The best express beauty treatments in Hong Kong

For those of us who don’t enjoy sweating away for hours  in a room full of strangers, EstheClinic’s E-Sculpt treatment might be right up your alley. Using High Energy Focused Electromagnetic Wave (HI-EMT) technology, the clinic uses a device that resembles a defibrillator to make up to 90 percent of your muscle fibres become active, which helps build muscles and burns fat – all while you’re actually just lying down.

The electromagnetic pulses feel odd at first as it causes your muscles to tense up by themselves in cycles of varying intensity, but one 30-minute session can apparently be equivalent to 20,000 sit-ups so the weirdness is worth it! Apart from the abdomen, E-Sculpt can also be performed on thighs, arms, buttocks, belly, and other areas. The treatment is priced at $3,180 per area, and packages of six, 10, or 15 sessions are also available – with a buy-one-get-one-free promotion running for now.

This glamorous Central spa is a one-stop for facials, nails, and all kinds of hair treatments such as cuts, colouring, and styling. If you’ve only got time for a quick pit stop, Glow Spa is the ideal place for a lunchtime blow-dry. Pair it with an express 30-minute mani or pedi, and you’ll come out feeling polished, preened, and effortlessly glowing.

Whether you have an event later in the day or just can’t stand your chipped nails anymore, Sense of Touch offers a Quickie Manicure that gets your nails clipped, filed, and nourished in only 20 minutes for $200. If you have an extra 25 minutes and $100 more to spare, go for the Simply A Manicure treatment, where they’ll go a step further and finish your nails with polish, care for your cuticles, and even provide a massage from elbow to fingertips.

Fast, affordable, and effective, Skin Laundry’s signature laser facial takes only 15 minutes to give your skin an overall boost. The Nd:YAG laser blends skin discoloration such as sunspots and melasma, minimises redness, and stimulates collagen production. It can also target acne-causing bacteria and reduce inflammation.

Each treatment leaves your skin glowing and clean and, over time, can greatly improve your skin’s tone and radiance. First timers to Skin Laundry can try this normally $1,000 facial for just $250.

If you like L’Occitane products, there’s no reason not to enjoy a quick escape at this day spa. These French folk offer a couple of fast and easy pick-me-ups for any Hong Kong busy bee. You can go for the Immortelle Youthful Eyes, a 25-minute treatment where you can rest your peepers while the therapist smoothes and refreshes your eye contour area, or the 15-minute Cooling White Jade, which uses their signature white jade combined with a drainage massage to detoxify and firm the face contour. These treatments cost $520 each, but can be added on to any facial for a reduced price.

Need a quick confidence boost before a date or a business meeting? Float up to this spa in the W Hotel for a rapid pampering. Known for its incredible variety of treatments featuring Bliss products, Bliss Spa offers a 30-minute Oxygen Blast treatment ($895) for skin that’s feeling stressed and congested. They also have Peeling Groovy ($1,450), a 30-minute facial that provides a thorough cleansing followed by microdermabrasion and a brightening mushroom enzyme peel, before finishing off with a facial massage using a triple oxygen+C energising cream. It’ll have you looking dazzling in no time.