Only got an hour to spare? Whether you’re in dire need of quick pampering or looking for lunchtime pre-festive prep suggestions, we’ve got you covered with our guide to express beauty treatments
Ah, spa days. Two words that fill busy urbanites with both longing and sorrow. How many of us have the luxury of time to constantly pamper ourselves with hour-long treatments? With the festive season just a little more than a month away (yikes!), we see ourselves manically squeezing in appointment after appointment on our lunch break. If you’re looking for speedy facials, massages, manicures and blowouts, this list is it.
Nails
Express gel manicure from Manicurious
If you’re popping over on your lunch break, you’ll find relaxation effortless at Manicurious. Its cosy confines, with its plush armchairs to sink into, dim lights and homey decor, resembles our living rooms – only better. The express gel manicure ($50) includes shaping, gel polish and cuticle oil, to treat and transform your digits in a jiffy.
Manicurious, 41 Beach Road, Singapore 189680
Bastien’s manicure from Remede Spa
This is not your average manicure. One, it’s offered by Remede Spa at St Regis: inarguably one of the swankiest spas in the city, with its gleaming marble and white interiors. Two, it’s a treatment personally crafted by famed podiatrist Bastien Gonzalez, so you’re getting incredible quality. Bastien’s Manicure ($150) is 45 minutes long, and works in a nail and cuticle treatment to restore your digits back to health, with a massage from the fingers to forearms.
Remede Spa, 29 Tanglin Road, Singapore 247911
Lacquer and Spa’s Classic Manicure
30 minutes is all it takes for a mesmerising manicure at Lacquer and Spa. This luxury salon at Marina Bay Sands pulls out all the stops for a mani you’re unlikely to forget. It begins with a massage to knead out any knots, and is followed by shaping, buffing and polish your nails to perfection. The pièce de résistance? A hot towel infused with geranium to stir your senses and pamper your perfectly primped nails.
Lacquer and Spa, 1 Bayfront Avenue, Marina Bay Sands Hotel Coach Bay, #B1-02, Singapore 018971
Hair
Blow + Bar Daily Blowout
Having one too many bad hair days? Whether you’ve got to be shipshape for a client meeting, or a big blowout (pun intended), the hairstylists have got you covered with their blowouts. Walk in feeling frazzled and frizzy, and walk out in 40 minutes with sleek and soft tresses, courtesy of expert hair stylists who are whizzes with hairdryers. The Daily Blowout is priced between $38 to $52, depending on hair length.
Blow + Bar, multiple locations including Robertson Quay.
The Big Blow’s Perfect Blowout
Sure its location in Bukit Timah’s Cluny Court isn’t the most convenient, but it’s a fair trade for a brief respite from the bustle of the CBD. You’ll need to try the signature quickie Perfect Blowout ($45) which uses premium Moroccan oil products – it’s wash, condition, blow, and go in under an hour!
The Big Blow, #02-21 Cluny Court, 501 Bukit Timah Rd, Singapore 259760, Singapore, p. 6465 4836. Open daily 9am-7pm.
Face
Pick me up facial by Porcelain Spa
Booking the 30 minute Pick me up facial ($80.25) is a must for anyone looking for rejuvenated skin over lunch. Skin is deeply cleansed, exfoliated, then treated to a luxurious custom blended mask for a serious boost. Then follows LED light therapy to boost collagen production, before going into your usual skin routine. The cherry on top? A relaxing shoulder massage to melt away your work woes.
Porcelain Spa, locations in Orchard, Tanjong Pagar and Chinatown.
Tone it uptown by Elizabeth Arden’s Red Door Boutique
Ideal if you’re really on the go, the Tone it Uptown facial takes only 15 minutes, but does wonders to lift and tone the facial contours of your skin using microcurrent technology. Subsequent application of Elizabeth Arden’s advanced skincare gives parched skin instant hydration and glow, leaving you free to parade around the office fresh-faced for the rest of the work day.
Elizabeth Arden Red Door Boutique, ION Orchard, #B2-48, 2 Orchard Turn, Singapore 238801
Skin Inc’s Oxy Miracle Infusion Treatment
Experience out-of-this-world technology for your lunchtime beauty fix with Skin Inc’s speedy Power Fix treatment (first trial $94) which actually utilises NASA technology – we’re not kidding. Alternatively, give your skin a much needed oxygen boost with the Oxy Miracle Infusion treatment ($190 for 45 mins) which also uses a signature customised serum cocktail and Onsen water.
Skin Inc, locations in ION Orchard, Scotts Square and VivoCity.
Body
Ikeda Spa’s Green Tea Anti-Aging body scrub by IKEDA Spa
Get plunging party dress ready in little time with IKEDA Spa’s Green tea anti-aging body scrub ($80+). It gently sloughs off dead skin cells, leaving skin smoother and healthier. It
also gives dry, ageing or flaky skin a major boost of hydration, so you’ll walk out the spa half an hour later with skin as soft and bouncy as a baby’s bottom.
IKEDA Spa, 787 Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 269762
Spa Esprit’s Fastdraw Back massage
It’s inevitable for any office worker: hours chained to a desk will give you a bad back. A quick 30 minute back massage will help you sort out those kinks and knots. Plus, you know you’ll be in good hands here. Spa Esprit is, after all, a beauty and wellness institution famed for its luxurious interiors and addictive beauty treatments.
Spa Esprit, multiple locations including Paragon and Dempsey.
ClearSK’s Cellulite Buster body wrap
Ah, cellulite. As pesky as stretchmarks, it’s notoriously hard to remove at home. We speak from experience, so we look to the big wigs for divine intervention. ClearSK’s 45 minute Cellulite Buster ($198) wrap uses three technologies – Radio Frequency, Rolling Motion Vacuum and Infra Rays – to drain toxins, tone and smooth skin. It takes six sessions to see real results, and after that, you can bid farewell to dimpled skin.
ClearSK, multiple locations including Tiong Bahru Plaza, Novena Medical Centre and Velocity.