We met up with Emily Kara, a family medicine doctor at Oasis International Hospital, just after her Chinese New Year holiday which she’s spent frolicking in Thai sunshine with her family. The Kara family moved to the city 18 months ago for her husband Rohan’s work as head of marketing and admissions at Harrow International School Beijing. Their daughters Eloise (age 4) and Ophelia (2) attend Harrow Beijing.
Kara’s colored hair has bleached a brighter strawberry blonde during her vacation. Kara basically has a ‘wash, dry, and go’ routine when it comes to her hair and she wears very minimal makeup. “I have one makeup brush,” jokes Kara. Her hair naturally parts in the middle and she goes with it, wearing it loose without styling.
Today she’s looking for an update to take her into spring. “I have looked the same for about 20 years!” Kara tells Xiaomi’s artistic director Emma Du, who has been working at the salon for nearly three years. Du, here to coordinate Kara’s makeover opts for a radical color change. “Kara’s hair looks flat because it’s lacking movement and the color is too uniform,” Du says. The Xiaomi team envisages a rich multi-tonal brunette, with side-swept bangs and layers through the back to give Kara volume, and options on how to part and wear it.
Kara thinks the staff at Xiaomi are professional, the salon is beautifully decorated, and the staff speak good English. “And I like my new look although I’m still getting used to it,” she says. When her family and friends see her, they say she looks more put-together, and tell her it brings out her eyes.
Products
• Yves Saint Laurent Youth Liberator • Tom Ford Base Illuminating Primer • No. 34 Marc Jacobs Liquid Foundation • C6 Mac Liquid Foundation • Marc Jacobs Concealer One • Tom Ford Shade & Illuminate, Intensity One • Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel • Anastasia Beverly Hills Brown Powder Duo, Medium Brown • Revlon brown eyeliner • Lancome Hypnôse mascara • Yves Saint Laurent Volume mascara • Clarins Double Fix mascara • No. 107 Jill Stuart Mix Blush • Charlotte Tillbury lip liner • Bourjois Touché Illuminating Gloss
1. Kara’s hair is washed and trimmed shorter at the front. Du layers the back to create volume and movement.
2. Small sections of the hair are highlighted, and then the base color is applied to the whole head. The color is left to develop for 30 minutes.
3. Makeup artist Mili Lim first moisturizes the skin then brushes on liquid foundation. She applies lighter foundation around the t-zone, darker around the temple and jaw line, and follows with a primer to blend the two colors. She darkens the eyebrows before making up the eyes. For daytime smoky eyes she uses brown eyeliner, medium brown eye shadow, and three different mascaras. She finishes with a light pink gloss on the lips for a natural look.
Xiaomi Salon 小米沙龙
Daily. 10am-9.30pm. Shop 8-3/8-8, Left Bank, Solana Lifestyle Shopping Park, 6 Chaoyang Gongyuan Nanlu, Chaoyang District (5905 1800) 朝阳公园南路6号蓝色港湾8-3/8-8店铺
This article originally appeared on page 18-19 of the beijingkids March 2016 issue. Click here to read the issue for free on Issuu.com. To find out how you can get your own copy, email distribution@truerun.com
Photos by Uni You
