Lunchtime quick fixes to perk you up

SINGAPORE – There are days when your sleep debt catches up with you, and you feel and look lacklustre. Here are some restorative ideas that will give you just the pep to refresh your countenance, restore your depleted energy tank, and give new bounce to your locks. These boosters can also be done within your lunch hour, so that you will get back to work looking and feeling rejuvenated and refreshed.

FACIAL treatments

If the weariness shows on your face, there are numerous options that take about an hour or less to fix.

Starting with non-invasive solutions, Dr Wong Kee Seng, medical director of Kowayo Aesthetic Clinic, suggests the lifting effects of High Intensive Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) treatments. Used on areas like the lower face (reduces the appearance of deep laugh lines or saggy jowls), the eyes (improves the appearance of droopy lids or visible eye bags) and the neck (reduces the appearance of deep lines), this new European technology promises to be a pain-free solution and employs a combination of laser technology and fractional and micro-focused ultrasound to stimulate collagen production. Prices start at S$480 for treating the eye or neck area, to S$680 for the lower face. The effects are purported to last up to six months.

Other non-invasive quick fixes include chemical peels and lasers. Dr Yeak Hwee Lee, Singapore Aesthetic Centre’s medical director, said that the resurfacing effects from these treatments help with acne and pigmentation, refine pore visibility, and tone and firm the skin. With chemical peels, however, you are likely to emerge immediately after with mild pinkness in the face. One customer, analyst Rebecca Lau, 25, said she experienced mild skin flaking for three to five days before her skin began to settle. However, she claimed it was worth it as it helped with her visible acne and reduced dark spots. The effects — after the initial pinkness — are said to last four to six weeks. Chemical peels start at S$126, and lasers at S$400.

Then there are the minimally invasive options such as fillers. In general, fillers involve the injecting of tiny amounts of hyaluronic acid into targeted areas to plump up those areas, thus reducing the appearance of fine lines, with effects lasting 18 to 24 months. For example, to achieve a refreshed look, older women who may have some sunken spots on their faces like, say, the temples can have these areas “filled” for an overall look of greater youthfulness and vitality. Fillers start at S$1,125.

Singapore Aesthetic Centre (#08-12/13, Novena Medical Centre; tel: 6837 1000; www.sgac.com.sg)

Kowayo Aesthetic Clinic (#01-03B, 1 Raffles Link; tel: 6884 4297/6884 4280; www.kowayo.com)

HAIR therapies

Speedy hair treatments work a treat in bringing life back to your crowning glory.

NeXt Hair Salon

Walk into Next Hair Salon with dull hair, and breeze out a new person with glossy locks that have bounce and lift. This is all thanks to a new anti-ageing treatment with caviar extract (from S$140 to S$180). A head and neck massage to zone out while getting your hair shampooed only adds to the whole rejuvenating experience.

Located at 271A Holland Ave; tel: 6467 3323 (Holland Village); www.facebook.com/neXt.salons

Mi The Salon

When repeated chemical treatments have left your hair damaged, brittle and unruly, try the texture smooth double treatment (from S$240 to S$400) from Mi The Salon. Touted to offer the efficacy of two treatments rolled into one, this speedy treatment is also said to last twice as long as regular treatments — two to three weeks for chemically treated hair, and double that if you have healthy hair.

Located at #03-19 Ion Orchard, 2 Orchard Turn, tel: 6884 7757

POWER NAPS

A private, quiet spot to get some shut-eye may be just what you need to restore your energy for the second half of the day. But keep your nap “within 45 minutes, because that is the average time a person’s first sleep cycle lasts”, said Dr Kenny Pang, Ear Nose and Throat specialist at the Asia Sleep Centre. When you wake up in the middle of your next sleep cycle, you could experience sleep inertia — that groggy, tired feeling after waking up, instead of the instant re-energiser that you came for. If the office pantry or cubicle is not conducive, here are a few possible places to take a nap.

Golden Village Suntec City Gold Class Lounge

On weekdays from 12-1.30pm, GV Suntec City offers patrons the Executive Zen Zone. For S$18, you can enjoy a meal chosen from Suntec City’s Gold Class menu, followed by a nap, snuggling in a recliner in the Gold Class theatre. You can also choose just the nap (S$10) or the meal (S$12).

www.gv.com.sg; or head to GV Suntec City

Chop! Chop! Express Massage

Rent a massage bed that comes with a pillow and blanket for some uninterrupted sleep. Better still, book a massage prior (from $14 for 10 minutes) to relax your tense muscles and send you off into a blissful, rejuvenating nap. The Chevron House (#02-36) and Marina Bay Link Mall (B2-73/74) outlets offer power naps for S$28 for 30 minutes before 2.30pm, and S$20 for 30 minutes after 2.30pm.

Tel: 6536 3108 (Chevron House), 6834 3108 (Marina Bay Link Mall); www.chopchop.com.sg

Virgin Active

Open to gym members are the futuristic-looking sleep pods here, which shut out noise while playing ambient sounds that allow you to drift off. You also need not worry about jumping up awake to rush back to the office — subtle vibrations will wake you up gently. Members simply need to make a booking to use the pods at no additional charges. It is a perk worth considering if you work in the vicinity and are on the lookout for a gym.

www.virginactive.com.sg; tel: 6908 8920 (Raffles Place), 6908 7878 (Tanjong Pagar). Raffles Place (Level 6, Tower 2, 1 Raffles Place) and Tanjong Pagar (#06-01 Tanjong Pagar Centre, 7 Wallich Street) are the two clubs with the sleeping pods. Memberships start from S$43.50 a week for a 12-month period.

CORRECTION: In an earlier version of this report, we stated that NeXt Hair Salon also had an outlet at Ion Orchard. The salon no longer has a branch at Ion Orchard. We are sorry for the error.