Just when you thought Singapore’s spa scene was becoming staid, Spa Esprit founder Cynthia Chua has retooled her Dempsey Hill outlet as a supermarket-inspired beauty playground. Occupying 1,600 square meters on the second story of the House, a former army barracks that also hosts a restaurant and bar, the Beauty Emporium (8D Dempsey Rd.; 65/6475-7833) packs a lot under one roof. Apart from the new-look Spa Esprit, there’s a raft of familiar beauty concepts (a Brazilian waxing parlor, eyebrow salon, and facials studio among them) alongside a bookstore, a florist, and an “apothecary bar” stocked with organic Ilcsi creams and masks. Floor-to-ceiling windows frame calming views of lush greenery, but the real eye candy is inside, where the design alternates between industrial touches—think bare concrete columns and conduit pipes fitted with spotlights—and splashes of brightly colored vintage furniture. –Evelyn Chen

Originally appeared in the December 2009/January 2010 print issue of DestinAsian magazine ( “House Call”)