Devout skincare

Ling Chan has long been one of Manhattan's hottest facialists, rejuvenating the complexions of celebrities from Madonna and Meg Ryan to Kate Moss and Gisele Bundchen. Now 63, the founder of LING Skincare and two LING Spas in New York shows no signs of slowing down.

"I really enjoy my work. I have such a passion for beauty, and for individual beauty for everyone," she says.

"I realise a lot of people don't love themselves and become very unhappy. Spend a little time for yourself, make a clear message to yourself. Then you won't get as lost."

Chan, who was recently in town to launch her products and two facials at the Spa at Four Seasons Hong Kong, was born in Hong Kong. As a teenager, she worried her parents with her skincare regime, which bordered on obsessive. It wasn't the money she spent on products, she says, it was the amount of time she spent cleansing her face.

After moving to the United States with her husband, Chan started working as an aesthetician, but soon became frustrated by the limitations of the skincare products at her disposal. So, in 1984, she started creating LING, her five-step skincare range (purify, hydrate, solve, nourish, renew), which combines the power of Asian healing with cutting-edge Western science and was one of the first brands to shun fragrances, lanolin, alcohol and other known irritants.

Chan, whose philosophy is to treat the skin gently, has become an icon in the anti-ageing skincare market. But the practising Buddhist credits her youthful looks to more than just lotions and potions.