Editor’s Letter

EDITOR’S LETTER SUMMER SELF LOVIN’

How do you practice self-care? Do you sleep in and enjoy a leisurely coff ee while you scroll through Instagram? Are you more of a morning person, getting up at the crack of dawn to meditate with sunrise birdsong? You might even be the type who loves to just take the piss out of something or someone with a trusted cynic in your social circle - it just feels so good to complain sometimes!

Truth be told, I’m all of the above. There’s a million diff erent ways to show yourself love, and they don’t all have to involve a sheet mask and a smouldering sage stick (which I maintain smells rank anyway.) This month at Liv HQ, we put our heads together to come up with a whole month of selfcare ideas, from easy wins to bigger, more worthwhile tasks that you’ll thank yourself for later. Think of it as a self-care calendar: 31 days of ways to love yourself more and prioritise your wellbeing all throughout August! Start ticking your way through the month over on p.18.

If you’re reading this, chances are that you too are stuck in Hong Kong for the summer - why not use the opportunity to hit up an island paradise! Did you know there are over 250 islands, most of them uninhabited, to explore in our fair city? We ventured out to three of them to see what’s worth checking out on p.26.

We also learned about the importance of not normalising bloating (p.10), which homeware trends are hot for fall (p.34), and reviewed a new femaleforward fitness programme that’s all about building gym confidence (p.15).

Hope you all have a restful summer, and make August a month-long opportunity to turn up for yourself in the best way possible - whatever that looks like to you.

CARLA THOMAS

EDITOR

MEET OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Zoe Belhomme taps urban farming organisation Rooft op Republic for kidfriendly gardening advice on p.36.

Kate Springer finds out which homeware styles are trending this autumn on p.34.

Julia Marino reviews a holistic body work therapy session with local practitioner Rahul Kaira on p.15.

Bell Chan discovers history, hikes and more on Hong Kong’s lesser-known islands on p.26.

Kirsteen Thain explains why a bloated tummy can be cause for concern on p.10.

ON THE COVER

Model: Tasha Cotton

Featured brands:

Casa Luna, Aanya, Mer Culture

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PUBLISHER SARAH FUNG HEAD OF PARTNERSHIPS ANSHU RIJHWANI PARTNERSHIPS MANAGERS TERRY HU, MANDY CHAN EDITOR CARLA THOMAS SOCIAL MEDIA JO ROBINSON SPECIAL PROJECTS STACEY MARCELO ADMINISTRATOR JASMIN BLUNCK GRAPHIC DESIGN TAMMY TAN CONTRIBUTORS KATE SPRINGER, ZOE BELHOMME, JULIA MARINO, BELL CHAN PRINTED BY GEAR PRINTING LIMITED, ROOM B, 3/F, DERRICK INDUSTRIAL BUILDING, 49-51 WONG CHUK HANG ROAD, ABERDEEN