Schön! alive 2 | viva vitality

Aēsop Immaculate Facial Tonic

The winter months are well upon us. Grooming, in this season of shorter days and more intense weather, is less about transformation and more about rhythm – celebrating the beauty of small rituals that keep the senses feeling awake, looked after. It’s the gestures and products that make you feel like there is an anchor to the day, and always come with a bit of pleasure added in. Where better to look for inspiration, than the frontrunners and innovators in the realm of men’s beauty? Looking through seasonal releases, it’s clear that masculinity is leaning into that self-kindness: these are textures that cajole rather than smoulder, perfumes that accompany rather than shout. The boutique brands that cater to the men’s routine are all about intimacy and personality, bringing a sense of craft and precision to the art of grooming rather than following trends and tendencies. From artisanal historical houses, to those reinventing what masculinity is all about, this Schön! Alive guide hones in on what makes 2025 such a fascinating panorama for grooming.

L’Artisan Parfumeur | Histoire d’Orangers Extrême

Our first seasonal coup de coeur is from L’Artisan Parfumeur with their return to the beloved orange blossom? This Extrême edition is a beautiful, poetic tribute to the sun – to keep it with you during the long months of cold. Histoire d’Orangers Extrême deepens the original’s composition, infusing it with a pink pepper sparkle and a hint of cedar. This bottle, created by perfumer Marie Salamagne, balances contrasts that Schön! feels are perfect for the dark, melancholic streets of Paris in winter: the memories of summer, of sun-kissed walks, accompany you with suggestions of blooms and the powerful bitterness of orange blossom. Bring this poetic infusion that glows and smoulders to your seasonal favourites. 

Discover the L’Artisan Parfumeur perfumes here.

Aēsop | Skin Care+ Rituals

Skincare is safe in the hands of Aēsop, with formulations that provide all the indulgence and effective care needed for a solid grooming routine. For winter months, Lucent Facial Concentrate is Aēsop’s lightweight answer to deep hydration – an aqueous serum enriched with vitamin C and sodium carrageenan to brighten, tone and bring sustained moisture to the skin, without weight or shine. This is an ideal component for anyone who avoids heavy creams. Paired with Immaculate Facial Tonic – a gentle, daily resurfacing toner and smooths texture through a soft enzymatic exfoliation, this is a routine for men with a sense of precision. Combined, these Aēsop products creates noticeable refinement over time: the result is skin that simply looks well cared for. Top it off with the brand’s signature blend of rose, sandalwood and frankincense, and you have a ritual catering for a sensual but never showy man. Aēsop provides skincare tools for anyone who appreciates the quiet pleasure of good ingredients used well.

Discover the Aēsop range here.

Horace | Everyday Rituals, Elevated
Having revolutionised the grooming scene, Horace is continuing a quiet but confident takeover of the bathroom shelf with down-to-earth essentials that actually really, really work. In the fragrance realm, Vetiver Primavera arrives as a fresh, green-leaning eau de parfum – humble but confident. For winter, the new Horace lip balm is the perfect companion to keep hydration high during winter, while the compact, eco-conscious Mandarin Vetiver balm is your hands’ biggest friend for cold winter weather. A particularly chic addition to these staples is the collaboration with MoMA Design Store, which marks Horace’s U.S. debut. These co-branded soaps and hand washes are scented with soft woods, sage, citrus and musk. A wildly sensory addition to your routine that feels so honest that it’s like having a daily friend you can trust. Anywhere you go.

Discover the Horace range here.

Altesse | La Brosse d’une Vie
At Altesse Studio, savoir-faire has been handed down through generations. This is a house that enhances your rituals with heirlooms. As the last French family brushmakers, Altesse is a house that crafts each olive-wood tool by hand using natural and upcycled materials. Your grooming rituals, with Altesse, are designed to last a lifetime, not a season. For the beard bearers, Schön! suggests the signature 2-in-1 hair and beard brush turns grooming into something slower and more intentional. Caring for your facial hair with Altesse means curating natural gloss with each stroke. This is the kind of quiet luxury that we stand for: quality that resists the passing of time, and brings artisanal excellence to your everyday.

Discover Altesse here.

Dries Van Noten | Havana Gold
The Schön! team has been fervent admirers of the Dries Van Noten fragrances for years. With the latest release – Havana Gold – the journey is even more atmospheric: tobacco smoke drifting into the sweetness of licorice, with a pulse of amber underneath which brings depth and poetry to the composition. Perfumer Jordi Fernández has bottled the heat of Cuba: with a mise-en-scène that is revealed through tones and sensations, Havana Gold is a sensual, generous, mysterious offering. This is a scent that can be a memory and a dream, a desire and a journey. One thing is sure: its enthralling tones will make you travel. 

Discover Havana Gold by Dries Van Noten here.

Davines | Pasta & Love
When it comes to keeping the summer energy during winter months, you need look no further than Davines. The Pasta & Love Davines line is the perfect way to celebrate the slow-living Italian bon vivant. Inspired by a man who bikes, lingers over espresso, and takes pleasure in the small rituals done well, Pasta & Love has all the basics you need for a daily routine. The expanded range brings the same philosophy to shaving and beard care: citrus-bright notes, refined textures, and bottles designed to be kept, not discarded. Grooming here is not about hiding, perfecting, or performing – it’s all about the joy and energy of love, intimacy and self. Something Davines does so wonderfully.

Discover Pasta & Love by Davines here.

Loewe | The Crafted Collection
With the shift in the house’s creative direction, we also feel like this is the moment Loewe will reinvent beauty. Loewe’s Crafted Collection is the new offering from the iconic house, with an elevated sense of craft. The Crafted Collection is like taking a moment to pause in a perfumer’s atelier. With sculptural glass and granite bottle designs, each fragrance is built around a raw material, expressed with depth and clarity. In terms of sensations and smells, it’s an architectural ode to deep sensations: roasted Vanilla pairs sweetness with oakwood’s intrinsic warmth; Iris Root brings powder and herbaceous green lifted by Timut pepper; Bittersweet Oud shifts between resin, bitter orange zest and sandalwood cream. In the realm of unisex fragrances, these are compositions with ambition, personality and poetry – compositions that feel like objects of study, conversation, and desire. Schön! wholeheartedly approves.

Discover The Crafted Collection by Loewe here.

Dr. Barbara Sturm | Face Cream

The simplest routines are sometimes the best: Dr. Barbara Sturm strips skincare back to what actually matters. For men looking for a grooming discipline that can be done with ease, efficiency, and impact, the Face Cream for Men does all three. Lightweight and quick to absorb, it delivers a clean hit of hydration without residue. Purslane and skullcap – Sturm’s go-to anti-inflammatory heroes – are perfect to calm post-shave irritation and defend against daily stress factors. Using this on a daily basis leaves skin balanced, smooth, and revived. It’s skincare that fits the rhythm of a morning routine, not the other way around.

Discover the Dr. Barbara Sturm Face Cream For Men here.

words. Patrick Clark

For some reason, there’s something about the Swiss Alps that immediately fills you with a deep sense of calm. Maybe it’s the snow-dusted mountains or the quaint architecture dotted around endless valleys. Or maybe it’s the storybook-like scenery. Speaking of stories, at the farthest reaches of the Bernese Oberland lies a quaint Swiss Alpine village named Wengen. Wengen is small, but its appeal is big: it overlooks the mystical Lauterbrunnen Valley — the very same valley that inspired J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. It’s a hidden beauty boasting exceptional landscape. And sitting right at the top of this village, overlooking everything and everyone, lies Wengen’s first five-star hotel: Grand Hotel Belvedere.

The hotel is not a new build. Grand Hotel Belvedere dates back to 1912, a former Art Nouveau hotel, it had been acquired by French hospitality group Beaumier (marking it as their first property in Switzerland) and was lovingly renovated before opening its doors in December 2024. Since it’s still so new, the hotel is still in its hidden-gem ‘if you know, you know’ phase. As expected from any historic building, Grand Hotel Belvedere’s exterior is oh-so-charming and quaint. Very Wes Anderson with its turquoise shutters, carved wood-fronted balconies and pastel lemon facade.

Inside, the decor is plush, cozy and chic with earthy palettes, lime-washed walls, wood panelling, pine furniture, charming local artwork and plush carpeting. With only 90 rooms and suites, the atmosphere is intimate and calm, and rooms are like staying in your own little snow cabin. With the abundance of windows throughout the property, you’re treated to captivating sweeping views of the Jungfrau everywhere, directly connecting guests with the mountainscape upon entry. And that’s where the hotel’s strong connection to its surroundings begins.

A stark contrast to the chocolate-box aesthetic of Grand Hotel Belvedere is the spa. Stripped of any frills and accoutrements, the spa is a brutalist concrete structure that somehow manages to blend seamlessly into its surroundings, offering views over the hotel’s gardens and forests. Inspired by Japanese onsens and the work of architect Peter Zumthor, brutalist architecture shouldn’t work for a spa, but it does.

The spa is large but covers the essentials: treatment cabins, a steam room, sauna, cold plunge, relaxation rooms and two heated pools: one indoor and one outdoor. By stripping back, its minimalist design and the mineral materials used actually create the ideal setting for total relaxation. They’re big on wellness and adventure at Grand Hotel Belvedere — from full moon yoga to treatments that use only organic Alpine ingredients to paragliding (it’s not unusual to see a paraglider drift by when having breakfast) to hiking — Wengen’s abundant nature is used to its full advantage.

This direct and intimate connection to the landscape is also woven into the food on offer. Hailing from the UK, chef Will Gordon is young at 33 and oversees the hotel’s food. A forager himself, Gordon is big on sourcing ingredients within a 100 km radius — right down to the caviar that’s taken from sturgeon bred in Swiss mountain waters — and picks ingredients himself daily in the nearby forest.

Although there’s the usual Swiss classics like the good old schnitzel, the majority of dishes are plant-based — probably because Will is a vegan himself — but it’s something refreshing and modern in the traditional alpine setting: think vegan fondue and sensational cauliflower steaks coated in Black-Forest miso sauce served atop a heap of Swiss lentils. There are quite a few Italian cooks in the kitchen, and the fresh pasta served here is out of this world. A standout is the handmade tagliatelle with truffle butter & 36-month aged Lauberhorn cheese. And don’t be fooled by the simple-sounding fruit salad as it’s anything but—playful and fresh, it stars seasonal fruits served five different ways: compressed, chewy, fresh, juiced and iced.

Tranquil and passionately eco-conscious, if you’re looking for an authentic mountain escape that’s strongly connected to Switzerland’s inimitable natural beauty, Grand Hotel Belvedere is a jewel that’s worth discovering.

Learn more about the Grand Hotel Belvedere at beaumier.com.

words. J. Bibi Cooper

Skincare is a personal ritual we indulge in twice a day. It is time to do something for yourself, after possibly a day of doing things for other people. A moving meditation of treatment and relaxation to help rejuvenate your skin and prevent some of the ravages of the environment and time. The experience can take as little or as long as you like, what you envelope your skin with can feel luxurious but also be backed by some of the most advanced science on the planet. Science is ever-evolving, and we now have access to some remarkable technology that helps repair, prevent, and protect our skin. We use the best we can to encourage confidence in our skin, especially on your face, the part of us people see first. It is our first impression.

View the full feature now, only in Schön! alive.

Natura Bissé.
Diamond Extreme Cream
Diamond Extreme Oil
Diamond Extreme Serum
naturabisse.com

Natura Bissé blend pioneering technology with a very high concentration of active ingredients to create their iconic Diamond Range. The range also works with your skin’s circadian rhythms to repair during the day and the night. Diamond Extreme reactivates your skin’s energy to give you an ageless complexion over time.

Hourglass.
Equilibrium Restoring Essence
Equilibrium Biometic Skin Active Serum Night
Equilibrium Restorative Hydrating Cream
Equilibrium Transformative Cleansing Balm
hourglasscosmetics.com

Hourglass have cult status as an era-defining cruelty-free brand. The launch of their perfectly curated skin care regimen has a loyal following among consumers and professionals. Their prolipid blend uses a vegan Phosphatidylglycerol to mimic the key ingredient in amniotic fluid that accelerates natural cell turnover.

Biologique Recherche.
ISO Placenta Serum
Collagen Originel Serum
Progeskin Serum
biologique-recherche.com

There is a serum to treat whatever your skin requires from Biologique Recherche. It is a visionary beauty house, the partnership of a Biologist and a Physiotherapist, and has become a global leader in transformative skincare.

left
Clé de Peau Beauté.
Precious Gold Vitality Serum
cledepeau-beaute.com
right
Omorovicza.
Elixir
Queen of Hungary Mist
Rejuvenating Night Cream
omorovicza.eu

Founded in Japan, to forge new frontiers in advanced skin cell science, Cle de Peau means “the key to skin’s beauty”. Their products are designed to support and enhance your skin’s microbiome and natural functions. The phenomenal new serum showcases their latest innovation in 24K Gold Retinol Complex, which resets skin fatigue and prevents oxidation

The Earth’s crust is thinner in Hungary, and so from the mineral-rich waters of the springs of Budapest, Omorovicza was created to harness the 26 minerals available into bioavailable molecules which your skin can absorb and utilise to improve. Each of the products are powdered by this innovative biotech encapsulation to achieve remarkable results in your skin.

Get your print copy of Schön! alive at Amazon.
Download your eBook.

photography. Weiyu Lin
art direction. Fei Yang
set design. Tanya K.
beauty edit. Emma White Turle