Celebrity Life

Signs of ageing don’t necessarily mean a full-on facelift. As Dr Lisa Chan explains, there’s a more subtle and natural-looking alternative: a threadlift.

Given enough time and gravity, age begins to show on our faces in the form of loose skin, sagginess and loss of elasticity. Procedures such as skin resurfacing and filler injections can combat some of these issues early on, but sometimes a surgical facelift may be required to get the desired results. In between lies a relatively newer procedure: the threadlift. Instead of a full-on surgical approach where loose skin is removed and sutured for a tightening effect, patients who want more subtle and natural-looking results may opt for a threadlift. This procedure utilises absorbable medical-grade sutures to mechanically anchor and lift up sagging skin. As the threads dissolve over the next few months, they initiate a healing process within the body that increases the amount of collagen in the treated areas.

More collagen strengthens the skin, improving its elasticity and reducing wrinkle formation. Various types of sutures are available depending on the area being treated and the required degree of lifting: mono, screw and cog. Mono and screw sutures promote collagen formation and are usually placed in wrinkle-prone areas such as the forehead, around the eyes, upper cheeks, lip corners, and neck, while cog sutures tend to lift up the skin better and are inserted near the hairline to tighten sagging cheeks and jowls.

A typical threadlift procedure is done under local anaesthesia, and will last 30 minutes to an hour. In addition to an immediate tightening and structuring of the skin, gradual improvement in elasticity and hydration can be seen over the next few months. Since the sutures are relatively small, healing of the insertion sites usually only takes a few days. Most patients can go back to work straight after the procedure.

With any injection procedure, swelling and bruising as well as pain may occur. As there’s a risk of suture migration with excessive facial movement, patients are advised to sleep on their backs and not to rub the treated areas vigorously over the next few weeks. There’s also a risk of infection, and care must be taken to keep the treated areas clean. Signs of infection include redness, swelling and fever, and you should notify your doctor immediately.

The threadlift is suitable for patients who have mild to moderate skin laxity, which usually concurs with patients in their late thirties to fifties. Results are less dramatic than a surgical facelift, and can last from one to three years.

In patients who desire not just a lifting effect but also wish to improve volumisation, reduce wrinkles and smoothen out skin tone, other modalities such as injectable fillers, botulinum toxin and light-based therapies may be used to achieve the desired results.

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Start 2022 as you mean to carry on – holistically. Here are four wellness programmes and overnight stays that should give you an edge when it comes to sticking to New Year resolutions.

We might not know what resolutions you’ve been making, but prioritising and focusing on mental and physical wellbeing is something everyone can benefit from. Here are four wellness programmes worth looking into that should enable you to feel your feelings, pick up healthy habits and start the year right.

Wellness Programmes & Overnight Stays to Book Now

"Empower from Within" at The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong

Rooted in healing, mindfulness practices and nutrition, The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong’s "Empower from Within" holistic wellness initiative comprises three objective-focused wellness programmes that include consultations, kinesiology therapy, yoga, detox, breathwork, sleep meditation and sound therapy.

• The one-and-a-half-day "Deep Sleep" programme is designed to improve the quality of your slumber, with experts identifying your sleep needs and empowering you with sleep-promoting habits. The HK$6,500 package includes a wellness consultation, kinesiology therapy, Abhyanga and Shirodhara massage treatment, breathwork and guided sleep meditation.
• Also lasting a day and a half, the "Restore and Realign" programme is ideal for those who feel sluggish and tired, and who seek a fresh start. It works by kickstarting fatigued adrenal glands, helping you manage stress and anxiety, detoxifying the body and fortifying it with powerful antioxidants. Also priced at HK$6,500, it includes a wellness consultation, spa treatments, meditation and breathwork, vibrational sound therapy and detox yoga.
• And at HK$5,500, the "Journey of Motherhood" programme is tailored for expectant and new mothers, helping them prepare for pregnancy and post-partum discomfort. It includes cranial sacral therapy, spa rituals and pre-natal or for-women yoga with an Ikigai practitioner.

All programmes include a wellness lunch and relaxation in the spa’s facilities. They can also be combined with an overnight stay. Find out more by emailing or calling The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong.

The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong, Four Seasons Hotel, 8 Finance Street, Central; spa.hkg@fourseasons.com; +852 3196 8900

Sensational Mindfulness Retreat at WM Hotel Sai Kung

Held on January 9-10, the two-day one-night Sensational Mindfulness Retreat promises to enhance your wellbeing and set you up for the rest of 2022. Hosted by a team of wellness experts including Jasmine Liu of HyggeWellbeing, Simon Hui of Mindful Studio HK, Raymond Mak of FarmacyHK, Terence Lee of GITONE, sound alchemist Malbert Lee and Dr Emilie Berthet Clairet, the programme is designed to reconnect you with your senses and surroundings, and provide inspiration on living a more conscious life.

The Sensational Mindfulness Retreat includes a tea ceremony, meditation practice, principles of mindful farming classes, a gut health talk, a gong bath, sunrise yoga and mindful calligraphy. Priced at HK$3,800 (per person in a shared room) or HK$4,800 (for a single room), it includes one night of hotel accommodation, dinner and breakfast.

You can find out more by calling 5668 9008, or emailing hello@hyggewellbeing.co or mailbox@mindfulstuiohk.com

WM Hotel Sai Kung, 28 Wai Man Road, Sai Kung; hello@hyggewellbeing.co, mailbox@mindfulstuiohk.com, +852 5668 9008

"Asaya Hybrid 360", Asaya at Rosewood Hong Kong x Hybrid Gym Group

Rosewood Hong Kong’s pioneering wellness centre is partnering with Hybrid Gym Group Hong Kong in the immersive Asaya Hybrid 360 programme, a bespoke, 18-week approach to wellness supported by coaches at every step of the way: assessment, goal setting, roadmap, therapies and personalised treatments, and rehabilitation plans, as well as skin health, body nutrition and naturopathic remedy.

Each customised experience begins with a series of consultations. Hybrid will analyse body composition, joint range of motion, body imbalance or instability, and nutrition, physical activity, stress levels and other potentially negative factors. Asaya, on the other hand, kicks off with a facial skin-health analysis, rehab/posture-correction assessments, and naturopathy and mental-wellness consultations.

Priced at HK$80,000, each Asaya Hybrid 360 programme includes a personalised food and supplement plan and 36 training sessions with Hybrid Gym Group, 10 tailored sessions with Asaya Wellness Practitioners and complimentary access to Asaya classes, fitness centre and swimming pool. Find out more by contacting Asaya.

Alternatively, you can book into an Asaya Daycation or Wellcation (a daycation plus a night's stay at Asaya Lodge or at Rosewood), that include one 60-minute session of your choice from options including singing bowl therapy, mindfulness meditation, expressive arts therapy, functional insight training, active isolated stretching, sports therapy, and one 60-minute treatment. You can find out more here.

Asaya at Rosewood Hong Kong, Rosewood Hong Kong, K11 MUSEA, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui; hongkong.asaya@rosewoodhotels.com, +852 3891 8588

The Mandarin Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong

To help you achieve greater wellbeing through the power of the mind and start your journey to self-improvement, certified hypnotherapist Christine Deschemin is running a series of group and one-on-one hypnosis workshops at The Mandarin Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong.

• The hour-long Hypno-relaxation Workshop puts the body into a deep state of relaxation in which the parasympathetic nervous system is activated, decreasing heart rate, respiration and blood pressure while boosting the immune system and digestion. It’s priced at HK$1,500.
• At HK$1,750, The 75-minute Slimming Hypnosis Workshop works on the mind-body connection to healthy eating habits, focusing on improving your relationship with food.
• And in the hour-long one-on-one Bespoke Hypnotherapy Workshop, Deschemin helps you to help you to conquer personal struggles, from sleep deprivation to general stress and anxiety – and even phobias. This tailor-made session costs HK$2,550

The Mandarin Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, 5 Connaught Road Central, Central; mohkg-spa@mohg.com; +852 2825 4888

The post Hit Reset: 4 Wellness Programmes and Overnight Stays to Book Into Now appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Shanyan Fok Koder and Richard Bassett explain how a Hong Kong art entrepreneur joined forces with a former special-forces soldier to launch a health and mental wellbeing app, Mentor360.

"Mental health and mental fitness are universal concerns," says Shanyan Fok Koder. "And regardless of your demographic, social status, your job or your age, it’s something everyone has to deal with."

Shanyan Fok Koder & Richard Bassett on Mental Health App Mentor360

The Mentor360 app dropped on World Mental Health Day in October, the cumulation of the last 20 months of work and conversations (usually across continents over Zoom) between former military man Richard Bassett and worldly art advisor Koder. A month later, I’m sitting with both in a North London café talking over slices of pizza.

Their app, they hope, offers everyone a holistic 360 guide and framework to “finding your formula” for mental and physical wellbeing. It uses a hybrid approach, with a core layer of clinicians and professional Mentors and then celebrity Ambassadors (who’ve publicly shared meaningful life stories) critical for building noise and momentum.

"I’d been in the military for a long time. And there were a couple of incidents in my life that made me want to create something," Bassett, the CEO, explains. "Firstly, it was my father committing suicide. Then my son had a bit of misdirection. And several of my friends in the military had PTSD issues or adjustment disorders."

"The biggest issue is why people wouldn’t come forward and say they’ve got a problem?” he asks.

“Unlike some apps, we’re not trying to get people hooked. Come on to it when you need it”

— Richard Bassett

The answer often lay in culture, lack of education or concerns about privacy that prevent many from seeking help. With that came Bassett’s idea of creating an app that functions as a “non-judgmental toolkit” with content validated by experts – who include coaches, performance psychologists, mental health-specialising nurses and a clinical psychologist.

Basset’s link with Koder came when his best friend, ex-special forces colleague and TV star Jason Fox, sat next to a pregnant Koder at a charity fundraiser for Born (which researches to prevent premature birth) in late 2019. As the pair talked about their passions for mental health and children’s wellbeing, the connection to Bassett’s idea became quickly apparent.

"Foxy told me that I have to meet his friend, Richard, who’s building this app," Koder recalls. "I was always wanting to support things that are very meaningful and close to my heart … and now Jason is actually our key mentor. The partnership between Richard and I was almost like two parts of a jigsaw puzzle come together."

Although some might go to the app for help with stress, trauma or even resources to help with suicidal feelings, Mentor360 is designed specifically as a three-dimensional offering that will also encourage fitness, workouts, performance and meditation or more clinical matters.

"We wanted to maintain the human factor as a constant throughout. So it feels like somebody has given you some advice rather than some process-driven machine learning," Bassett adds.

The co-founders might come from two different worlds, but the unlikely partnership speaks to the ubiquity of the issues at hand. Bassett’s 25-year military career saw him being appointed the first ever Command Sergeant Major within the UK Special Forces military group. "It was at that stage where I was asked if I wanted to run defence,” he says. “At that point, I thought, I’ve kind of had my fill of the military now, it’s time to move on."

Koder meanwhile grew up in Hong Kong and the UK as the daughter of Li Ka-shing’s "right-hand man" Canning Fok, carving out a career in the arts and taking over her family’s impressive collection. As a female art entrepreneur and mother, her challenges would be different.

"When I had the misfortune of losing three babies to miscarriage and dealing with that emotional fallout, it led me to want to support this as a cause," Koder divulges. "If there’d been something like this app available to me, I don’t think I’d have suffered as much as I did emotionally. It’s a topic that’s still very taboo, even in this day and age … and while you eventually find your own community, at the very beginning, you do feel very alone."

Both were clearly driven towards the app through deeply personal experiences. Bassett saw first-hand how soldiers who’d done several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan suffered – his best friend, Fox, had left the forces with PTSD. Perhaps machismo or fear of institutional repercussions meant that the issue was often ignored or hidden in the military – but he hopes that Mentor360’s holistic approach can gently lead people to explore mental fitness alongside physical performance too.

The male-female perspectives of the pair offer a well-rounded, powerful tool. And while the wellness space is already crowded, Mentor360 stands out by being so broad, human-focused and non-prescriptive.

There’s been exciting traction too. Since its launch, the app has been downloaded in more than 176 countries, with the UK, the US and Australia leading. British schools have reached out and it’s one governance board away from being trialled within the National Health Service (NHS), which means added clinical risk management in the app. That has been an important validation, says Bassett, "especially when an institution like that has picked it out from a huge spectrum of apps on the market today."

Covid-19 and lockdowns have helped throw light on mental health, taking the conversation more mainstream. The timeliness has hit home; as Bassett says, “there’s a lot of people now struggling with the transition between Covid and normality”.

Koder tells us that the plan is to serve individuals but also institutions such as the NHS and the military. There’s also the option of “white labelling” it, so the app can be packaged and tailored to certain industries or corporate employees. In the future, might they look more global, with different languages and translations? Absolutely, the pair say, but they’re taking it “slow and steady”. There’s been interest from American corporations and Koder says that she’s keen to push into Asia very soon. Although going truly global might mean translating for languages, cultures and tone, as well as working with diverse psychologists, it remains a future ambition.

Mentor360 may be extra helpful in cultures where mental health is still relatively taboo. As Koder says, "I think, coming from our Asian culture, it speaks volumes to me – so much of our culture is about still performance or hiding a lot of what you’re feeling."

"Unlike some apps,” Bassett adds, "what we’re not trying to do is create a hook or get people hooked. Come on to it when you need it, and if you don’t need it for a while because you’re good, you can just put it away … We’re starting to see those patterns in the trend analysis."

To get a little personal, I ask what works for them individually to keep a healthy mind and body. Bassett’s formula revolves around daily exercise, time with the family, dogs and good sleep – even the occasional glass of wine on the sofa in front of a crackling fireplace. Koder’s happiness hacks centre around motherhood, being content and at peace in her skin, and looking at life with a certain romanticism: "I always love to see the poetry in my day,” she says, "and I think it’s important to just pause throughout the day, check-in and acknowledge that I’ve achieved these things and I should be proud of myself, rather than just rushing on to the next thing."

The post A Mentor In Your Pocket: Shanyan Fok Koder and Richard Bassett on Mentor360, Their Health and Mental Wellbeing App appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

With less than a couple of weeks to go until the most wonderful time of the year, it’s time for the annual Prestige Christmas Giveaway. From December 13th to 24th, we’re offering Prestige Online readers the chance to win amazing prizes each and every day on Instagram, as we count down the 12 days of Christmas.

Whether you’re stuck on your gift list, sick of shopping, or just in need of a treat, here’s just a little something from us to you, to thank you for being our loyal readers.

Christmas Giveaway Day 8: XYZ Movement Classes and Spinning Classes

The vital thing to know about an XYZ class, if you still haven't tried it, is that it's a very different fitness experience from most things out there.

Recently, XYZ has moved to Tai Kwun and introduced a new mindful and holistic approach that will take your fitness regimen to a whole new level.

In Ancient Chinese philosophy, Yin and Yang is a concept of dualism that also represents the balance between masculinity and femininity. The two qualities create each other, control each other, and ultimately transform into each other.

Founder of XYZ, Belina Koo, believes that Ying Yang Holistic Fitness can bring peace and harmonic balance to our body, mind and soul.

The Cave and The Cocoon

Taking you to a journey of self-discovery, XYZ's movement session at 'The Cocoon' is designed to stretch out tired muscles. Think of it as a rejuvenating yoga session that helps relax your body and mind.

After that, XYZ's patrons are encouraged to challenge themselves with a session of high-intensity spinning at 'The Cave', a silent spinning studio that offers riders to spin away while listening to a series of invigorating beats via audio headphones.

What's more? XYZ will be offering a variety of new classes, including the 'My Trip and Mind of Movement' (MOMM) classes, in collaboration with All About You wellness centre that specialises in mental health. Stay tuned to for the new launch in 2022!

How to Enter

At Prestige, we're giving away five XYZ's Movement classes and five XYZ's Spinning classes to one lucky winner. To enter, head to our Instagram page @PrestigeHK and follow the instructions.

Terms & Conditions:

By entering this Prestige giveaway, you will be bound by these terms and conditions and acknowledge that you satisfy all eligibility requirements.
This giveaway is open to Hong Kong residents only and entrants must be over the age of eighteen (18).
Entrants must follow our Instagram page and set their profile to public in order for their entry to be valid.
The giveaway prize is live for five (5) days only.
Entries will be accepted within the five (5) days of posting the feature. Thereafter the giveaway for that prize will close and the winner will be announced.
Winners will be contacted and asked to provide their full name and contact details via Instagram within 48 hours.
Winners will be instructed on how to claim their prize by email.
Winners must respond to redeem the prize within seven (7) days of the prize announcement, otherwise the prize will be forfeited.
Prizes cannot be exchanged for cash, credit and are non-transferrable to third parties.
Prestige reserves the right to cancel, re-draw or otherwise modify this giveaway at any time with immediate effect and without giving prior notice.
Photos are for reference only.

The post XYZ Introduces A Yin Yang Holistic Approach to Fitness (A Christmas Giveaway) appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.