We head to the Four Seasons to try out the brand-new Do Not Age Facial by Ling

We mentioned a couple of weeks ago about how facialist to models and fashion designers Ling Chan has just debuted her eponymous line of facial products at the Four Seasons spa.

Read more about Chan’s products and background here

In addition to her potions and serums, the Four Seasons spa has also launched two of her signature facial treatments: the City Peel and the DNA Facial, available starting November 9 and spa director Shoshanna Weinberg kindly invited us in to try one.

Even though Weinberg promised that the City Peel was “a safe peel”, I was still a bit wary given how my sensitive skin can react to even the most minor of irritants so I decided to opt for the DNA Facial instead. DNA stands for “do not age” and this 90-minute treatment uses a whole arsenal of products and equipment to try to deliver just that.

Weinberg says that the best time to get a treatment is either first thing in the morning or in the early evenings, and we would definitely recommend the latter, purely because we love stepping into the Four Seasons treatment room just as the sun is starting to set. Undoubtedly offering the best views of any spa in Hong Kong, from your massage bed you can see all the way to Hopewell Centre in one direction and ICC in the other and the twinkling pool that the room overlooks just adds an extra element of relaxation.

Before the treatment properly begins, the facialist shines a bright light on my face and gives me a thorough consultation on the state of my skin. We appreciate how unlike most facialists, this ten minutes is not used to push beauty products onto the client, but rather to give practical suggestions on how to better take care of the skin. In my case, for example, she deduces that the little red rashes I am sometimes prone to is due to my dehydrated skin, and she recommends the small and easily doable step of swapping my morning (oil-based) and night (gel-based) cleansers, as well as adding a water-based toner in between.

After that, the DNA facial begins and it is probably one of the most thorough treatments we’ve ever had. Everything from a steamer (to open pores and make the extraction process easier) to herbal clay mask to the CACI ultrasonic machine is used. The key products that are used in this treatment is the Apple Stem Cellular Energy serum from Ling’s own line of products. One of her newest products, the apple stem cell is used to penetrate the skin’s membrane to prevent denegeration and promote the rejuvenation of skin cells. As the serum should be ideally applied deeper than just the skin’s surface, this is where the CACI ultrasonic machine comes in. The idea is that the frequency of the currents and vibrations will allow the serum to permeate further into the skin cells.

Another element that we liked about the facial was that a lot of attention was paid to not only the face, but also the neck and chest area. As we all know, even if your face is smooth, a jowly neck and wrinkly chest will still give the game away and every potion that was applied to the face was extended all the way down to the top of the chest. Speaking of potions, we also liked how there is a tough love element to the facial. Problem areas (such as dry skin around the mouth) will get not only more attention, but might also see her rubbing in the potion in a distinctly forceful manner.

After an hour and a half, two masks (a herbal clarifying mask and a Ginseng Therapy Moisture Mask) and two peels (a Papaya Resurface peel and a Rescue Skin Peel), the end result is spectacular. Although my skin was glowing to the point of almost looking oily, I found that when I touched it, it was remarkably dry. It truly felt like all the many serums and potions that were applied to my skin had soaked in entirely, leaving nothing but noticeably healthier skin.