Health and beauty news and reviews with Sarah Fung.

Hot New Spa!
Korean skincare brand Sulwhasoo has just opened a flagship store on Canton Road. The $20 million, four-storey venue boasts 9 treatment rooms and 2 VIP suites, spread out over 7,200 square feet. The treatments all combine traditional Korean beauty remedies and modern anti-aging technology, so expect to see lots of Korean ginseng, which is renowned for its beautifying properties. The most famous treatment here is the gold and ginseng anti-aging facial ($2,300, 120 mins), which infuses red ginseng into the skin using sheets of 99.9 percent pure gold. Body and skin refining treatments are also available.
82-84 Canton Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui, 3101-9861

Hungary for More
The Landmark Mandarin’s spa has recently started stocking Omorovicza (don’t ask us to pronounce it), a Hungarian skincare line that developed its line using water from the nutrient-rich thermal baths around Budapest. To complement its line of superb skincare products, the spa also offers Omorovicza face treatments, including the pore-refining facial ($1,130, 80 mins), which gets rid of grime and cleans clogged pores. What’s extra calming about this treatment is that you’re lying on a warm water pad the whole time so that you can relax even more deeply as the therapist cleanses you with eastern European minerals. Our favorite part? While our refining mask was taking effect, our sorely neglected hands were treated to an exfoliation and massage.
The Landmark Mandarin Hotel, 15 Queen’s Rd. Central, 2132-0011

Sleep n’ Treat
Plateau used to be the only residential spa in Hong Kong, but now Langham Place has stepped into the fray. You can now stay overnight at their Traditional Chinese Medicine-inspired Chuan Spa at $2,888 per person, or $4,518 for two. The evening includes three hours of any Chuan Spa treatment you choose, followed by a healthy four-course dinner served inside your spa suite. And if after all that pampering, you can’t possibly think of some way to pass the time with your barely-clad better half in your private room, you’ve got complimentary access to the hotel’s hot tubs, saunas, steam rooms, onsen shower, rooftop pool and Jacuzzi, as well as the executive floor, which serves food and drink 24-hours a day.
44/F, Langham Place Hotel, 555 Shanghai St., Mong Kok, 3552 3388


Object of Desire
Plump it
Since 1999, DuWop’s cult product Lip Venom has been helping the thin of lip and puckered of pout develop fuller lips. One drawback to the product, however, has always been that its secret blend of plumping ingredients—including cinnamon, wintergreen and ginger—can cause a stinging sensation on the lips of more sensitive souls. But now, its latest product Second Sin promises to deliver the same pout but without the discomfort, thanks to its soothing and cooling ingredients such as white tea and pomegranate extract.
$260 from Harvey Nichols, The Landmark, 15 Queen’s Rd. Central, 3695-3388.