STI: Max Factor

Mar 16, 2004

Max Factor
by Karl Ho

THEY drive luxury cars, drip with diamonds, walk around in Louis Vuitton sandals and order eye-popping Baroque-style fountains from Australia for their homes.

Life looks pretty good if you're one of the da jies (big sisters in Mandarin) of Singapore's beauty and wellness industry.

Thanks to a growing number of people willing to spend thousands to look beautiful, the bosses behind household beauty names such as Jean Yip, Cristalle De Paris and Beauty Express are living it up.

Most own the businesses while a few are paid to run regional operations.

Ms Jean Yip, 45, chairman of the Jean Yip chain, lives in a $12 million, 22,000 sq ft mansion in Bukit Timah.

Cristalle De Paris' founder Micheline Ong, 48, ferries her high-end clients around in a $900,000 maroon Rolls-Royce. She also invites them to stay in one of her five houses here, including an Aspen Heights condo in River Valley.

Both Ms Ong and Ms Phyllis Tan, 47, founder of Beauty Express, declined to be featured in this story. 'I invite sultans and other royalty into my home,' Ms Ong says apologetically in Mandarin. 'Even when they come to my salon, they will bring their bodyguards with them.'

Ms Theresa Chew, 46, founder of the Expressions International empire, also declined to be included because thieves broke into her Bukit Timah bungalow after it was featured in newspapers about 10 years ago.

Singapore's beauty business, which includes facial, slimming, hairdressing, body treatment and spa services, is estimated by experts to be worth at least $200 million. It has grown by about 20 per cent over the last three years.

Beauty parlours and slimming centres number in the thousands and range from small set-ups in the HDB heartland to skincare giants like Adonis.

Industry observers estimate the number of big players to be 20. Most have been around for at least three years, while some of the Big Sisters have been in the business for over 20.

The most popular names are Marie France Bodyline, Expressions International, Slim Fit, Phillip Wain International, Beauty Express and Haach.

The top-tier names can register annual turnovers of about $30 million a year or more, experts estimate.

Last year the industry spent over $20 million on TV and print ads, says Ms Amy Quek, regional general manager of Orchard Business Management, which runs the Marie France Bodyline, Bella and Svenson beauty empire in South Asia.

Despite their success, many of today's big players had humble beginnings. Ms Yip, who has been in the business for more than 20 years, says her rewards are 'xue han qian', which is Mandarin for money earned through blood, sweat and tears.

And is there any truth to the stereotype of them being more crass than class?

'I'm not afraid of what people say,' says Ms Yip of her choice of home decor that mixes Spanish architecture with Balinese landscaping and futuristic curves.

'I firmly believe in my taste.'

LifeStyle! visits her house and that of four others to see how they live.

The old curiosity shopper
AMY QUEK of Marie France Bodyline, Bella and Svenson

TAKING a walk around Ms Amy Quek's home is like travelling back in time. That's because her $1.5 million, three-storey bungalow in Sembawang is packed with antiques from Chinese medicinal chests to Victorian brass clocks and Peranakan pottery.

Everywhere you turn, you see curios: a 100-year-old green metal safe from Austria, a His Master's Voice long-wave radio made in England in the 1800s, and Nonya wall tiles from shophouses from Singapore's colonial days.

While it is her antique trader-cum-enthusiast husband who provides the furniture, it is the beauty expert who has the last word. 'They must be pleasing to the eye,' says the slim Ms Quek, 40. 'And not be chor dang (Cantonese for clutter), or else they go into the storeroom.'

She is the regional general manager of Orchard Business Management (OBM), which runs the South Asian arm of the Marie France Bodyline, Bella and Svenson beauty and slimming chains. Harcourt Business Management, a Hong Kong-based firm, runs outlets in North Asia.

Ms Quek is in charge of 60 outlets in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. Last year, the three international brands were bought by a collective of Swedish investors and banks for US$170 million.

Singapore has six Marie France slimming outlets, four Bella facial solution centres and one Svenson hair treatment centre. They are located in Orchard Road and neighbourhoods such as Tampines and Jurong.

Ms Quek learnt the ropes of running such a beauty empire from the ground up. After completing her O levels at Serangoon Gardens Secondary School, she worked as a beautician before starting her own salon at Fortune Centre along Middle Road in 1985.

In 1988, she closed it due to a lack of funds to expand, and joined OBM as a manager of Singapore operations. She worked her way up.

Jetsetting all over the world for work, the mother of three children aged between 2 1/2 and 14 feels that she is entitled to one extravagance: shopping. Confessing to a weakness for branded goods, she says she has 80 pairs of shoes from the likes of Gucci and Christian Dior.

She has also traded in her old BMW cabriolet for a BMW 735. 'I've spent 17 years of my youth in this business,' she says with a laugh. 'It's time to live a little.'

She is also unperturbed by the clash of styles between her antiques-filled home and her progressive business: 'There's always a place for old and new in life.'

Temple of calm & peace
ANN LEE of Adonis

ADONIS founder Ann Lee, 49, is proud of her Asian identity. A Buddhist, she loved reading Chinese poems in her youth. She now reads them to her youngest son, eight. She has two other sons, aged 17 and 20.

Asian influences reside in her 14,000sq ft bungalow in the Holland Village area. It is a haven of Zen solitude and Balinese charm, with its sprawling shrubbery, balau wood columns and stone pavilion.

The two-storey property, which cost her $10 million in 1995, is furnished with Chinese antique furniture. One signature piece is a teakwood screen that greets you at the front door.

Behind it is an arrangement of antique Chinese vases and wooden tables which are meant to bring luck.

Although her belief system is Asian, she has no qualms incorporating Western influences. After all, her Adonis beauty chain, which boasts eight outlets in Singapore and another 10 in Malaysia, is named after the Greek god of beauty.

The chief executive officer believes her winning business formula stems from such an East-West fusion.

'The West gave me the tools,' says Ms Lee, who uses beauty products from the US. 'The East gives me the human touch.

'You must care for your clients and communicate with your staff. When they realise you're concerned about their needs and feelings, they'll be satisfied.'

Such an approach has brought an annual turnover of about $14 million for Adonis.

Not bad for the Johor-born Ms Lee, who used to style the hair of her younger sister's classmates.

Her father, who owned rubber and fruit plantations in Malaysia, coughed up $20,000 for her to start her first Adonis outlet in Lucky Plaza in 1986.

Ms Lee, who came to Singapore after secondary school, then expanded her business on her own.

The Singapore citizen, whose husband co-owns the Taka Jewellery chain, is now enjoying the fruits of her labour. Apart from investing in stocks and shares, she has eight properties here and land in Malaysia.

Working 12-hour days before, she now wants to get closer to her two older sons who are at an age when they start spending time away from the family.

Once, she cancelled a night out with friends to watch The Matrix Reloaded with her oldest son in the cinema.

'I don't know what the Matrix is but I told my son I understand anyway,' she says. 'It's the time of my life when I have to tell my sons that I need them.'

Chinese Caesar salad
WENDY HO of Mary Chia

THE home of beautician queen Wendy Ho is a mix of faux Greco-Roman opulence and East Asian mysticism. Statuettes and portraits of Chinese deities like Guan Yin (Goddess of Mercy) and Guan Gong (God of War) accompany wall ornaments of cherubs and Roman emperor Julius Caesar.

Faux Roman columns, chandeliers and drapes exist side-by-side with zhao cai shu (a potted plant that reputedly brings luck), Chinese urns and red lanterns.

Too ornate? But that's the way Ms Ho, who runs the Mary Chia beauty and slimming chain, likes her $2 million, semi- detached house in the Thomson area.

'I think this is simple and elegant,' says the 34-year-old managing director. 'Add more things into this house and it'll be a bit complicated.'

While opinions of her taste in interior design might vary, there is no doubt that her business is a success.

The Mary Chia chain boasts seven outlets, mostly in heartland malls like Causeway Point and Parkway Parade. Last year, it opened Urban Homme, a beauty centre for men at The Amara. It now commands an annual turnover of about $9 million.

The chain was started in 1984 by her mother, who named it after herself. The latter used to make bridal gowns and do make-up for brides. Ms Ho was helping out in the salon even before she completed her N levels at Bowen Secondary School. She took over the business in 1996, with her mother, now 70, as senior adviser. Her brother, Freddy, 30, helps run Urban Homme.

Mary Chia offers beauty regimes such as therapeutic seaweed wraps that firm up and detoxify the body. Urban Homme has programmes such as beer-belly trimming.

Ms Ho, who drives a Mercedes 200, says she abhors over-the-top living. She shops in OG, rewards herself with Chopard or Omega watches on her birthday, and will only buy new shoes when she wears out her current ones.

'I come from a conservative family,' says Ms Ho who grew up in Toa Payoh. 'We started everything on our own, so I'm not like other people who need to spend on branded stuff.'

While her husband Jason Lee, 40, who owns the K-Box chain of 11 karaoke outlets, socialises with his clients, she is happy to spend time at home with her three kids, aged between 18 months and seven years. 'After a hard day's work, it's nice to come back to a cheery home, which is a nice change from the Zen look in my outlets.'

Black list
CATHLYN LEYAU of FilSkin & Body Intelligence

TO MS CATHLYN LEYAU (pronounced 'Leow'), the colour black epitomises what beauty should be: practical yet elegant. 'It's my favourite colour,' says the managing director of Fil Skin & Body Intelligence. 'Not loud or gaudy but stylish and tasteful, just like how a woman should present herself.'

The 34-year-old single cuts an arresting figure in a tasteful black Armani outfit, shiny rebonded hair and sparkling diamonds at her three-storey terrace house in the Braddell area.

Fil, which stands for Fabulous Image Lifestyle, has three beauty salons and one spa in Robinson and Orchard roads.

Ms Leyau says her passion for black extends to her three cars - a BMW 320ci cabriolet, a BMW 318 Coupe and an Audi A8 - as well as outfits for her 65 employees.

The Singaporean grew up in Choa Chu Kang where her father had a fish farm and her mother was a housewife. She always envied her five sisters and one brother for being slim.

Harsh dieting in secondary school didn't help - she fainted once and was diagnosed with low blood pressure when rushed to the hospital - so she took beauty courses to learn how to improve her looks the safe way.

She lost weight and after her O levels at the now-defunct Upper Thomson Secondary School, modelled briefly and sold cars for a living.

In 1997, three of her sisters opened a beauty salon with a few investors, and she joined as a silent partner. The sisters left to start Fil in 2001 because of 'differences in opinion' with their partners. Its first-year turnover exceeded $1 million and has been increasing by 70 per cent each year.

Fil specialises in beauty treatments that treat problems like acne-clogged skin.

Despite her success, she says her lifestyle is low-key. Her 3,000sq ft house, which she shares with her parents and younger brother, has an understated yet pleasant simplicity with its dark wood doors, beige floors and whitewashed walls.

Her furnishings, which range from lush teakwood cabinets to a built-in bench at the dining room, reinforce her subdued yet stylish lifestyle.

Perhaps the only sign of extravagance are the Louis Vuitton bags scattered throughout her bedroom.

'A down-to-earth lifestyle is better,' she says. 'I'd rather invest money in my business, and as long as I have nice clothes to wear and a few bags to carry, I'm happy.'

Putting on the glitz
JEAN YIP of the Jean Yip Group

WHAT can $12 million get you? In the case of beauty entrepreneur Jean Yip, it is a lavish Bukit Timah bungalow that makes it to home decor magazines. She bought it five years ago for about $10 million and spent another $2 million to outfit the 15,000 sq ft property that sits on 22,000 sq ft of prime land.

Ms Yip, 45, runs the Jean Yip Group of 20 beauty parlours and 24 hair salons. They are located in malls throughout Singapore. There are also five outlets in Malaysia.

What did the $2 million buy?

For starters, a patio and swimming pool with water spouts, a 300sq ft gym with treadmill machines, and a 'teppanyaki pavilion' for weekend barbecues.

A professionally-styled Zen garden adds an Asian touch to an otherwise Spanish-style house which also boasts a karaoke and movie room, complete with cinema projector, bandstand and antique gramophone. The Baroque and Rococo-style furniture is imported from countries like the United States and Indonesia.

'I'm a xian dai nu xing (modern woman) who moves with the times,' she explains of her career and home, one of five she has in Singapore.

She lives with her husband of 18 years, Mr Mervin Wee, 45, who is the creative director and co-owner of the business. They have three children aged nine to 17, and employ two maids who wear black-and-white checked uniforms.

'You feel good when they look good,' Ms Yip says. 'It feels unpleasant when they're dressed in shorts and T-shirts.'

The bungalow is a long way from her childhood days growing up in a four-storey shophouse in Bugis. Good with her hands, she used to help the neighbourhood hairdresser set her mother and grandmother's hair, and designed clothes for her paper dolls.

Sensing her enthusiasm, her father, who ran a hardware shop in Bugis Street, sent her to London after her O levels at St Anthony's Convent.

For two years, she honed her skills in salons like Vidal Sassoon and worked in a fashion shop after classes. With her father's help, she opened her first outlet in 1977 called D'Image in Marine Parade. It is currently run by her aunt.

The first Jean Yip outlet opened in Katong Plaza in 1982. She has since expanded with the help of her husband and sister Dawn, who is also a singer and was a former Talentime champion.

Success has allowed Ms Yip to indulge in designer clothes, jewellery, as well as musicals and plays whenever she travels to New York or London. 'What's the objective of hard work? To provide comfortably for your family and achieve personal satisfaction,' she says.

She lets her children pursue their interests, from ballet to taekwondo. 'I want them to enjoy childhood first,' she says when asked if she will groom them to take over her business. 'No need to stress them out now.'

But she is not resting - she plans to list her company here and venture into Bangkok, Jakarta and Shanghai. 'You only live once, so make the best of it,' she explains. 'When you pass the baton to the next generation, you'll feel that you have done your best.'