Vanessa Kirby is the new face of Cartier’s Panthère collection.
For 75 years, the panther has been a signature of the House of Cartier. La Panthère, as the storied brand calls it, symbolises strength, elegance and unwavering determination. The origin of La Pathère goes back to 1948, where the brand’s founder, Louis Cartier, affectionately called Jeanne Toussaint “La Pathère” because of her indomitable spirit. Fast forward to 2023, British actress Vanessa Kirby is chosen as the face of Cartier’s Panthère collection: watches, jewellery and fragrances. Kirby, a top pick for numerous high fashion brands, perfectly embodies the essence of the panther with her fierce and protective personality. This draws parallels to the iconic motif that has come to define Cartier.
https://youtu.be/GrwwrEBB5h8
The inaugural campaign with Kirby sees the brand paying homage to its iconic animal motif by taking a journey back to its origins in a lush tropical forest. Kirby, the protagonist dressed in Cartier red, emerges from this verdant, secluded realm, guided solely by instinct, and undergoes a metamorphosis into her alter ego — a feline creature that mirrors her personality, embodying both her predatory and protective traits.
For this collection of perfumes, Cartier’s in-house perfumer Mathilde Laurent aims to bring “the chypre family back into the spotlight with a new flora-feline accord: the union of a historic chypre, a mythical animal musk and a fresh, vibrant gardenia”. As for the notes, it is a blend of apricot and osmanthus.
“It is such an honour to become an ambassador and embody the wild feminine spirit behind the iconic scent of a Panthère,” Kirby said when the partnership was revealed last December. “To be aligned with a house that has a real appreciation for — and commitment to — philanthropy, women’s empowerment, conservation and arts and culture, powered by the extraordinary team at Cartier, is truly inspiring. They have become a family to me, and I am honoured to be on this journey with them.”
It’s the time of year when our thoughts turn to gifting, and seeking out special items to delight our nearest and dearest. Maison 21G, the Parisian house of scent design and recent winner of the Singapore Retail Association award for Best Retail Experience of Singapore, are opening the doors of possibility this festive season, proposing an array of bespoke and experiential gifts tailored to delight the senses and create precious memories.
This gifting season, lovers of haute couture bespoke perfumes, are invited to share their enthusiasm with their lucky giftees, indulging their senses in a wide range of luxurious customised experiences. It’s impossible to deny the joyous appeal of being presented with the gift of a personalised bottle of perfume… and the fact that each is made from the blend of hand-selected natural fragrance essences that your giftee will choose for themselves with their choice of bottle design. You need to enter their email, your message, and the date you wish to offer this unique experience to your loved one, and we will take care of everything for you. Now you cannot go wrong by offering a perfume with Maison 21G!
Maison 21G’s bespoke gifting experiences don’t end there. The brand has seen a hugely popular response to its beautiful and exclusive creative ateliers; tailored perfume creation workshops, where attendees uncover the art of perfume creation with a seasoned scent designer, and take home their unique blends to cherish and enjoy. For perfume lovers, it’s hard to think of a more exciting, immersive and rewarding gift — perfect for those who seem to have everything! At Maison 21G, we offer an experience to your giftee that goes beyond a simple product!
The experiential element of Maison’s gift range for 2022 and beyond is genuinely impressive, showcasing this brand’s commitment to standing out from the crowd and bringing change to the traditional perfume industry. The beautiful Scent Discovery Set with 34 essences to play and mix at home like a perfumer will seduce everyone! Their unique Home Scent items from the famous Dual scented candles you can blend together to the bespoke reed diffusers where you choose the scent of your blend are just so original and fascinating.
This year, Maison 21G provides gifting experiences like never before that will lead to the creation of cherished memories. In the words of Maison 21G founder and perfume designer Johanna Monange, “the art of gifting isn’t about picking up something off the shelf and designed to please the broadest possible audience. It’s an opportunity to create something truly unique and show the depths of your affection”. It’s a philosophy which serves Maison 21G very well; since launching in 2020, the brand has picked up a global audience of perfume aficionados from Paris to Asia, besotted with the notion of crafting their own perfumes, home scents and scented gifts. The best part? Every Maison 21G product is tailored with a rich array of haute couture, sustainable, vegan and haute couture natural ingredients — all within your fingertips.
After multiple successful openings in countries across Asia, Maison 21G has finally opened its first boutique in the Middle East. Located in Dubai Hills, the luxury Parisian perfumery house brings its signature brand of scent personalisation, exquisite range of bespoke products, and private atelier experience to those craving a lavish escapade.
Bringing along its best offerings to clients in Dubai, the boutique’s strong design values rooted in sleek minimalism and Parisian chic have also been incorporated within its latest opening. The famous “Carré Galbé (Round Square)”, where the Maison conducts its renowned perfumery workshops, has also been brought over and clients can book an appointment to learn more about creating their own signature scent.
The boutique is split into different zones, and visitors can learn more about the brand as they move along with their scent-making journey. At Maison 21G, there are multiple facets to creating one’s scent. Also unique to the brand is the option to customise home scents, a premiere in the perfumery industry and a fast-growing segment that Maison 21G is excited to be taking the lead in with its collection of products.
Always seeking novel ways to make the customer’s journey an epicurean experience, Maison 21G brings its proprietary “touchless scent bar” to Dubai. Invented as a response to the inconvenience brought forth by the Covid-19 pandemic, this agile approach is a safe, stylish and innovative way for clients to be involved in designing their scent wardrobe from the 35 haute couture essences available.
To help with smoothening the process of creating one’s scent, Maison 21G harnesses the power of AI. Clients can take a survey online, and the results from it will reveal their scent personality, which will aid them in picking out the best scents based on a range of categories like nationality, skin tone, age and others. Thus, making the experience a truly bespoke one to enjoy.
Apart from its mission to launch a perfume revolution centred around its disruptive and multisensory approach, Maison 21G also takes pride in offering a fully-transparent product journey to its clients.
“Sustainability is the new luxury in perfumery. We focus on what’s inside the bottle and aim to make the world of perfume more transparent, clean and educative,” says Johanna Monange, founder and CEO of Maison 21G.
Image: Maison 21G
Beyond just packaging, the scents used are at least 90 per cent biodegradable and are made by IFF, which means renowned noses like Dominique Ropion, Anne Flipo, Carlos Benaim and others are all part of the creation as well. All Maison 21G fragrances are ethically sourced, and its journey can be traced from plant to perfume. Lastly, the brand aims to exclusively utilise recyclable or refillable packaging to achieve its goal of producing zero plastic waste.
With such a unique approach to creating a brand that doubles down on curating a bespoke, greener, and more transparent perfume-making journey, Maison 21G makes a great addition to the vibrant community in Dubai Hills.
Chanel perfume is not only one of the most popular French perfume brands, but in fact one of the most popular in the world. Founded by Coco Chanel in 1910, the house has produced multiple legendary fragrances, from their world-renowned Chanel No. 5 to their botanic-inspired Gabrielle perfume. Amongst these celebrated scents, comes another equally notable release: Sycomore by Chanel.
Chanel’s Sycomore was first introduced to the world in 1930 by the brand’s renowned original perfumer, Ernst Beaux. Crafted with the help of Coco Chanel herself, it’s become an iconic scent that still plays an important role in the maison today. The original 1930 scent was all violet and tobacco with some support from soft aldehydes and balsamic wood. Smoky and earthy, it had a hint of cypress and created an incredibly elegant scent that is both richly masculine and sophisticated. In 2008, it was re-envisioned and re-introduced as part of Chanel’s prestige collection titled “Les Exclusifs”. It was created by Chanel’s in-house perfumer, Jacques Polge, along with an equally renowned “nose” in the industry, Christoper Sheldrake. It was described by Chanel as a scent filled with vetiver, notes of sandalwood, dashes of cypress and juniper.
Image: Chanel
Now, in collaboration with Maisons d’art, Chanel has employed in-house perfume creator, Olivier Polge, to revitalise the scent into a more intensified version of Sycomore. It leaves a powerful and enveloping trail, amplifying its sensuousness. Paired with notes of iris and subtly enhanced by accents of leather and vanilla, it pays homage to the original 1930s scent.
The highly precious nature of this new interpretation is showcased in an ultra-limited edition case, crafted as a series of 20 numbered pieces. The perfume is presented in a Baccarat crystal bottle, sealed with a fine baudruche and stamped with the Chanel double C to preserve its precious scent. It’s paired with a luxurious coffret embroidered by the Maison Lesage artisans. The finest raw materials found in the coffret are represented through embroidery in a rich autumnal scene depicting the olfactory atmosphere of Sycomore. It acts as a canvas for amethyst bicone beads and passementerie pearls, combined with pink peppercorns, dried juniper berries and thin wood shavings. When intertwined with the fold threads, it recalls the amber hue of the fragrance and the sycamore forest floor, creating an experience that both delights the nose and the eyes.
Each numbered piece of the Sycomore Eau de Parfum is a true collector’s item, acting as an item that celebrates both the excellence of Chanel’s perfumer and the unique craftsmanship of embroiderer Lesage. The bottle is available starting from September 2022.
When beauty company Glossier launched in 2014, it was entirely new, both in its messaging — “be you, just dewier” — and its exclusively online sales strategy, which at the time was an unconventional way to sell beauty. The vertical business strategy, also known as the direct-to-consumer (DTC) approach allows brands to sell directly to their customer; they would be in complete control of aspects such as pricing, branding, messaging and the type of features and services the brand would offer — they’re also mostly done online.
Founder and chief executive Emily Weiss’ approach worked. Suddenly, Glossier became the gold standard for startups, who forewent once-coveted shelf space at department stores and Sephora in favour of selling directly to customers. But for all the Glossier mania, their inability to keep up with beauty’s retail evolution eventually led to their downfall and eventual shift to an omnichannel strategy.
On a joint Instagram post, Glossier announced its first external retail partnership with multinational retailer, Sephora. The deal ramps up Glossier’s push into physical retail, allowing them to significantly expand the brand’s retail distribution and contribute to changing the beauty industry’s landscape.
However, Glossier’s choice to expand into the retail industry is not uncommon. In the past few years, internet-born beauty brands such as The Ordinary, Fenty Beauty and Drunk Elephant have all transitioned from selling exclusively online to utilising brick-and-mortar stores with beauty retail giants: Sephora, Ulta and Nordstrom.
The change in business models from these beauty powerhouses and cult brands signals a significant shift in the way customers are shopping and the way products are being sold in the beauty industry. Now with an omnichannel strategy in place, the potential to reshape the market is bigger than ever and all the parties involved have the opportunity to reap the benefits of both a digital and physical shopping experience.
Historically, large legacy brands have ruled the beauty industry in market share and prestige. But recently, internet-born brands have become the big growth story. These companies base their operating models on exploiting technological and analytical capabilities — often adopting the direct-to-consumer approach to take advantage of the e-commerce benefits it offers.
Due to the pandemic, the rise of online shopping, and social media’s impact on consumer trends, the shift to online retail was one of the most significant accelerations in consumer behaviour. It seemed as if a new online-only beauty brand was being created every day. Brands now have full control over how they want to conduct their business — from shipping policies to visual branding — and consumers have a more efficient, effective and personalised shopping experience, all from the comfort of their home.
However, for the past four years, Diffusion, a PR agency based in London, has monitored consumers and their affinity for DTC brands. They witnessed a climb in interest during pandemic times, followed by a subsequent fall in their annual DTC Consumer Purchase Intent Index. Inflation, ongoing supply chain woes and an increase in competition are taking a bite out of native direct-to-consumer brands, forcing them to dip in consumer interest and lose billions within their market cap. With the DTC craze slamming into reality, brands are now looking for ways to minimise their loss.
Meanwhile, the future is looking bright in the world of retail and in-store commerce. Consumers who craved real-life shopping experiences during the pandemic are driving back to the stores. “Going out to shop is still part of the whole experience,” says Erik Nordstrom, who has seen a 18 per cent increase in foot traffic to the retail store this June. “It’s entertainment, it’s a family thing to do on the weekends and it’s bound to bounce back from the struggles we faced in the pandemic.” The US Census Bureau reported that retail sales rose more than 28 per cent in May compared to last year and expects it to grow as much as 13.5 per cent this year, with research firm Zenreach, predicting a full return to normalcy in the US retail industry by September of this year.
With the re-opening of stores, many consumers waited in line to experience the pleasure of physical retail. The human connection, the ability to feel and try on, and the immediacy of the purchase were what they had missed. This downward trend created a huge opportunity for traditional retailers to modernise and expand their presence to online marketers and retailer sites, creating an effective omnichannel strategy.
The Omnichannel Revolution
Image: Sephora
Using both digital and traditional marketing, the omnichannel strategy embraces a customer from multiple directions with the same messaging. Essentially, when a brand uses a multi-channel sales approach and integrates it throughout the customer’s shopping experience, it creates a seamless experience. The benefits of an omnichannel marketing strategy are clear — studies have shown that marketers that integrate three or more channels into their marketing campaigns increase their purchase rates up to 287 per cent and see more than 18 per cent engagement in their campaigns, compared to only 5 per cent for single-channel campaigns.
Online-only brands creating partnerships with big retailers offer many benefits to both parties. For example, to bring DTC beauty products closer to the buyer, Sephora has introduced several in-store merchandising activities, showcasing digitally native or otherwise up-and-coming brands. The first fixtures for Sephora’s “The Next Big Thing” was an in-store space set aside for displaying new makeup brands — launched at its Time Squares store in June 2019. It was a clever attempt to drive customers lured by popular brands they encounter on the internet into a physical space where they can try them out and purchase samples.
Image: Sephora
On the other hand, DTC brands that have shifted to retail, such as Glossier, Kylie Jenner Beauty, The Ordinary and Drunk Elephant, can reap the benefits of retail marketing. They’re able to access a more extensive customer base, and there’s a sharpened shopper focus that DTC brands lack. Customer data power today’s retail marketing platforms, and everything that happens on those platforms is focused on meeting actual shopper needs and responding to known behaviours. This has the possibility to increase sales due to ease and efficiency of the shopping experience.
“Consumers are now operating within a total omnichannel ecosystem and all the touchpoints that we’ve been fortunate to have been developing have helped us as we went into the pandemic and now it’s helping us as we’re coming into the endemic stage,” said Alia Gogi, managing director of Sephora Asia.
Clearly, the lines between online and offline have blurred over the years and both retailers and DTC brands are working toward creating a seamless experience for the consumer. The beauty retail space has shifted drastically over the past couple of years, and it is unlikely to stop evolving. Elements like personalisation and experiences will continue to play huge roles and the digital aspect of retail will continue to influence brick-and-mortar retailers moving forward.
Pantone 1837. Pantone 186C. Pantone 1448. These labels may seem unfamiliar, but you’ll be surprised to find out you’re actually more acquainted with the colours these numbers represent than you realise — that’s because they’ve been patented by some of the fashion industry’s biggest brands. Think Tiffany’s iconic blue shade (Pantone 1837), Valentino’s classic crimson (Pantone 186C) and Hermès’ luxurious orange (Pantone
For years, many of the world’s greatest luxury brands have each embraced a particular shade as a signature colour code. This hue is not only recurrently expressed throughout their runway shows but through every aspect of their brand’s visual identity. It increases brand recognition by 80 per cent and has the unique ability to communicate a feeling immediately. Whether it’s to signify elegance or preserve its history and heritage, it’s not difficult to see why brand’s choose to stick to one shade to help define themselves.
Especially in a time when digital media is on the rise, companies have more opportunities to get its signature colours in front of consumers and build the psychological bridge between hue and brand quicker than before.
Image: Valentino
When Valentino’s creative director, Pierpaolo Piccioli turned Le Carreau du Temple into a pink-scape during for its Fall Winter 2022 collection, the future of colour and fashion was inevitably changed and heightened. What stood out wasn’t the extreme colour-blocking evident in the show, but the collaboration with Pantone that caused a stir. For years, Pantone has collaborated with some of the world’s most recognisable fashion brands in using colours as its visual adjectives to communicate its brand ethos. The shade, dubbed “Valentino Pink PP”, was developed by Piccioli, his design team and colour specialists at Pantone. Valentino described the pink-out as “an experimental yet deeply human gesture that enhances individuality, capturing values and feelings” and accentuated the trend of fashion brands claiming specific colours to communicate who they are and what they stand for.
As brands diversify and branch out into other sectors and industries, some of the world’s most directional and well-loved, fashion-first luxury companies have been making bold moves into beauty. From Gucci’s “Gucci Beauty Rouge à Lèvres Satin lipstick collection” to Tom Ford’s latest “Bitter Peach” makeup collection inspired by the same peacy hue as its signature eponymous fragrance, the pivot into designer beauty is at an all-time high. It’s become part of the bigger picture when it comes to fashion, individuality and artistic expression, and over time, has become an extension of the fashion house’s identity.
When claimed by fashion companies, colours play an important role in acting as a visual shorthand for a brand that can easily be spotted from a distance. It powerfully communicates the brand’s visual identity and heritage — appearing in everything from their packaging to interior design, but regardless of how common it is to be used in a brand, it’s seen to be absent in one category: the beauty collection.
The shades synonymous with a fashion house present a unique opportunity to experiment and incorporate the colour into newly launched beauty products. It makes for a powerful branding tool and feels like a natural progression for the house. There are only a handful of fashion brands who take advantage of this strategy.
For example, Hermès does this beautifully with its cosmetics line. Its iconic Rouge Hermès and nail varnish collection offer a shade in the brand’s signature colour; known simply as Hermès’ Orange Boîte, the colour has become a symbol of luxury and ultimate refinement for the house. Applying it to beauty products allows Hermès-lovers to fully immerse themselves in the brand and create a stronger sense of unity and harmony across all aspects of the house.
Similarly, Valentino’s signature crimson has been embedded in their beauty products. Red has been a signature for the label since Italian couturier Valentino Garavani set out on his own in 1959, with iconic appearances in runway shows and an illustrious history behind the shade, the colour is filled with heritage, symbolism and perfectly encapsulates the house’s DNA. Sensual, elegant and powerful, Valentino’s red embodies the type of women that wear the fashion brand’s pieces. By incorporating them into their beauty products, customers can now fully radiate what it means to be a Valentino woman.
Image: Valentino
Besides existing in beauty products, signature colours are also present on the runway in the form of makeup looks worn by models. For Valentino’s pre-fall 2019 runway, models can be seen wearing the brand’s signature red to highlight the eyes — bold eyeliner and shadow frame their corners and cheeks, perfectly complimenting the red dresses and theme of the show — elevating the look and conveying the designer’s vision. They continue the trend of incorporating their iconic shade in runway looks with their most recent pink show — unveiled by creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli. It serves as a reminder of the importance of contemplation, and the profound impact that colour can have on the senses.
“Fashion has a great communication power, but this power is strongly linked to contemporaneity. To be relevant, you should be aware of and witness the world around you. Evolution is a fundamental part of what I like about fashion so to re-signify is a natural attitude to the future. Re-signify means to look at what you know through a new lens. Inspiration needs to be directed and worked with a different approach.” said Pierpaolo Piccioli. “Colour is transformative. Used in the right way, it is the essential tool for not only representing Valentino’s persona but is integral in connecting to human emotions and experiences.”
With summer comes the joy of getting out there and exploring; packing a wardrobe for your trip and taking endless amounts of pictures to show off both the destination and your travel outfit to your family and friends. But if there’s one thing that could mess up your vacation mood, it’s the unpredictable weather. Even if you’re staying in the nicest hotels, the varying mineral levels of local water, harsh summer breezes, and the difficulty of packing all your go-to styling tools make keeping your hair looking lush especially difficult.
We’re here to help, now this doesn’t mean that you need to bring your entire hair-care cabinet on a trip, but it’s just a reminder that you don’t need to skip your hair routine entirely, because you can just bring the essential items that enhance your features for the perfect summer look.
Pack a Chic Scarf
When you’re on an adventure, a good scarf is your strands’ best friend. Not only are they the perfect accessory for channelling French Riviera glam, when used right, it can also help keep your hair silky smooth. During the daytime, your scarf can protect your strands from the sun and wind, and at night you can wrap it around your hair to keep hotel pillows from causing unwelcome frizz.
Style With Serums
When you’re limited on liquids, you need styling products that pack a punch. The answer? A lightweight hair health serum that nourishes your strands from the inside out, while smoothing down any flyaways and keeping hair looking its best. Simply bring a bottle along and apply in the morning before leaving your hotel to enjoy your best hair days yet.
Study Up on Protective Hairstyles
Wherever your daytime adventures take you, spending time outside in the sun and wind can translate to frizzy, damaged strands. Do your hair, and your style, a favour by adopting protective hairstyles that are as stylish as they are useful. A low bun, braids, or even a twist is a great way to keep your strands protected — and look good doing it.
Moisturise Your Strands Before Long Flights
Whether you’re on the road or at home, moisture is your hair’s bff. Before you take that first long flight to your ultimate destination, apply a generous amount of a deeply nourishing protective overnight mask to your strands, braiding hair or putting it in a bun. When you arrive at your destination, simply rinse and comb it out and enjoy your luxurious locks. Bringing a little extra mask along in a travel container will allow you to re-moisturise throughout your journey to keep hair sleek, shiny, and stylish.
Develop an “On-the-Road” Wash Day Routine
It can be tempting to max out on those cute little hotel bottles of shampoo and conditioner, but unless there’s an ingredients label you may unwittingly be subjecting your hair to harsh, damaging ingredients. If you’re going on a short trip, decant your favourite products into travel sized containers. For longer sojourns, explore the local pharmacy. And don’t wash too often! Your hair will react badly if water contains an unfamiliar mineral composition, so if you wash it every day at home, try spacing it out a little while you’re on the road.
We all love the ever-legendary Facial Treatment Essence and now we have one made just for our eyes.
SK-II GenOptics Under Eye Circle
They always say, “The eyes are the windows to the soul”, and that is why eyecare is one of the most quintessential parts of a beauty routine we can never stress enough to all women.
To address this, SK-IIintroduces its first-ever advanced eye serum, the SK-II GenOptics Under Eye Circle, so that you can say goodbye to dark-eye circles and dull, rough skin around your eyes.
As we march on towards an increasingly technology-focused era, screen time is beauty’s worst enemy. The continuous strain on the eyes from smartphones and tech devices often leads to severe damage to our eyes and the skin around them.
Also, considering that we’ve been working from home for more than two whole years, for some of us this might mean even longer hours of screen time compared to being at the office. I’ve noticed that my eyes tend to look tired and less lively, as though I’ve lost that spark!
SK-II GenOptics Under Eye Circle
Couple that with other external factors like harmful UV rays, air pollution and stress that we can’t get away from daily, we are constantly stuck with a dull and tired-looking appearance, which could possibly age us further a few years in advance and that’s not what we want! I’ve tried several ways to combat this – from eye masks and creams to green tea bags and aloe vera. But what I’m really looking for, is one, really effective eyecare product.
The latest addition to its award-winning GenOptics Series and the next game-changer in the eye serum market, the GenOptics Under Eye Circle is formulated to address the biggest under eye concerns faced by young women of today.
With all skincare, we always believe in starting early – after all as I always say, prevention is always better than cure. The SK-II GenOptics Under Eye Circle is the new solution for all women who want to take charge of their beauty and stand tall with brighter and healthier skin.
And that’s why we’ve partnered with SK-II to test out this new miracle worker for a week to see just how magical it works on our skin!
Using the one and only signaturePITERA™ as its core, this advanced eye serum also incorporates the GenOptics Under Eye Dual Complex, which stars a few core ingredients like LA-Bright that provides a gentle exfoliation to enhance healthy, bright skin turnover.
What’s not to love about PITERA™? It’s literally the core ingredient that’s in the brand’s cult favorite Facial Treatment Essence, and it’s now formulated in SK-II’s latest innovation.
The GenOptics Under Circle also packs a punch with the powerhouse trio: Sodium Lactate, Xylitol and Trehalose inside this complex in turn will cushion up the skin and protect it from dehydration, resulting in smoother and plumper skin through intense moisturisation.
The formula also utilises the GenOptics Aura Technology, where star ingredients such as Niacinamide and Lotus Flower Extract brighten up the skin on a deeper level.
Step 1: Spread the product by rolling in a circular motion from the inside to the outside under-eyes.
Step 2: Spread product evenly from the inside to the outside under-eyes and on eyelids (About 5 times each).
Step 3: Gently blend with your fingers until completely absorbed.
The ceramic applicator is excellent to help improve blood circulation for the skin around our eyes, which have been undergoing stress and damage throughout the day. The cool and calming application ritual is a bonus point for us as it makes our beauty ritual feel almost spa-like at the comfort of our own home. I would even go out on a limb and say that this feels even better than the cucumber-slices-on-the-eyes trick. Talk about self-care!
After using it for a week, I can confidently say that my under-eyes are visibly more radiant and plumper. I no longer wake up looking like a zombie and actually look rejuvenated, which is a great way to start my busy day. Even though I might have to work late through the night sometimes, I’m confident that having the GenOptics Under Eye Circle as my companion will help me look ready for the day ahead!
Discover more and purchase the SK-II GenOptics Under Eye Circle now on SK-II.
Personal wellness and self-care have gained more traction over recent years as overall trends in health and beauty continue to expand. Many people are actively practising self-care and wellness treatments such as facials, skincare and exfoliation for the feel-good power and pampered feeling they bring. While these treatments can be carried out at home, it’s the expert hands that make all the difference. Sometimes you need some quality time with a professional masseuse, nail artist, or laser eye surgery specialist. Keep reading to learn some of the popular health and beauty trends in 2022 you can have done professionally.
Prioritising relaxation and wellbeing with spa treatments
Spa treatments have been around for a while, but in recent years, they have advanced to include more targeted, tailored and intensive health and beauty treatments that address various conditions, demographics and issues. Today’s spa treatments combine holistic approaches to health and wellness with a luxury pampering experience to meet the needs of the consumer. Some of the new and exciting health and beauty spa treatments you can have include:
• Facials: They include exfoliation, masks, peels, steam and massages • Massages: They include aromatherapy, hot stone, deep tissue and reflexology • Medical saps: They perform non-invasive beauty treatments such as Botox and fillers • Body masks: They include mud, algae and seaweed
Image: Visit Frisco
Spa breaks are also quite popular now, allowing customers to completely immerse in a luxurious and relaxing spa environment. During a spa break, you get a chance to escape the outside world and relax and unwind in calm surroundings. You’ll receive several beauty and wellness treatments throughout your stay, delicious meals and a comfortable bed to sink in, ensuring you can destress and recharge.
Looking after your health and beauty with eye treatments
People have forgotten eye care in the past, but today, it has become essential in reducing eye puffiness, eliminating eye bags, correcting vision, and minimising the appearance of crow’s feet. For many people, it’s all too easy now to do your own DIY facial treatments at home with store-bought health and beauty products. There are gel eye patches, eye masks, eye cream, and even cooling face masks you can put in the fridge to keep cold. Sometimes social media influence from trending influencers can persuade audiences to get on board with the latest beauty products.
Image: E! Online
As well as home eye treatments, many people who wear glasses and contact lenses are now looking for new ways to correct their vision. LASIK surgery is a vision correction treatment provided by many laser eye specialists for those who want to live a life without glasses or contact lenses. Even singer-songwriter and drag artist Ginny Lemon teamed up with the leading specialists at Optimax for laser eye surgery.
Jumping on the latest online trends for beauty treatments
Beauty treatments help you look and feel your best while improving your physical and mental well-being. These treatments are normally tailored to suit your needs and formulated to give your body and mind a little extra TLC. There are many health and beauty treatments which might have been around a long time but have only just started to become really popular after going viral online. On TikTok and Instagram, many beauty consultants are showing their lash lifts and brow laminations on clients, or showing off their latest nail artwork. There’s an endless list of latest beauty trends right now, but the most popular include:
Lash lifts and tints
Image: Blush Clinic
Lash lifts and tints are quickly replacing mascara, allowing consumers to wake up with lashes that look freshly done every morning. This beauty treatment alters the shape and colour of your natural lashes for a more cosmetically pleasing appearance. When done professionally, you get lashes that are thicker, darker and longer, bringing your own lashes to their full potential.
Gel manicures
Image: Secret Spa
Gel manicures are nail treatments that give you long-lasting and well-manicured polishes. This beauty treatment improves the overall appearance of your nails while protecting them from harsh environmental chemicals and pollutants. The beauty of gel manicures is that you can choose from various colours, shapes and sizes to suit your style and personality.
Brow lamination
Image: Unsplash
Brow lamination is a hot new health and beauty treatment that involves straightening and lifting your eyebrow hairs to enhance their appearance. It’s often paired with a brow tint for a bolder enhanced look. Brow lamination aims to give your fuller-looking brows, eliminating the need to constantly use eyebrow make-up products.
Veneers
Image: Dental Designs
Veneers are a dental beauty treatment that works to improve your smile. They are a quick and effective solution for getting rid of stained, misshapen, chipped and crooked teeth. Dental veneers only cover the tooth’s front surface and are tailored to create a natural-looking smile.
Ever since its creation 22 years ago, the famed Caudalie Beauty Elixir has been a cult favourite loved by many for its effective and miraculous benefits and effects.
The elixir was a concoction created by Mathilde Thomas in 1997 when she wasinspired by a secret royal beauty recipe created for Queen Isabelle of Hungary in the 16th century that allowed her to stay youthful and vibrant for years to come.
That was how she managed to charm and marry the King of Poland, who was 35 years her junior. That was the starting point for the Beauty Elixir and now fast forward to 2019, Caudalie revives the love story of the two with a special limited edition bottle design for the Beauty Elixir.
For the first time ever, the frosted body of the Beauty Elixir is now dressed in pinkand stamped with prints of the ingredients found inside the bottle including grapes, pink roses, orange blossom, rosemary and mint. Like its formula, the bottle now resembles a beautiful enchanting garden of beauty.
Made with a 100% natural original formula, the elixir is made to be used throughout the day – be it awakening your skin in the morning and adding a boost of radiance to recharge for the evening.
Before we end, let’s give you some quick times on how to use this amazing Beauty Elixir!
As a wake-up spray torefresh skin and provide an instant glow.
As a skin purifier in the evening after make-up removal to enhance the skin’s complexion and tightens pores.
Sprayed on your upper bust or neck in office, it soothes your senses, provides immediate refreshment and overcomes a cloudy mind.
Sprayed in a room, it creates the perfect atmosphere for mindfulness meditation os spritz on your pillow, for sweet dreams.
For makeup, spray before and after makeup to prep and set your look.
Used to moisturise your makeup sponges to work wonders for ameliorating your ‘blend’.
Used on a plane, to hydrate thirsty skin
The Caudalie Beauty Elixir is now available in all Caudalie, KENS and Sephora stores from 18th July 2019 onwards.
A pioneer and innovator in Stem Cell research, Menard has always been our go-to for excellent anti-ageing skincare and now, Menard has launched a new addition to its luxury Menard Authent range – the Menard Authent Mask II.
The new generation of facial and neck mask under the house of Menard, the new Menard Authent Mask II is the perfect solution you can get for superb anti-ageing results on-the-go, which makes the perfect addition to its legendary Menard Authent Cream.
For some, it is also the more affordable indulgence compared to the Menard Authent Cream (retailing at RM 4,400 per 50ml jar) and also the quickest fix for your skin, especially when travelling. After all, nothing stresses our skin for than long-haul flights.
With just 15-minutes, the Menard Authent Mask II can provide proactive ageing-related care at the stem cell level and not just for the face but the neck too as the new mask highlights two-pieces (one for your neck and décolleté area, the other is for your face) for a more indulgent and thorough pampering experience.
Menard Authent Mask II retails for RM250 and is now available at Menard Malaysia‘s authorized dealers nationwide.
Some things just work better in pairs – an iPhone with headphones, wine and cheese or in the skincare context, Ashleigh Ivory’s Black Diamond Beauty Roller and Fuji Shiitake Age-Defying Serum.
“If better is possible, good is never enough.”
With regards to skincare solutions, the search for the best is ongoing and never-ending. And more often than not, the best often comes in a winning pair. Ashleigh Ivory, for one, acknowledges both principles, constantly taking one step further with its procurement of top quality, natural products that effectively combine Japanese ingenuity with outstanding skincare. Its Japanese-crafted Black Diamond Beauty Roller with Fuji Shiitake Age-Defying Serum set is testimony to that.
The one of a kind lightweight beauty roller bearing 48 facets like the facets of a diamond on each of itsthree rollers is designed to gently stimulate skin. Additionally, it comes with high thermal conductivity, capable of changing its temperature in an instant by simply immersing the beauty roller into either warm or cold water for a second before effortlessly applying the warm or cool treatment to the contours of your face. This enhances circulation and tightens pores respectively.
Black Diamond Beauty Roller
Black Diamond Beauty Roller
Master-crafted from three terahertz ores, the Ashleigh Ivory Black Diamond Beauty Roller emits terahertz waves that work marvellously to counter the effects of skin ageing with its soothing, lifting and firming action. Not only that, it also preps skin to allow skincare to penetrate 10 times deeper, acting directly on the skin’s cellular level for optimum results.
Fuji Shiitake Age-Defying Serum
The all-natural, chemical-free Fuji Shiitake Age-Defying Serum then steps in to complement the magical effects of the roller. Formulated using ‘miracle’ ingredient Fuji Shiitake mushroom, eightamino acids, Kojic acid as well as a high content of Vitamin C, all that is needed is one small pump to deliver a number of skin remedies – fading pigmentation, reducing blemishes, and brightening, toning and firming up of the skin.
With the powerful combination of both the light and portable facial roller and luxurious miracle serum, the age-old excuse of compromising the well-being of your skin should stay buried in the past.
Imagine New York City in the 1970s, where graffiti, neon lights, a boiling pot of cultures filled the city in an era of freedom and tension.
These are the memories that filled Christopher Chong‘s childhood and his first experiences of NYC, who is now the creative director of Amouage, a luxury fragrance label.
Now, Chong narrates the intense colours, smells and the amalgamation of Latin and Asian cultures along the Lower East Side of New York into two new bottles of fragrance, parked under the Imitation series.
Portraying an era of audacious freedom, Imitation Man is a Chypre and Leather creation mixed with a hint of mysterious spices, embodying the bold spirit and the diversity of 70’s street cultures.
Imitation Man
Whilst for her, the Imitation Women is a Floralcy Aldehyde that takes us back to Studio 54 in the ’70s. With the heart notes of Blackcurrant Buds, Aldehyde, Liquorice, and floral top notes, Amouage brings on the never-ending party atmosphere at the iconic nightclub.
Imitation Woman
The neon colours crystal bottle has borrowed the neon lights from NYC to reflect the dynamic vibrancy and energy of the ‘City that Never Sleeps’, topping it off with a Topaz Aurore Swarovski crystal.
Amouage Imitation is now available worldwide. For more information visit Amouage.com.
Sothys re-invented its Hydra3Ha.™ range with NEW hydra-plumping complex, offering a three-dimensional hydration for our skin.
From restoring immediate hydration and ‘re-training’ the skin’s ability to optimising its own hydration and protecting the skin against moisture loss, the new formula enhances the hydration that starts from deep within the skin cells at the gene level and all the way to the surface moisture barrier.
In celebration of its launch, we spoke to Cinthia Montoro, Sothys’s beauty trainer, about the reformulated Hydra3Ha.™ range and her skincare tips.
Cinthia Montoro, Sothys beauty trainer.
How would you add this product to an existing skincare routine?
You can add it in easily whenever you’re feeling or diagnosed with dehydrated skin. The cream we have is a daily essential for dehydration whilst the mask helps to boost your own production of hyaluronic acid. It is actually an endogenous way of providing hydration to our skin.
Aside from the Hydra range, are there any Sothys essentials we need?
All the products, actually. My favourite is the Wrinkle-Specific Youth Serum, but I change my favourite very often because we always have something new.
I really like the mask from this range because I travel a lot for my work and whenever I feel dehydrated (skin) because of the different weather, this mask helps as an immediate remedy.
Do you have any tips to enhance the effects of the skincare products we use?
Actually, for some of the Sothys products like the Perfect Shape Youth Serum, we have a specific gesture to help the serum penetrate into our skin, enhancing the action on face lifting and texture restoring.
But all the product will have the same effect with or without a massage. It’s just something extra for your own skin wellness, like activating your skin and putting yourself in a relaxed mood for the products to be absorbed.
(Swipe the gallery below to take a look at Sothys Hydra3Ha.™range)
Hydrating Youth Cream
Hydrating Comfort Youth Cream
Hydra-smoothing Mask
Intensive Hydrating Serum (Unchanged Formula)
What do you think is the most common or biggest misconception about skincare?
I want to link this to the Hydra3Ha.™ range because the biggest misconception about hydration is a lot of people think that dehydrated skin means dry skin, which is not true.
Dry skin means you have lack of lipids and fats, your sebum production is not working properly. However, dehydrated skin is just a lack of water.
Many people go to a salon saying that they have dry skin, but it may be a different condition and they will need different treatments and products. That’s why with Sothys, we have professional beauticians to carry out a thorough skin check before giving any advice and prescription for our guest.
Speaking of this, what are the respective consequences for dry and dehydrated skin?
Dry skin leads to the poor barrier function of our skin. When the barrier function is not working well, bacteria invade and this is when you get inflammation, redness and roughness.
For dehydrated skin, it brings damages on elasticity and radiance of skin. Also, well-hydrated skin prevents us from wrinkles and slows down skin ageing.
