Sponsored Review
These days, finding an experienced and trustworthy facial salon is as difficult as breaking a coconut with your bare hands. I’ve also become rather prudent with my choice of spas and treatments. I believe most of you will know why.
I’ve visited a few spas in the past few months and have been pretty pleased with their services and adherence to good hygiene practices. I think the best facial option now is to stick to your guns and only go to spas that you’ve patronized and enjoyed.
Here’s one that I’ve visited and re-visited – Spa Symphony. It’s highly recommended by top beauty brands and magazines too. Click to read about my experience. 🙂
I was introduced to Spa Symphony when I attended the V 10 Plus Star Bloggers event two months ago. I must say, I was rather happy with the results.
However, the brief facial session was only able to provide a temporary relief to my congested skin.
As you can see in the photo below, even with makeup on, I could not conceal the zits and bumps around my chin. They were still rather visible.
And according to Katerine, my facial therapist at Spa Symphony, the problem stems from the fact that there’s too much debris and sebum trapped deep within the pores. And this in turn results in dilated pores that are clogged and of course unsightly.
And the solution?
Katerine suggested deep cleansing, extractions (gulp!) and a soothing mask later.
She removed my makeup with milk cleanser and scrub from international beauty brand, ANESI.
These were the ANESI products that were used for my treatment. You can find out more about their properties and contents by visiting their website or consulting a Spa Symphony facial therapist.
Here’s my bare naked face after cleansing and scrubbing.
Katerine explained that the reason why my face is so oily is because it is extremely dehydrated suggested that the clogged pores and pimples could be the cause of excess oil secretion and hormonal imbalance. So she recommended Spa Symphony’s new treatment – Super H2O Bian Stone Facial for my skin. The treatment seeks to eradicate dehydration problems with revolutionary ingredients such as Rice Bran extract and brown seaweeds.
Rice Bran is commonly used to treat eczema (atopic dermatitis) while brown seaweeds are best known for their acne-fighting properties.
Before carrying out the extraction, Katerine removed the dead skin cells from the top of the epidermis with a diamond peel treatment. She emphasized that this will loosen the debris residues and make extraction easier later.
Then she steamed my face for 15 minutes to open the pores.
Well, no photos of the extraction process as I was in immense pain. :O
Even after a diamond peel treatment and loads of steaming, my pores were still pretty closed and dirt and sebum were still deeply embedded in the epidermis. Sigh. The result of frequent makeup application, oily skin, improper cleansing techniques and lack of facial treatments.
Katerine spent about 30 minutes removing the dirt and excess sebum completely.
The extraction tools used in this process carries the highest risk of bacterial infection so Spa Symphony made sure that all tools and equipment were sterilized and disinfected before using them on me.
Phew. It’s finally over.
It was a hard battle and my face is now covered in red marks. 🙁
And Katerine closed the pores again with the Bian Stone gua sha therapy.
Bian Stone is a modern take on natural skin healing gua sha therapy. During the treatment, the Bian Stone is skillfully rubbed along specific channels and meridian points on the face to shape, reduce bloating and tighten pores.
Katerine then massaged some serum on my face before applying a purifying blue mask. See next picture.
The mask exuded a relaxing mint fragrance which was totally refreshing.
Katerine gave me a relaxing and rejuvenating neck and shoulder massage while we waited for the mask to dry.
And then we removed the mask!
I thought this looked like a scene from some horror or sci-fi movie. Haha!
Tadah!
My face swelled a bit from the squeezing and tugging during the extraction process and I was left with conspicuous red marks on my face for the next few days. To be honest, my self-esteem was slightly trampled for those few days.
It didn’t help that I had to remove my makeup at a Panasonic beauty workshop the following day and have myself filmed for the Singapore Blog Awards promotional video.
Even though there were some red marks and purging symptoms on the first few days of the treatment, my skin felt less bumpy and rough.
The red marks subsided slightly after two days.
Two days after the treatment.
It’s been two weeks and my skin condition has improved significantly. It is much smoother than before and I’m suffering from less breakouts.
Two weeks after the treatment.
There are still dark marks on my chin area but they are getting lighter everyday. Even though healing is taking longer than usual due to a more aggressive extraction process, I’m glad Katerine solved the root cause of my constant breakouts.
One more thing I would like to highlight is the thoughtfulness of the spa. I noticed they provide trinket boxes for customers to stash their jewelry as well as contact lens kits for customers to store their lenses during the facial.
All in all, it was a satisfying and invigorating process. The attentiveness and vast skincare knowledge of Katerine impressed me enormously and I thought the experience certainly deserves 4 big fat Honeyz crowns. 🙂
And now it’s time to relax and have a cup of specially blended organic tea!
Spa Symphony’s teas are jam packed with heath benefits. Read more about them here.
As mentioned, the treatment I had was the Super H2O Bian Stone Facial Treatment (90 minutes) and it is now priced at SGD68 (U.P. SGD250) for a limited time only.
Spa Symphony is located at 313@somerset 313 Orchard Road, #B2-50/51, Singapore 238895. Contact them at +65 6636 8878 for appointments. Visit their website at www.spasymphony.com.sg for further info about their services and promotions.
It’s giveaway time! Spa Symphony wants to treat two lucky belles to their Rejuvenating Organic Facial 60mins (worth SGD130)!
The Rejuvenating Organic Facial uses miracle herb Centella Asiatica to aid skin renewal, smoothen skin’s texture, lighten acne scars and dark spots, encourage collagen production to erase fine lines and to prevent premature aging. And it includes a relaxing pressure point massage to promote better circulation for luminous, glowing skin.
And guess what? The chosen winners will be entitled to two facial sessions each!!!
All you have to do is like Honeyz’ Facebook Page and Spa Symphony’s Facebook Page.
Then share this photo (see Honeyz’ Facebook Page) and tag three of your friends in the comments box.
Contest ends 1 July 2013, Monday 10pm. Good luck!
Behold a beauty miracle with Spa Symphony!
Your friend, Juliana
Disclaimer: Please be rest assured that even though the products and services were sponsored, they do not have any bearing on the content of this post. Opinions stated are objective and genuine. Also note that all sources, information, content, links are valid to change at any time.