By the time you enter your forties and fifties, you may be toying with the idea of Botox to maintain youthful taut skin. On top of being really expensive, Botox comes with its own set of pros and cons.
To let ladies in Singapore have a more natural alternative towards tightening your face, Shizuka from Organics Beauty created a “Lift up and Firm” facial routine that combines the best of French Fascia Massage and herbs to stimulate your own body to achieve the lifting effect.
To understand how this facial works, read on for Agent SC experience at Organics Beauty!
November 2015
Hello, I’m Agent SC!
For those who read Beauty Undercover, you may recognize me as one of the co-founders for Act Point Salon.
A few weeks ago, I was randomly chatting with Agent G. I complained to her in jest about how much I feel I’ve aged in the past few years and how my friends have started to tease me about needing Botox or at least Hyaluronic Acid Fillers.
我也觉得自己老了许多。真的需要打玻尿酸吗？
Instead of going for the more intrusive fillers, Agent G encouraged me to try out the more natural alternative: Lift up and Firm Facial at Organics Beauty.
I wasn’t sure what it was about but was intrigued when she said that it was performed by a Japanese therapist.
Agent G 推荐的这位日本籍美容师拥有很多年的经验而且走的是自然护理的路线所以我也感到十分好奇.
Therefore, I made an appointment on a weekday morning.
Organics Beauty
The facial salon itself is small and cozy and reminds me a little of how Act Point started in the past.
麻雀虽小，五脏俱全.
虽然地方有一点狭窄，可是给的服务却是远远超过我所预想到的!
After getting me changed into the gown, Shizuka began preparing the footbath for me.
She added Dead Sea Salt into the water and encouraged me to soak my feet into the warm water.
我一看到足浴时真的好惊讶。为什么一个facial里面会有足浴呢？
里面还放着从死海收成的盐.
好特别哦!
她还细心地帮我盖被呢!
Shizuka is so attentive, she even gave me a blanket to make sure that I feel comfortable throughout the process.
Aside from the footbath, she also prepared an enzyme drink for me. This week’s drink is made from Dragon Fruit and tasted particularly yummy!
在泡脚当而，她还给我从火龙果酿成的酵素饮料。真是好好喝啊！
With a footbath to relax my legs, shoulder pad to relax my shoulders and enzyme drink to relieve my thirst, the facial was definitely off to a good start.
No matter how stressed you may feel before entering Organics Beauty, you will definitely feel your stress melt away as the facial begins.
Next, Shizuka asked me about my facial concerns and prepared these ingredients to deal with them.
On the right is the Seaweed powder she will be using later for my mask. On the left are the 3 organic facial products she selected specially for me.
过后，Shizuka 向我解释稍后她将用的材料.
After realizing that I have been having heartburn for years, Shizuka also selected special essential oils to help alleviate the heartburn and provide overall relaxation for use later on.
当她意识到我有胃灼热，她也细心地准备了一些特殊的精油来帮我缓解病情!
She dried my feet, gave me a leg massage and invited me to the bed.
Upon settling onto the bed, Shizuka placed a hot stone on my stomach.
She mentioned that the heat will radiate throughout the body and make my stomach feel more comfortable.
躺在床上后，Shizuka 把一个热石放在肚子上侧。热石所散发的热量其实让我整个身体感到更舒适.
Before she began the facial proper, she sprayed some Lavender essential oil in the air to help me relax.
房里弥漫着薰衣草的清香, 让我放松了许多.
I closed my eyes as I breathed in the aroma of the essential oils she mixed earlier.
Instead of starting with the face, she gave me a shoulder massage first. Shizuka mentioned that this massage is a massage that is intentionally done along the meridian line to prepare for the upcoming facial massage. The main objective of this massage is to reduce facial lines but it also has the side benefit of alleviating my stomach troubles! It was kind of amazing to me when my stomach actually rumbled after she embarked on the meridian massage for about 5-10 minutes!
During the massage, Shizuka found my shoulders rather stiff. She therefore reminded me to relax a little at work and perhaps do some stretching in between customers to relieve the sore shoulder muscles!
面部按摩前，Shizuka沿着经络循行线给了我个肩部按摩。
按摩真的很神奇! 因为在按摩的当而，肚子竟然咕嚕咕嚕叫!
She applied a gommage and then used her fingers to lightly massage the gommage into my skin for about 10 minutes.
This helps in exfoliation without damaging the surface skin cells too harshly (when compared to extractions and traditional scrubs!)
她轻轻地把gommage按摩进我的皮肤中. 这会帮忙我以最低损伤的方式去角质!
Next came the HIGHLIGHT of the entire facial: Fascia massage!
First, Shizuka applied the essential oils to the face to prepare for the 30-min long fascia massage.
接下来是整个面部护理的亮点：筋膜按摩！
She gave a nice head massage before embarking on a pinching motion all around the face.
This is known as pincement, which actually originates from traditional French Facial Massage!
This technique focuses on activating the facial fascia, the connective tissue that surrounds every muscle on the face to encourage blood circulation, produce more collagen and deliver more nutrients and oxygen to every part of the facial muscle. This also helps to make the skin more taut, reducing the appearance of facial lines.
她给了我一个很好的头部按摩后便开始一个起源于法国面部按摩的技术, pincement.
这种技术的重点是激活围绕着每一块脸部肌肉的面部筋膜. 这能促进血液循环，产生更多的胶原蛋白，并输送更多的营养物质和氧气到面部肌肉的每一个结缔组织去。这能把皮肤变得更拉紧，减少面部细纹。
Other than the cheeks, every part of the face is treated to the same pincement action.
The action is slightly painful but tolerable. With this action, it is totally understandable why blood circulation will improve on my face!
In fact, my face does turn slightly red over time.
这种快捏法虽然有一点儿疼痛，但是看起来 十分有效！
The highlight may be over but the relaxation hasn’t!
Shizuka gave me yet another shoulder massage and applied a light mask that was previously shown earlier.
I mentioned to her earlier during the consultation that my face has been feeling a little dry since I changed the brand of my facial wash.
She therefore chose the seaweed mask for me to nourish and hydrate my skin naturally!
肩部按摩后，她在我的脸上涂了个海藻面膜. 海藻面膜拥有保湿和滋养的作用!
While waiting for the mask to dry, she began massaging my leg along the Meridian line and making me feel all comfortable.
在等海藻面膜干的当而, 她又沿着经络循行线给了我一个腿部按摩!
好享受!
After the mask was removed, she applied some sunscreen for me and ended the facial with the very aromatic lavender oil.
最后, 她帮我取下面膜并涂上防晒霜.
Hot piping tea was waiting for me outside the room once the facial was over.
This TWG tea is specially selected by Shizuka to help with my frequent gastric pains!
她也特别为我选了一个能帮我缓肠胃的TWG tea !
Here’s the before and after photo!
Left: Before, Right: After; 左：之间。右：之后。
Although the results are not very obvious on camera, my face feels tighter, brighter and more moisturized in person. Colleagues have also mentioned that I have more colour in my cheeks!
Best of all, I feel rejuvenated after the Lift Up and Firm Facial! For more visible result, I probably have to come back more regularly.
Conclusion
On paper, the price at Organics Beauty isn’t exactly the cheapest facial out there at $200 (for repeater price).
However, those who’ve tried Shizuka’s facial for themselves will know that $200 is definitely value for money, given the attention she gives, products she use and the effort she puts into each step.
Although I have a package elsewhere, her facial is so good that I just can’t not make a second appointment!
Definitely a facial therapist I would recommend to others!
尝试了Shizuka后，真的觉得很难回去自己固定的美容师.
Shizuka 做事就是那么用心, 每个细节都想得很周到. 她不止针对脸部护理下功夫，连身体的病痛也考虑在内.
她的Facial因此l真的与众不同.
虽然已经在外头有了配套，我也忍不住跟她安排下一个appointment.
希望长期在她照料下能够看到更紧绷的肌肤!
P.S. I hear that she is getting rather overloaded so you may have to arrange your appointments some days in advance to secure a day with her!