Sammi Lim's Belle Mi: The property dealmaker's one-stop wellness sanctuary

Since Sammi Lim opened Belle Mi last August, she has not washed her own hair once.

“I no longer wash my own hair at home,” she says. “I come here, get my hair washed, then I go home.”

It is a small indulgence, but it captures the essence of Belle Mi: that looking after yourself should be woven into the day, not squeezed out of it.

Every fortnight for the past two decades, the founder and executive director of the boutique real estate agency Brilliance Capital has kept the same appointment: a facial.

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The ritual began when she was 21, when a bout of acne led her to seek professional skincare ahead of her sister’s wedding. What started as a solution to her skin concerns soon evolved into a passion for beauty and wellness.

Manicures, pedicures, eyelash extensions, eyebrow embroidery and massages became her routine. “I was always so busy, but I still made sure I had ‘me time’,” she recalls.

The problem was logistics. Her favourite therapists were in different locations. Each appointment meant travelling to yet another salon. “Whenever I went for a treatment, I would tell my therapist I could stay for only an hour because I had to rush to the next place,” she relates. “I kept thinking, ‘Why can’t someone be doing my nails while I’m having my facial?’”

A sanctuary, not just a salon

That thought became Belle Mi (which translates to “Beautiful Me”, says Lim), a one-stop beauty and wellness salon.

Belle Mi occupies a ground-floor unit of about 1,400 sq ft on Killiney Road. The shop unit was formerly home to ABC Bakery for decades. The premises underwent an extensive renovation, with Lim investing a “mid-six-figure sum” to convert it into a beauty and wellness centre.

The design allows for flexibility. The main area features oversized armchairs designed to accommodate several services at once — eyelash extensions, a manicure and pedicure, or a hair spa and foot massage.

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There are also treatment rooms for those who want privacy, as well as a VIP room, which is larger and comes with an en suite bathroom. Customers can have their hair spas, facials and, most recently, massage services, including aromatherapy, gua sha (a traditional Chinese massage using jade or quartz), and foot reflexology.

Belle Mi added massage services to its menu after repeated requests, says Lim. Clients can choose to have multiple treatments at once or spend an unhurried afternoon working through them one by one.

“I wanted to create a sanctuary where all the services could be enjoyed under one roof,” she says. “A place that combines convenience, efficiency and quality, while allowing people to slow down and enjoy self-care at their own pace.”

Setting the mood

Beyond interior design and creating the right ambience, the service is just as important, Lim acknowledges. Drawing on her 20 years as a customer, she recruited therapists she had personally trusted for as long. “I thought, why not bring these trusted professionals together under one roof?”

She spent the first six months hiring and refining before settling on a full-time team that shares her philosophy: proper consultation, honest advice and treatments suited to the individual.

The space has become more than just a beauty salon: it is also a place to socialise. It has hosted mother-and-daughter afternoons, events for couples and families, and hen parties and birthday celebrations. On one occasion, children tagging along with their mothers threw a mini party of their own, where they also had their nails done.

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Right from the start, Lim had consulted a minority business partner for his view. “I wanted a man’s perspective on the design because I want Belle Mi to focus on wellness, not just beauty,” she says. And she also wanted it to appeal to both men and women.

Although women remain the salon’s primary clientele, men now account for about 15% to 20% of its customer base, a figure she has seen steadily increase in recent months. “Men are interested in wellness too,” she says.

Passion project turned business

Belle Mi started as a passion project as she had been toying with the idea for nearly a decade. “But passion alone is not enough to sustain a business,” she says.

It was the pandemic that motivated her to start a business centred on beauty and wellness. “During Covid, I had time to reflect on what I wanted in life,” she says.

The year 2020 also saw Lim launch her own boutique real estate agency Brilliance Capital.

She had spent nine years at CBRE, where she rose to become the director of capital markets. She then left to become CEO of JK Global Capital, a private investment vehicle of James Koh, the founder and executive chairman of Fragrance Group, a property developer, investor and hotelier.

But after launching Brilliance Capital, Lim did not think that running two nascent businesses was tenable. “I knew I had to stabilise one before starting the other.” So, she put Belle Mi on hold.

Location: ‘Best of both worlds’

When Brilliance Capital turned five last year, Lim decided she was finally ready to focus some of her attention on Belle Mi. To her, the most important aspect was location. It had to be convenient and accessible.

She chose the ground-floor unit at 118 Killiney Road because of its wide street frontage. In the vicinity are also apartments and condos in the prime District 9. Naturally, Belle Mi’s clientele includes residents in the area.

It is also the beneficiary of walk-ins from hotel guests at the neighbouring 115-key boutique lifestyle hotel, Mama Shelter Singapore, which opened last October. “I’m not just serving local customers, but tourists as well,” says Lim.

The Orchard Grand Court serviced apartment block directly opposite offers ample parking space. Across the road is a row of shophouses with eateries. “Shophouses are so close to my heart because of the property side of my business,” she says.

A short walk away is the Somerset MRT Station and a cluster of malls, including TripleOne Somerset, 313@Somerset, Orchard Gateway and Orchard Central.

The wellness centre, therefore, attracts a diverse customer base comprising tourists, nearby residents and office workers, says Lim. “I was drawn to the location because it offers the best of both worlds. It’s close to Somerset and Orchard, but away from the hustle of the main shopping belt.”

Lim believes a catalyst in the neighbourhood will be the $3 billion Comcentre redevelopment, which will include an underground pedestrian link to Somerset MRT Station, further increasing accessibility and footfalls.

For Lim, Belle Mi has become her “happy place”. She hopes it will be her customers’ happy place too — “where they feel welcome, genuinely comfortable and cared for”.

As it turns out, there is real business in the simple luxury of having someone else wash your hair.