Mind Your Ps
Elizabeth Arden has come up with two new products: Prevage
White Concentrated Brightening Serum (30ml, $217) and
floral fragrance Pretty (100ml, $112). Prevage
purports to smooth skin tone and soften skin with anti-aging
ingredient Soy Ferulate-C which works by controlling the production
of melanin, the pigment that gives skin its color but also gives
rise to age spots and freckles. And with so many brightening,
whitening and lightening products out there, you might be confused
over what on earth the difference is between the three. Well,
whitening and lightening are about the same thing—it means making
your skin paler; while brightening, as we’ve just described, evens
out your coloration without making it paler.
And when you’re done brightening up, splash on
some Pretty perfume. With mandarin orange, peach, jasmine, amber
and a scientifically manufactured scent, petalia, Pretty is that
kind of perfume that makes you feel flirty and fun. It creator was
inspired by watching his wife get dressed to go out, so maybe save
this for a weekend night or keep some in your office drawer to dab
on after work to shake off the day and put yourself in the mood for
a night out. Takashimaya, 1/F, Ngee Ann City, 391 Orchard Rd.,
6735-7605 and other outlets.
Cheek to Cheek
The next time you feel the need to sweat it out, try this treatment
at Spa Esprit at House (8D Dempsey Rd.,
6479-0070). Called Cheeky Chai, this treatment softens you up with
a wonderful de-stressing massage and then coats you in dead-sea mud
and paraffin wax that draws out perspiration and other toxins. The
massage is quite firm and deep—excellent for knots and stiff
muscles—and is intended to relax you for the mud/wax. A good thing
too because the wax is hot, even slightly scalding to the touch.
Fun if it’s your loved one dripping it on you on a bear-skin rug,
but with a well trained therapist it takes on a rather serious
dimension. Thankfully the wax cools in seconds, and when you’re
mummified in it, it becomes like a warm cocoon. When they peel it
off, you’ll see small pools of perspiration on the wax flaps and
should feel like you just stepped out of a steam bath.
Sensorial Treat
Three-month old spa The Sensory Suite (14 Gemmill
Lane, 6222-7377) has been pampering stressed out executives in the
city with their massages, facials and body treatments. While quick
pick-me-ups are available, treat yourself to their Lava Stone
Facial ($280) or Rice Body Spa ($320) if you have time. Two-hours
long each, these treatments use wonderful special ingredients to
refresh and relax you. In the Lava Stone Facial, volcanic stones
from the famous Mount Etna in Sicily are used to apply creams to
your face and, in the process, supposedly transmit their curative
energy to you. For many who have tried this, the first application
of the stones tingles, which is a sign that they are “tuning in” to
your body. Judging by the verdant vineyards and orchards that
thrive on the fertile slopes of Mount Etna, that can only be a good
thing.
In the Rice Body Spa, a series of rice scrubs,
packs and balls are applied on the whole body while you lie on a
massage bed. Sweet and fragrant, the rice feels soft and
nourishing, and by the time the therapist starts rubbing the warm
rice balls (rice wrapped in muslin pouches and steamed) on you, you
are melting away. Following that is a rice bran oil massage that
will ensure you completely bliss out.
i-s mag