins and synthesised molecules to enhance the skin’s innate process of rejuvenation and repair. The lightweight compound meets a range of needs, due to a fast-absorbing formula that improves the skin at the deepest levels, promoting overall dermatological health and resilience. “Our new high- performance body oil works to nourish and protect the skin’s integrity while supporting its renewal process. The more you use it, the stronger and healthier your skin will look,” Professor Augustinus Bader says.

During these trying times, a properly drawn bath can work wonders as a spa treatment at home. Laura Mercier’s almond coconut milk scrub is a polishing scrub with sugar granules and exfoliating beads that gently sloughs skin as well as clarifies and tones it. The creamy texture removes dead cells from the surface, leaving the skin soft and silky. The macadamia nut and sweet almond oils containing vitamins A and E also help to moisturise, protect and soothe.

The highlight of Laura Mercier’s bath products, however, is the fragrance. The warm fragrance of this scrub captures the essences not only of almond and coconut milk, but also jasmine, rosewood, ylang-ylang, vanilla, tonka, heliotrope and musk. Or pamper yourself with its Ambre Vanillé honey bath whose thick and rich bubbles will leave your skin velvety smooth and senses calm and relaxed. The nourishing blend of shea butter, vanilla extracts, sweet almond proteins, hydrolysed rice, oat proteins and Vitamin B-5 moisturises, rebalances and protects the skin. The quiet sensuality of amber blended with the warmth of vanilla is enhanced with fresh notes of tangerine and tiger orchid, sweet notes of almond and brown sugar, as well as a final hint of musky sandalwood for a finish that’s soft, intimate and addictive.

Combat dull and lacklustre hair with Kérastase’s Masque Reconstituant, a rich, thick white cream which provides intense hydration and nourishment for hair fibres without weighing it down. It also helps fortify the hair to become smoother and softer. Likewise, Aveda has also recently launched its first nutrient-powered all-day moisturiser for dry hair. A blend of organic pomegranate oil, coconut oil and mango butter, this unique product intensely moisturises and replenishes dry and depleted hair.

“Coconut oil is known to penetrate the hair strands for nourishment, and the pomegranate oil and mango butter help smooth and nourish the surface of the hair,” said Christine Hall, Aveda’s vice president of research and development. “Pomegranate oil has powerful nutritional benefits for the hair; rich in omega-5 fatty acid, it helps revitalise dull and dry hair with hydration and protects it from depletion.”
With these products targeting face, hair and body, rest assured that they’ll keep you well taken care of from head to toe while access to spas and salons may not necessarily be guaranteed.

(Hero shot: Botanic Pretti5’s De-puff and Shine Collection)

The post Home Spa: Two Beauty Experts on The Best Products For Dry Winters appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.