A palace? hotel? a facet of a remembered fragment of Marie Antoinette and her home away from Paris?
In reality it’s a spot, intimate but functional, right here in Metro Manila, of luxury surrounded by beauty. For as designer Leo Espinosa puts it, “The moment you walk in here, beauty surrounds you.” A cocoon of silk and what the French call je ne sais quoi (usually used to describe the elusive, evanescent property of perfume).
When beauty is your goal, comfort and relaxation are the journey. This touch of Versailles in a mall in Pasig reminds the first-time visitor of the serenity of a spa, albeit an opulent one, with its hall of mirrors, a constellation of chandeliers whose alluring glow is multiplied endlessly by their crystal-clear reflections amid touches of gold (the spigots are gold-plated!) and marble on tabletops, walls, and flooring. Other designer touches include lavish paintings on the walls and thick linen curtains draped with the double K back-to-back logo. In all, 300 sqm of an oasis in the middle of a locked down city struggling to live normal, feel good and pretty in abnormal times. As Leo puts it, “Only the very best for Cris and her clients.”
This touch of Versailles in a mall in Pasig reminds the first-time visitor of the serenity of a spa, albeit an opulent one, with its hall of mirrors, a constellation of chandeliers whose alluring glow is multiplied endlessly by their crystal-clear reflections.
Cris Roque is the lady behind the brand name Kamiseta, which started out as a fashion line, shortly after which she allowed her entrepreneurial skills—the Midas touch?—to branch out to coffeeshops and now, she has three Kamiseta Skin clinics offering the latest technology in aid of vanity and skin care. The pictures on this page show the version at Ayala Malls The 30th not far from Meralco and St. Paul College. The other Kamiseta Skin are in Fort Bonifacio Global City and Quezon City near the ABS-CBN complex.
Doctors and nurses wearing masks and gowned in PPE are the only giveaway of this hall of mirrors as a place where science meets beauty. Otherwise, if none of the ladies are within eyesight, you could mistake it for a scene from a dream where time floats airily like a fairy tale, and the dreamer walks in beauty.
