The Skin Laundry Opens in Hong Kong

The 15 minute facial from The Skin Laundry arrives in Hong Kong. Quick, easy, painless-ish and most importantly, very effective.

The 15 Minute Facial Arrives in Hong Kong

In a city where pollution, humidity and late nights are part of every day life, our skin is often the first to show signs of the adverse effects of the Hong Kong lifestyle. We all know that the way to deal with these damaging effects is to invest in regular facials and great skincare products, but if you are anything like me, there’s always something more pressing on the to-do list.

Fortunately I think I’ve finally found a solution that means I can no longer use either time or cost as an excuse for not taking care of my face – The Skin Laundry has landed in Hong Kong.

Founded in 2013 by Yen Reis, The Skin Laundry first found success in the health obsessed neighbourhoods of southern California. There are now 10 in the US and the company is making it’s first foray overseas with three centres launched this month in Hong Kong, including one at Lane Crawford. But what is it and why am I so excited that it has arrived to our shores?

In a nutshell, Skin Laundry offers a simple, smart and safe laser facial treatment solution designed to make maintaining healthy skin both accessible and convenient. The clinic offers only one service – their signature 15-minute medical-grade treatment, which delivers deep-down skin cleaning and improvement, with the upside that there is no downtime. Founder Reis says, “Customers can very effectively combat the ill effects of pollution on their skin in a very time-efficient 15 minutes.”

I headed over to the D’Aguilar street clinic recently to see if the treatment really works. On arrival, the clinic is very bright and light, with a definite California vibe. Checking in is easy and all done on an iPAD, but there are a few waivers and medical forms to review before you can go ahead with your facial.

After removing my make up, I laid down, made myself comfortable and was then talked through the process by the therapist. She gave me goggles to protect my eyes, tested the laser on my hand and then began the first pass over my forehead, cheeks, nose and chin. It’s not exactly painful, but it did sting a little particularly around my nose. However, with only two passes over my face, it was over in minutes. She had mentioned that it may result in a slight smell and she was right – apparently that was the ingrained dirt and makeup being vaporised from my pores – yuck!

©Gilt City Inc. Photo Credit Wei Shi

She then followed up by applying a gel and using an IPL laser and advised me to wear SPF two hours after the treatment and throughout the rest of the day, as well as a face mask that evening. Overall, it was very quick, efficient and easy.

After numerous long haul flights and late nights, my skin was definitely looking worse for wear, but afterwards I looked refreshed and felt good. Even my husband commented that evening that I looked ‘great’, which considering I was also massively jet lagged from arriving from London the previous day, was high praise indeed! It’s the push I needed to start having weekly treatments and start to combat some of the damage caused by sun and pollution.

Each treatment costs HK$550 or 10 treatments for HK$4,700. Other packages are also available – more details here. Find your nearest clinic.

Skin Laundry clinics are staffed with a team of certified healthcare professionals highly-trained on proven methods and overseen by a team of medical advisors. For more information, visit www.skinlaundry.hk.