By The Way - What to do for National Day

One week more to National Day! Have you put up your flag and readied your red and white outfits? Have your planned your rose water and coconut malk layered agar-agar recipe? We patriotic aunties at SimplyFab are just crazed with excitement and nationalistic fervor! I will be offline this weekend as I am checking in at a hotel to soak in the full dress parade this evening….Yes, I have my little plastic flag at the ready in my quivering hands!

Even if you have not booked your room with a view, there are countless things we can do to mark the delights of independence and self-determination. We the citizens of Singapore can indeed do our bit…. Let SimplyFab count the ways.

Well,  you can go for a spa in celebration…at least that’s what Fairmont Hotel says. For the month of August, they are offering a yummy treat at Willow Stream Spa (level 6). For just $159+, the Spa Burst Experience gives you 90 mins of fun filled pampering - 45mins Customised Deep Cleansing Mini Facial (including skin analysis, gentle exfoliation and masque), 30mins Express Pedicure (Me! Me!) and a 15-min Foot Massage which will surely send me to sleep. Nice!

Tel: 6431 5600, or email: willowstreamenquiries@fairmont.com

We can also surround ourselves with celeb aura…..Master Chef Kunio Tokuoka – he of four Michelin stars – will return to Singapore from 9-14 August to cook at his kaiseki restaurant Kunio at RWS. And since he’s offering a special menu at only $120 (compared to $300 being his usual, baseline menu) I will suggest you Fab Foodies just hot foot there without delay for this fantastic opportunity….and I’m not even paid to say that! The menu also comes with a complimentary glass of Kitcho Teioh sake.

Tel: 6686 3633 and mention the special offer.

And finally for all your MediaCorp fans, pack your Bonia bags and head to Carousel, Royal Plaza on Scotts and eat in honour of local cuisines! From 11 August to 9 September 2010, Nelson Li, guest chef and Peranakan culture adviser from The Little Nyonya series will be whipping up some fiery hot peranakan cuisine. Chef Li picked up his skills from grandma and mom and will be doling up yummies like Ayam Buah Keluak and Curry Assam Fish. Available during dinner at $63.00++ on weekdays (Sun to Thu) and $70.00++ on weekends (Fri, Sat and PH). Don't forget to heave mom-in-law along....Auntie will definitely like!

Tel: 6589 7799 or Carousel@royalplaza.com.sg for details

- Ee Waun

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Body - Firm The Flab! Anti-Ageing Ginseng Scrub Down at Damai!

Even as I write, I am aching from yesterday’s gym session. Admittedly I have not worked out for a while, and the aching muscles are just screaming for some TLC. Which brings to mind a sumptuous spa treatment I experienced not long ago at Damai, the 5th floor spa at the Grand Hyatt Singapore. It's the Korean Ginseng Body Polish treatment which was launched barely a month ago.

What’s unique here is it is an anti-ageing, anti-oxidant scrub and makes use of saponin, found in Korean ginseng. Designed by a Korean medical doctor and Grand Hyatt Seoul’s spa specialist, Sue Yoon, it is also meant to tone the skin. There are other active ingredients in the potion – Jang Neoi Sam which gives the skin elasticity, Young Ji mushroom, an anti-ageing ingredient, Chun Moon Dong for skin tone and Nok Yongm, also for anti-ageing. Aside from the mushroom, I confess I don’t know what they are apart from the fact that they are natural herbs which the Koreans use.

I admit I don’t like the taste of ginseng and I was afraid I would emerge from this treatment smelling like a ginseng root…But rest assured, ladies, the smell is gentle and actually quite pleasing to the olfactories. Maybe it’s 'cos they use six-year-old red ginseng – mellowed like we are with age, but just as potent!

Based on Korea’s bath culture, this is, I am told by Sue Yoon, a far cry from the most utilitarian, basic and horrifyingly efficient scrub-downs in Korea’s popular public bath houses! In these institutions of cleanliness, the staff – all older women dressed in painfully little – score, shred, scrub and exfoliate clients down to the dermis and across every last embarrassing inch, upside down, inside out and sideways with nary a thought for customers' dignity. Cries of “Open wider!” are apparently not uncommon, and you are expected to submit and comply obediently!! Eeeew!

But this is the Grand Hyatt Singapore, and as with all Damai’s treatments, the session here is indulgent, tranquil and relaxing. It all starts with a foot soak with thorough explanations from the therapist, then it’s down to business! First a most relaxing scrub with the herb mixture using long strokes. The mix is quite rough but not uncomfortable, and the smell is pretty soothing. This is followed by a vigorous scrub down with the Korean bath mit – nothing langorous about this, it is proper scrubbing almost everywhere, including your armpits, which was super odd to me...but gentle on one's dignity!

That over, I am rewarded with a soothing massage that sent me to sleep, only to be woken later with a “scalp cleansing and massage”. In other words, a hairwash with more ginseng, plus a nice head massage after that. While it's meant to be relaxing, I felt rather strange having someone wash my hair while lying down - a little like the armpit scrub. But, its a small issue when you look at the greater indulgence of the treatment in its entirety. Then it’s a quick shower down to get rid of the scrub mixture, and back onto the treatment bed for a final basting of lotion. Six steps in 90 minutes, plus a sauna, jacuzzi or steam beforehand.

For an affordable $170++, this got me pretty invigorated at the end of the session, and indeed my skin felt exfoliated, soft, and yes, I guess a little firmer than my usual saggy self. And I smelt nice, too. Definitely a must-do especially before a swanky event! (Together with the Madonna facial as mentioned in an earlier post!) 

Grand Hyatt Singapore
Level 5
10 Scotts Rd
Tel: 64167156

- by Ee Waun

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Beauty - Quick and Cute Pure Tincture All Natural Skincare at Raffles Place

I notice one thing about us girls – the older we get, we more we spend on skincare. Thousands of bucks on facials – and many are religious about it – hundreds on a single bottle or two of serums, and lots of interest in whitening and firming. After all, it’s the only face we’ve got and it’s a good investment to make sure it takes us, firm and gorgeous, into our later years.

So we were thrilled to discover Pure Tincture, a cute skincare boutique in Raffles Place, run by Helen Lien, a simplyfab lady who did a mid-career switch from engineer to skincare expert and business owner. What’s fantastic is that she brings in really niche brands of skincare from all over the world, all organic and many originally created by women who developed them for their own needs to begin with.

One of their main brands is cosmeceutical line Suki, an American brand that uses only natural ingredients, all organic – said that earlier – and suitable for all skins, from normal to super sensitive skin, including those who have severe eczema. It claims to use only ‘high potency botanic concentrate’ as its base rather than water, which packs in lots of goodness. I liked the SukiSpa range which is more concentrated and gives higher levels of performance.

If you want something that gives immediate gratification, the sukispa Renewal Bio-resurfacing Peel (S$150) is the thing to smear on your face. It’s a light lotion with a delicate floral fragrance which promises to whip away the dead skin and rough surface of your face, to reveal glorious smoothness and radiance below! So I did just that on a hot afternoon. It was so relaxing and the smell so soothing I fell asleep on the couch. I had expected some tingling or even stinging sensation – ‘cos it said ‘resurfacing’, didn’t it? – but I felt nothing. Madam woke up with a start half an hour later, washed it off and voila! Very smooth, pretty soft and yes, I must say, the face looked significantly ‘brighter’. The next thing I’ll try is the suki Bio-C 10% Formula Face Serum (S$160). This high potency potion claims to be designed as a ‘super antioxidant specifically to support collagen production and help reduce future signs of ageing’. That’s for me!

Pure Tincture also carries Madara, a natural skincare range from Latvia. It’s a more basic product, but I just loved the way the moisturisers give this minty, refreshing feel on the skin once you slap it on. Other brands she carries – all non-comedogenic and natural - Balm Balm, SantaVerde, Pure Lochside, Nostalgia, etc.

Pure Tincture also does facials in its premises. Don’t expect the bells and whistles of Clarins-style treatments or a spa setting, but it’s super convenient for those working in the area. The set up is pretty basic – two little rooms at Helen’s unit un UOB Centre. But they are completely private, neat and pleasant with proper treatment beds – and what’s more, Helen will give you the facials and massage treatments herself, using cabin products by the brands she carries.

Pampering at Pure Tincture ranges from 40-minute sukispa Short and Sweet facials (from $55) to sukispa anti-ageing facials ($140 for 90 minutes – a real steal!), a la Clinical Purify and Heal facial ($120 for 90 minutes) and an anti-cellulite body massage using Madara firming oil and anti cellulite cream ($130 for 120 minutes). There are plenty other treatments to choose from, and if you don’t want to pay up each time, it’s probably easier to get a bundled package – from $600 for treatments with $120 worth of free treatments, and $600 for homecare products, with $60 worth of free products tossed in. For busy babes, you can even buy your products online at her funky website www.puretincture.com

1 Raffles Place
OUB Centre #04-22B
Tel: 6533 1723

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