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Author name: Odalisque

Beauty Articles

Linn Weilar’s Curated Christmas Gift Edit

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Linn Weilar’s Curated Christmas Gift Edit images courtesy of Biodance Linn Weilar is the founder of Nordic Cosmetics & Healthcare and a key figure behind the rise of Asian beauty in the Nordic market. Raised in Jönköping and with more than a decade of experience in the media industry, including TV4, she is now leading her fourth company with a clear focus on quality, longevity and wellbeing. This is her christmas gift guide.       Biodance Collagen Gel Toner PadsFormulated with ultra-low molecular collagen, hyaluronic acid and fermented galactomyces extract, these pads boost hydration, support skin elasticity and deliver a smooth, glass-like finish. Ideal for improving texture and minimising the appearance of pores. Biodance Vita Niacinamide Gel Toner PadsFocused on radiance and tone correction, this version combines niacinamide, hyaluronic acid and antioxidant-rich botanical extracts. Perfect for addressing pigmentation, dullness and uneven skin tone while maintaining optimal hydration. Biodance Cera-nol Gel Toner PadsDesigned for sensitive or compromised skin, these pads feature ceramides, panthenol and hyaluronic acid to strengthen the skin barrier, calm irritation and provide long-lasting moisture – particularly beneficial during colder months. Biodance Sea Kelp Gel Toner PadsWell-suited to oily or combination skin, this lightweight formula uses sea kelp and marine minerals to balance sebum production and keep pores clear, without weighing the skin down. Biodance Vita-C CreamA brightening vitamin-rich cream that helps even skin tone and revive dull winter skin. Powered by stable vitamin C and glow-enhancing actives, it restores radiance when the complexion needs it most. Beauty of Joseon – Dynasty CreamA deeply nourishing classic that strengthens the skin barrier and delivers intense hydration. With ginseng, rice extract and squalane, it leaves the skin plump, smooth and luminous throughout the winter season. images courtesy of Beauty of Joseon

News

The Water Blueprint – A Quiet Revolution

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The Water Blueprint A Quiet Revolution text Jahwanna Berglund This is the story of the world’s most advanced AI water system, and the hotel that is quietly redefining what luxury can mean from within. There’s quiet poetry in water. It slips through our hands, reflects our skies, and sustains our bodies. And yet, despite being the most essential element of life, we have turned it into one of the most disposable. Every minute, a million plastic bottles are sold. Most will never be recycled. They will outlive us—in oceans, in landfills, even in our own bloodstreams. It is within this paradox that Nordaq, a Swedish water company backed by entrepreneur Carl Douglas and led by group CEO Johanna Mattsson, is writing a different story. Their idea is deceptively simple: stop transporting water over water. Instead, purify it at the source, and in doing so, strip away the absurdity of shipping a resource that already flows beneath our feet. This vision is embodied in Nordaq’s most advanced invention to date, the NQ600, an AI-powered water system making its global debut at the Mandarin Oriental Palace, Luzern. At first glance, it looks like nothing more than filtered water served in elegantly weighted glass bottles. But beneath that surface lies a blueprint that could reshape not just hospitality, but how we think about water itself. The NQ600 filters down to 0.03 microns, removing microplastics, bacteria, and contaminants while preserving essential minerals. More than a purification system, it is an intelligent collaborator: equipped with IoT sensors, it detects errors before they happen, geotags each bottle cap, and eliminates the need for transporting millions of plastic bottles. For the guest, it appears as simple as a carafe at the bedside. For the planet, it is transformative. “In luxury, sustainability has too often been treated as a compromise, a quiet afterthought to grandeur,” says Mattsson. “What if sustainability could be the upgrade?” Here, it becomes an invisible design woven seamlessly into the guest experience. photography Kristian Phol / Zap PR The choice of Mandarin Oriental Palace, Luzern as the debut site is no accident. Nestled between the Alps and Lake Lucerne, the hotel represents both the tradition of European luxury and the future of discreet innovation. In its suites, restaurants, and spa, water becomes more than hydration. It becomes a ritual. A pairing with fine dining. A companion to wellness. A gesture of care. This is not just about a hotel. It’s about a shift in the narrative of luxury itself. When hotels, airlines, and industries adopt Nordaq’s model, the ripple effect extends to urban developments, cruise ships, and beyond anywhere water scarcity and sustainability converge. In 2024 alone, Nordaq systems helped eliminate 139 million plastic bottles. Since 2010, the total exceeds 5.8 billion. Luxury has always been a mirror of society’s values. Today, it is no longer defined by excess, but by intention. By clarity. By systems that work beautifully and quietly. As Nordaq shows, progress doesn’t always announce itself with disruption; it sometimes flows, like water, into every part of our lives until it feels inevitable. When luxury shifts, the world listens. What happens in Lucerne may ripple far beyond toward cities, industries, and communities where clean water is not just service, but essential. The question is no longer whether we can afford to change, but whether we can afford not to. Not just in how water is served, but in how sustainability is seen: not as compromise, but as craftsmanship. And that, too, is luxury.

Opiates

Switch Nails Flagship

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Switch Nails Flagship image courtesy of Switch Nails Switch Nails is a Swedish brand elevating press-on nails to a new standard. With trend-driven colors, multiple shapes, and impressive staying power, you get beautiful nails without harming your natural ones. A new top coat refreshes already-used nails. Easy to apply, easy to remove—and now opening the world’s first press-on nail flagship store at Drottninggatan 73B in Stockholm.

Opiates

INUIKII – Mountain Styles

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INUIKII FW25: Where Alpine Function Meets Everyday Winter Style image courtesy of INUIKII With its FW25 Mountain models, Swiss footwear brand INUIKII presents a collection that bridges alpine performance with contemporary lifestyle design. Created as everyday winter shoes with a technical edge, the range prioritises warmth, comfort and durability while maintaining the brand’s clean, recognisable aesthetic. At the core of the collection are the pared-back Mountain Boots, discreetly finished with an INUIKII logo at the side. Designed for women, men and children, the styles are made to move seamlessly through daily winter life — versatile, weather-ready and easy to wear. The line is expanded with Technical Performance and Platform versions, offering a balance between function and a more fashion-forward expression. FW25 introduces variation through texture and finish. Teddy-trimmed Mountain Boots add softness and comfort, while metallic styles bring a modern, lifestyle-led update to the alpine silhouette. Equally suited to snow-covered mountain walks, time spent at the chalet after skiing, or as a practical alternative once ski boots come off, the collection is designed for life beyond the slopes. Prices for the Mountain models range from SEK 2,299 to 2,699. With this season’s offering, INUIKII continues to redefine winter footwear by merging technical functionality with everyday wearability.

Beauty Articles

Electric Air

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Electric Air – D.S. & Durga Through the Eyes of a Scent Devotee text Sanna Riley images courtesy of DS & Durga As someone who’s deeply drawn to fragrance—perfume, oils, balms, anything that creates an atmosphere—I’ve learned how rare it is to find a scent that truly sticks. I make my own scented lotions at home, blending notes until they feel like a natural extension of my skin. That process has taught me how hard it actually is to create something people connect with on a real level. Because of that, I’m always pulled toward perfume houses that take risks and push past the expected. That’s where D.S. & Durga comes in. Their world feels big—sometimes almost overwhelming—but that’s part of what makes it exciting. Some scents hit me immediately; others take time, and I end up circling back to them later. I like that. Not everything needs to be instantly likable. Creativity shouldn’t be tidy or safe—it should be curious, a little wild, and willing to explore. D.S. & Durga fully embraces thatmindset. One of my personal favorites is Concrete After Lightning. It feels charged, like the exact moment the air cracks open after a storm hits pavement. Sharp. Fresh. Electric. It’s the kind of scent that stays with you, pulling you back to a specific memory the second you smell it again. What sets D.S. & Durga apart for me is how they approach storytelling. It comes through in the art, the playlists, and the photoshoots that surround some scent. The packaging is clean and smart—modern.Pairing fragrance with music adds another layer altogether, turning each scentinto a full experience rather than just something you spray on. D.S. & Durga isn’t just making perfume—they’re creating worlds, moods, and moments. And for those of us who are always chasing atmosphere and memory through scent, that’s something worth paying attention to.

Art

Virtual Serenity – Engineering Empathy

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Virtual Serenity – Engineering Empathy with Sean Hogg text Dante Grossfeld The Waldorf Project / FUTURO – X (Thailand, 2019) In 2012, during one of his Waldorf Project performance art pieces in London (where all their performances except for the 2018 Stockholm performance, 2019 Thailand performance, and 2019 Lufthansa performance have taken place), founder Sean Rogg did something remarkable: he successfully manufactured empathy in a group of 40 people. By using sight, sound and touch to subject the participants of his experiment to anxiety and, as he puts it, “trauma,” followed by a state of euphoria, he managed to create a strong emotional bond between them. Many began to weep, others held hands. This went on for almost exactly eight minutes, before the mood abruptly changed and things “went back to normal.” The next time he performed the experiment, the same thing happened again, and it went on for eight minutes. As well as the next after that. The participants all developed a close emotional bond stemming from shared trauma and euphoria, but it never lasted more than eight minutes. Since then, Rogg’s goal has been to develop a method of engineering empathy on a larger scale, with more people and for a longer period of time. His next experiment to this end, Virtual Serenity, will be held at Sergel Hub in Stockholm on the 26th and 27th of April, and will incorporate VR technology, a tool which Rogg believes will open up many new possibilities. The Waldorf Project / FUTURO – X (Thailand, 2019) The Waldorf Project / Virtual Serenity Test (Berlin, 2024)     Upon entering the Sergel Hub venue, located in the heart of Stockholm, right around the corner from Sergels Torg, I am greeted by a massive industrial interior, reminiscent of a renovated warehouse. Usually this space is reserved for conferences, but with this project, as Rogg explains, Sergel Hub will make its debut into the world of art. On a bar counter along one side of the room lies a collection of 300 VR headsets. Rogg explains that these will all be linked together through a series of complex systems in order to create a network of connection throughout the room, where participants will be seated in groups of four. In previous experiments, Rogg has employed immersive theater, contemporary dance, and molecular gastronomy in order to design an experience, but this time VR is his tool of choice. “If you boil it right down, it’s about human connection. The technology is just a tool to connect. So it’s not about having a VR experience, it’s about connection,” he says. The use of VR technology with biometric sensors will allow the experience to be personalized for each person, adapting in order to elicit the desired emotional response. Each person will go on a unique journey, but, if everything goes according to plan, it will be one that draws them all closer to their group mates and to every other person in the room The Waldorf Project / FUTURO – X (Thailand, 2019) all images courtesy of Waldorf Project

Culinary

Bar Sotto: A New Glow Beneath L’Avventura

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Bar Sotto: A New Glow Beneath L’Avventura text Jahwanna Berglund images courtesy of Bar Sotto / Stureplans gruppen Hidden beneath the beloved L’Avventura, a new kind of nightlife has quietly come to life. Bar Sotto is Stockholm’s answer to Italo Disco, a space where Milano nostalgia, soft neon, marble accents, and shimmering disco balls set the tone for nights that slip effortlessly into the early hours. Stepping downstairs feels like entering a parallel world that invites you to sink into a sofa, order something bright and fruity, and let the music wrap around you. It is playful and nostalgic without feeling dated, and carries a members club kind of intimacy that only a basement bar can create. With its promise as Your Italo Disco Basement, Bar Sotto delivers exactly that — a warm, glowing hideaway for spontaneous drinks, late night dancing, and everything in between. bar sotto

Fashion Editorial

Go See

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Go See photography Nina Holma  fashion Åsa Maria Camnert hair & makeup Elva Ahlbin & Petra Stenhammar models Sam E, Elsa W, Elisabet T, Niyat G/ MIKAS and Agnes B/ Le Managment  post production Christina Fjellström/Studio Fjellström  photography assistants Madeleine Sjöberg & Derek Härling fashion assistants Siv Nordin &  Levi Sebastian Martinez dress Clémentine Ollivier shoes YSL Agnes wears dress & gloves Stylist studio Elisabet wears earrings Ennui dress Ganni Sam wears top Jade Cropper leather skirt Jade Cropper transparent skirt Stylist Studio jacket Clémentine Ollivier corset Hodakova skirt Clémentine Ollivier   beret Stand Studio jacket Stand Studio earrings Clémentine Ollivier suit Victoria Chan shoes Balenciaga earrings Clémentine Ollivier dress Baum und Pferdgarten shoes Stylist Studio Elsa wears body Gestuz belt Roberto Cavalli gloves Stylist Studio tights Swedish Stockings Niyat wears top Woolford scarf Stylist Studio skirt Baum und Pferdgarten dress Clémentine Ollivier dress Kristin Svensson shoes Acne Studios jacket  Stand Studio skirt Jade Cropper bracelets David Andersson Jewelry shoes Prada Agnes wears scarf Ida Sjöstedt jacket Gestuz Elisabeth wears jacket HJRT skirt Malene Birger Niyat wears shirt Stylist Studio suit Gestuz trenchcoat HJRT bag Gestuz Elsa wears jacket & trousers Baum und Pferdgarten shirt Samsoe Samsoe full look Ida Sjöstedt

Opiates

CELINE Introduces the LULU: A Study in Effortless Purity

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CELINE Introduces the LULU: A Study in Effortless Purity image courtesy of CELINE CELINE unveils the LULU, a new silhouette that distills the house’s quiet confidence into a single sculptural gesture. The crescent like form is anchored by a discreet interpretation of the Triomphe signature, offering a softer and more intimate expression of the emblem’s legacy. Crafted in soft grained calfskin and shaped using the meticulous sewn back technique, where pieces are assembled inside out to create a naturally rounded hand, the LULU is designed to move with the wearer. Available in black, rice and glacier, the compact shape shifts seamlessly between hand held ease, shoulder nonchalance and cross body practicality. More than an accessory, the LULU reflects CELINE’s ongoing pursuit of modern simplicity, understated, supple and quietly iconic.

Opiates

Christian Louboutin Cruise 2026

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Christian Louboutin Cruise 2026 images courtesy of Louboutin Christian Louboutin’s Cruise 2026 collection traces the designer’s enduring love affair with the performing arts, weaving together theatrical whimsy and refined sensuality. Bathed in colour, movement and a quiet sense of spectacle, the collection channels the pulse of performance through playful textures and sculptural silhouettes. At its core is the Cassia line — a ballet-inspired series reinterpreted with contemporary finesse, embodying the maison’s vision of graceful femininity and effortless allure. The theme carries into the men’s offering as well, where the Ruben shoe introduces a fresh expression of theatrical sophistication within men’s footwear.

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