FaceGym founder Inge Theron’s top tips for travelling: take Emirates, stay at Claridge’s, let your kids loose at Jumeirah Mina A’Salam in Dubai, and head to Umbria instead of Tuscany – interview

Jan 12 , 2024

Top travelling tips by FaceGym founder Inge Theron, from what to bring on the plane to where to take your kids. Photo: @ingetheron76/Instagram

Beginning in London’s Selfridges in 2014, FaceGym founder Inge Theron’s products have since become a favourite of celebrities including Nicole Kidman and Spider-Man’s Tom Holland

In Umbria, check out the villages that produce leather goods for big brands like Donna Karan; Theron also recommends Brunello Cucinelli store in Solomeo and Montefalco for food

FaceGym founder Inge Theron’s beauty brand started with a single space inside London’s Selfridges department store in 2014. In January 2023, it opened its first studio in Sydney, after expanding to France, Los Angeles, New York and across the UK.

FaceGym founder Inge Theron, whose business has greatly expanded since it opened at London’s Selfridges department store in 2014. Photo: @ingetheron76/Instagram

The company’s skincare products, tools and sculpting methods have been used by such celebrities as Nicole Kidman to get ready for the red carpet ahead of the Oscars. Spider-Man’s Tom Holland posted a video of him using the brand’s £575 (US$720) FaceGym Pro e-stim device when doing press for his Apple TV+ series, The Crowded Room, last summer.

FaceGym products are beloved by celebrities, including Tom Holland and Nicole Kidman. Photo: @facegym/Instagram

Theron, who is originally from South Africa and now lives in London with her husband and two daughters, logs nearly 160,000km (100,000 miles) a year flying long-haul to Asia, the Middle East and the US, where she’s been designing wellness spaces in Japan, Qatar and Miami; she also counts a weekly commute to Milan, where many of the product and material designers for her spas are based.

We caught up with the beauty guru on her top tips for travelling:

FaceGym’s Inge Theron’s airline of choice: Emirates

Emirates’ Boeing 777-300 ER aeroplane, Inge Theron’s carrier of choice. Photo: EPA

“The service is second to none,” she says, noting the spacious suites in first class and their luxurious lounges. She used to fly primarily on British Airways, but found the UK flag carrier’s service to have gone downhill in recent years.

Wear SPF if you’re in a window seat

Sun cream is essential for every traveller – even on a plane. Photo: Shutterstock

“My really big tip for skin on the plane is you have to wear sunblock, especially if you’re sitting in a window seat. No one thinks about putting on SPF on a plane, but you absolutely have to, as aeroplane windows don’t protect you fully from the sunlight coming in. You can get sun damage from flights.”