2 mm Expertise Beauty located at 沙田希爾頓中心三樓36A, Sha Tin, Hong Kong 香港

January 7, 2018:

The last time I got a facial in Hong Kong was probably 5 years ago. 🤔  This time, with lots of unsightly breakouts, I decided to see what was in the area and try a place to try to calm down my acne.

2mm Expertise Beauty ( 2毫米醫學專家美容有限公司) is located inside the Lucky Plaza in Shatin, Hong Kong.  From the exterior, it looked like a trustworthy and high-end salon.  The door was locked so I rang the doorbell and shortly, a lady came to answer the door.  From her mannerism and demeanour, she looked like she was the owner and seemed to be knowledgeable about breakouts and a possible facial option for me.

She showed me a flyer of their treatment options as well as the corresponding trial prices, all of which seemed reasonable.  She said that upon coming in, the facialist would cleanse my face and see which option was most suitable for me.  She asked me when I was interested in coming in and I said “today” as in I was available right away.  It was 1:20 p.m. at the time and she said she was currently full but that 2 p.m. was good.  That was so much better than I expected and not much of a wait at all, so I agreed to return at two o’clock to try it out.  She took my name and contact number down and said she would reach out to me if a space opened up sooner than that or if she needed more time.

Facial treatments page 1

Facial treatments page 2

When I returned back at 2 p.m., she wasn’t quite ready for me, which was fine.  I loitered outside the storefront for a few more minutes before I was called in.

I was led to one of the rooms with a sliding door where there was an upper cupboard with a lock in which to place my belongings.  After getting changed, there was a light to flick on to indicate that I was ready for the facialist to enter (how clever).  I slid under the comfortable covers and waited for the facialist to come in.

Room

The facialist introduced herself to me, but I quickly forgot her name.  She assessed my skin by sight and recommended the Aqua Peel treatment (水漾煥膚療程) to me based on what she saw (what happened to the owner suggesting that cleansing should be the first step?).  Either way, I was content to try it out anyway.  She also showed me a price list of extra add-on options she thought would be beneficial (typical), of which I denied.

During the process, she cleansed my face with what felt like a thick “goop” and then wiped it off with facial cloths/sponges.  She used the Aqua Peel machine, a vacuum type of suction which removed and loosened up any debris in my pores while at the same time hydrating it.  It was a unique suctioning experience, one which I’m not sure I’ve done before in Toronto.

The facialist seemed eager for small talk which I preferred to go without.

After the Aqua Peel, she did some manual cleansing of my pores.  Despite the initial assessment and suggestion by the owner that they could take care of the acne, the facialist actually didn’t do much to help the troubled areas.  She claimed the acne spots were still active and thus couldn’t remove them.   She did put the suction more over the acne areas though to relieve them.

Immediately after the Aqua Peel, my face felt tingly which was definitely different than the other facial experiences I’ve had before.  It felt really nice and clean.

She cleaned up my brows after offending the work that the previous facialist had done on them.   Then she massaged my shoulders and décolletage area (about 5 minutes) before putting on a very hydrating sheet mask on my face.  The whole process felt so short and unlike the 90+ minute facials that I usually get.  I still got in a quick cat nap in which was restful.

At the one hour mark, the facialist came back in the room and removed my sheet mask and applied moisturizer and sunscreen on.  I then got changed and that was it.

After I submitted the payment ($388 HKD), she also gave me a sweet tea to drink.  From what I overheard earlier, this tea was brewed with three berries and nourishing for the dry winter season.

Overall, my first impression of 2mm Expertise Beauty was great.  The owner who spoke to us was so inviting, knowledgeable, and eager to provide quality service.  However, the actual facialist who did my treatment could have been more thorough, meticulous, and warm.  It really felt like she was there just to perform her duties and get paid, which seemed so cold and not something I’d return for (even the small talk seemed absent-minded as she didn’t actually retain much of what I had actually told her, which defeated the purpose).  If the owner herself had done the treatment for me, perhaps my experience would have been a better one.

I liked the Aqua Peel experience itself though.  After I got changed and peered at the mirror, my face seemed so much brighter and felt so deeply clean.  This treatment apparently hails from Korea.  I’m not surprised to read that it’s a popular treatment for Korean women (who prize their outer beauty so highly) since the results are so fast and nice with no after-effects (no redness or healing time required).