Under her own fashion label, Lisa Qu embodies the best of Eastern and Western design that has been inspired by her Australian upbringing and education in New York. Her designs are a fusion of classic silhouettes, innovative origami techniques and a focus on functionality and versatility. With her thorough and intricate techniques around fashion, her similar interest comes into her skincare and wellness routines.

When it comes to my daily routine, I probably spend around 15 minutes a day on my skincare routine and I aim to get a facial once a month but depending on my schedule it can be less frequent. I have products that I swear by and use on a regular rotation, my current routine involves the Drunk Elephant skincare series with their Beste No.9 Jelly Cleanser, the T.L.C. Framboos™ Glycolic Night Serum and Protini™ Polypeptide Cream. I follow this up with the 111SKIN 3 Phase Anti-Blemish Booster for any breakouts, the Celestial Black Diamond Emulsion as my moisturiser and the 111SKIN Space Defence Bright Eye Lift Gel to reduce my under-eye darkness and keep my eye area hydrated. If I had to pull together my favourite products that I couldn’t live without it would be my Tatcha Silken Pore Perfecting Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 35, some form of lip balm or lip mask and my Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz. I have oily skin and so when it comes to my skin I need to make sure that I wash it thoroughly in the evenings to prevent any breakouts and typically if I’m undergoing a period of great stress I like to go and get a facial to take my mind off things but also to help prevent my skin from getting any worse. I have tried a varying number of facials such as Microdermabrasion, but the best results have been seen by using retinol and glycolic products that usually help to minimise the appearance of my pores.

For me, I think it’s so vital to care for your skin from an early age, I suffered with bad acne as a teenager and I realised how important it is to take care of my skin. I would much rather spend money on great skincare now than to have to invest thousands into treatments that will only marginally improve my skin in the future. Something as simple as just washing my face each day and applying a sunscreen can make such a vast difference in the future.

Wellness means taking care of my body and mind. You can be in the best physical shape of your life but without great mental stability and health, it won’t mean much and vice versa. To make the most of your life you need both and so wellness is very important to me. I try to get at least 8 hours of sleep a night even when I’m at my busiest and I would sometimes take an afternoon nap to refresh my brain especially after a rough or really brain-intensive day. I also try to fit in a daily workout, and I carve out 10 minutes of my mornings to curate a list for my day ahead – it’s fundamental for both my clarity and confidence. It doesn’t have to be about what I am doing that day and can be my grocery list but it’s like my version of meditation.

When it comes to the beauty industry, I love the confidence you get from exploring different beauty products. I don’t always wear makeup but it’s an experience each time I play with it and it always amazes me how much more I’m willing to smile when I have a nice lipstick on, and my blemishes are hidden. If I was to increase positivity around beauty, I’d make sure that we could embrace our natural features. It’s time to focus less on extreme beauty techniques like ‘baking’ and embrace our natural features, we should be highlighting them and not focus on trying to cover them up. If I was to change one thing about the industry it would be accessibility, the best skincare and beauty products are usually expensive and not available to everyone.

As previously mentioned, I do love to play with makeup, but I don’t wear it every day. I use the DiorSkin Forever Liquid Foundation, compact powder version or the Stila Stay All Day Foundation Stick. I usually alternate between them depending on my skin that day and finish off my look with the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer, Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz, Dior Backstage Contour Palette and the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector. It does sound like I use a lot of products, but I tend not to wear that much makeup on a daily basis, when I do, I’ll use those products to create a very natural look.