Beauty Botanicals of SCO

Sample the beauty botanicals of SCO, the customized skincare line created by Theresa Ma. Complimentary basic facials are available at the SCO counter at Barney's New York. Call Raul Martin at 212-833-2010 to schedule an appointment. Theresa has also expanded to a new location in Soho that offers SPA services.

Theresa Ma, the creator of Skin Care Options (SCO), a customized skin care line infused with botanical extractions, has expanded from her intimate beauty boutique on Nolita to her new Soho space at 584 Broadway which provides Spa services.

For uptown SCO devotees, the SCO counter at Barneys New York on Madison Ave, offers basic facials for a limited time. Call Raul at 212-833-2010 for an appointment.

Born in Hong Kong, Theresa came to the United States at the age of six and grew up in Connecticut. Her passion for developing her own line of skin care resulted from her personal experiences as a child of dealing with severely dry skin and skin allergies. This led to her obsession for achieving the perfect complexion. Seven years ago, with an excellent layman's knowledge of the ingredients used in skin care, she began collaborating with three cosmetic chemists to develop her unisex line of products that she could customize with special botanical infusions to address specific skin issues in any given season.

"When I started this line I wanted all of the products to be effective on their own," relates Ma. "I told the chemists to include flower acid in all the products. Derived from the hibiscus flower, it works to retexturize the skin, conditions and acts as a skin softener. It functions very much like an alpha hydroxy except there is no stinging, no irritation, and no redness that you would experience with an alpha-beta hydroxy. Flower acid makes all of the products very effective on their own."

In search of the perfect eye cream?

"If your issue is puffiness, I would put caffeine into the product." suggests Ma. "Caffeine is a great diuretic when applied topically. It depuffs and firms up the skin. If you told me your concern was dark circles, then I would do vitamin K. Whatever your concerns are we would choose the correct ingredient."

The twenty-four pharmaceutical grade infusions of natural extracts are stored in vials. Choose from a menu offering algae, aloe vera, almond, bergamot, caffeine, calendula, chamomile, cucumber, ginkgo biloba, green tea, juniper berry, lavender, lemon, milk protein, mushroom, papaya, parsley, peppermint, rosemary, song yi, soy, vitamins A, C and E, vitamin K and willow bark.

I loved the elegant texture of the oil free face lotion and the SPF 30 oil free face shield. Smooth and transparent, the face shield is a non-greasy formula which blocks against UVA and UVB rays and dries to a matte finish. Both are light enough to be worn under makeup.

Samples of her products are available, and assessing your skin care needs from three key questions is a process that can easily take place over the phone.

SCO SPA, 584 Broadway 5F (NYC) 212-966-3011
Barneys New York - Madison Avenue (NYC) 212-833-2010
Barneys New York - Beverly Hills, CA 310-276-4400
Mail order: 1-866-966-SCO8
Internet: www.scocare.com