Ready, Steady, Party!

Hair & Beauty experts at Glow share their top tips on how to survive the Christmas Season and look Instagram ready at all times.

6 Dec 2019 — By Sioban Guillfoyle - Glow Spa / Beauty / Lifestyle

With less than 3-weeks to go until Christmas, the season is undoubtedly one of the busiest times of the year. All Christmas celebrations, dinners, parties, and cocktails that are now filling the social calendar, not to mention the gift buying, entertaining relatives, kids Christmas concerts, and grocery preparation make for a crazy few weeks. So how do we possibly carve out time to keep ourselves looking and feeling fantastic?

We talk to the team a Glow to get some expert tips on how to make sure we don’t end up looking like a character left over from Halloween, instead of the cheerful, joyful and radiant picture of grace and elegance we’d all like to be.

‘Gram’able Glamour at Every Flash

woman getting hair cut

65-million selfies are uploaded onto social media every day, so how do you sustain a ‘Gram’able glamour look from now through New Year? At minimum, Glow suggests booking (and keeping) your hair appointment now, if you have not already done so! A decent hair cut should still look great in 8 weeks so you’ll sail through the season with a decent hair cut at the very least. Lock in your appointment, and get it out the way freeing up your schedule for the other fun stuff.

If time permits, touch up your colour, freshen your highlights, and if you’re feeling especially time-indulgent, try out some extensions for a foolproof way to stay on-point at all times. Extensions require less attention, give you length, volume and colour that’ll take you through the holidays without damaging your hair.

Sooth Dry & Damaged Hair

woman with frizzy hair

Cooler weather usually means drier weather and drier weather usually means drier hair. Dry hair has the tendency to lose its gloss and has the appearance of being dull, lacklustre and frizzy.

Glow has several recommendations to give your hair a boost and restore the silky shine. For a quick, at-home fix, use a hair masque. These super-hydrating treatments will feed and nourish your hair and restore the shine and gloss. At Glow we love the bhave™ deep intense conditioning masque. It contains certified organic Argan oil, macadamia oil and vitamin E, and is particularly beneficial for stressed, coloured or damaged hair. It provides intense moisture and helps repair and restore elasticity, improves strength and boosts shine, plus it is free from parabens.

In the salon

For a more complete solution, pamper yourself with an in-salon hair treatment. We have several options at Glow:

Bhave Rescue uses Replicine Functional Keratin, which is the only commercially available fully functional keratin protein that has been extracted using a patented technology from pure New Zealand wool. This treatment will restore and repair damage, and nourish and calm frizz. Its takes about an 75-90 minutes and costs $780. Results last for 5-6 weeks.

Goldwell Kerasilk and bhave Smooth PLUS Keratin treatments are very popular in HK for managing dry and frizzy hair. Two of the most popular treatments are Goldwell Kerasilk treatment and the Bhave Smoothe Plus treatment. The keratin saturates the hair, adding nourishment, strength elasticity and shine and when heat is applied it smoothens the cuticle so the hair appears glossy and very healthy.

Both treatments are formaldehyde free and applied to the hair and not the scalp so they are first the choice of many pregnant and breastfeeding mums. Read more advice on choosing the right smoothing and straightening hair treatments here.

Glow is offering HK HUB readers, 10% off all smoothing treatments between now and December 31, 2019. Quote HKHUBSMOOTH when making your appointment to redeem this offer.

On-Trend Christmas Nails

Christmas nails

One of the quickest, easiest and most affordable ways to brighten up your look and get into the Christmas spirit is with a festive manicure.

Like hairdressers, nail technicians also have their busiest time of the year from late November to January, so book in your appointments now. If you are someone who likes to get your nails done very few weeks, book your appointments in advance to avoid last minute disasters.

Glow has the latest range of Shellac, Bandi and OPI colours fo the 2019 winter season that are a gorgeous range of beautiful deep reds, coppers, golds, and dark blues in either polish or gel. Glow’s nail technicians can also add a little festive flair to your tips, or some extra sparkle for a more eye-catching look.

Bat Those Lashes and Raise those Brows!

lashes & brows

We can’t think of a better time to enhance your look with lusciously long lashes than at Christmas. If you needed an reason to treat yourself to lash extensions, the party season is the perfect excuse.

Strand-by-strand eyelash extensions are all the rage and add extra brilliance to your eyes for full glamorous impact that are absolutely beautiful. Better still, lash extensions look great with or without make up. They define the eye area and help to make your eyes look bigger.

The lashes are applied individually and a full set typically takes 90 minutes to apply and will last for 4-5 weeks before they need to be reapplied/filled in. The lashes are usually made from synthetic silk or synthetic mink fibre and are very close in texture to a natural eyelash.

Sioban believes it’s vital that you question your eyelash extension technician before having lashes applied. This is not a treatment where you should try to skimp and save money. Ensure that the salon is using a professional, medical grade adhesive to ensure a light, natural look and feel to your lashes. It’s essential that you’re confident that strict hygiene management practices are applied in the salon. It’s important to enjoy those luscious lashes without any allergies or irritations!

For the extra ‘Wow’ factor, don’t forget the Brow. If you struggle with patchy or less than impressive brows, now might be a good time to consider microblading. Avoid the sharpie-drawn look and invest in the very natural, semi-permanent, non-invasive treatment that requires next-to-no maintenance and lasts up to 2 years. Glow proudly works with Elizabeth Lonneborn, arguably one of the most experienced and professional brow artists in the city who was trained by Laura Mercier herself and studied Microblading in Hollywood.

Look Tantastic!

A quick trick to looking and feeling fantastic, especially in bare-arm cocktail dresses, is by having a beautiful tanned glow! Spray tanning allows you to have that sun-kissed, “just back from the beach” look all year round, without the harmful UV effects from sun exposure and tanning beds.

If you decide to spray tan this Christmas, we recommend that you choose a professional salon tanning brand, applied by an experienced therapist in the salon to ensure an even and streak free look.

Professional spray tans develop to a beautiful colour these days and most salon professional brands offer an express (2 hours) or an overnight (10-12 hours) option. Typically your tan will last 10-14 days with good care, and will fade very evenly over this period. To prolong the tan, we highly recommend using a tan extender or gradual tan.

Keep Skin Hydrated Inside & Out

water glass

Drink lots…….. lots of WATER! Christmas cocktails flow freely and frequently over the silly season but don’t forget how dehydrating alcohol is so make sure you drink plenty of water alongside your booze. We also tend to indulge a little heavier on the food and desserts so water will help with your kidney function to eliminate the toxins from your skin and body and will help digestion to avoid bloating. So if you want to fully enjoy imbibing over the holidays, drink plenty of WATER.

Aside from overindulging with food and booze, cooler weather typically brings lower humidity which dries out our skin too. Keeping on top of your water intake and scheduling a regular nourishing facial every 4 weeks will help promote a clear, well-hydrated complexion and will help your skin look fresher and younger.