If, by definition, ‘haute couture’ means “superior craftsmanship, bespoke tailoring and time-consuming, hand-executed techniques using the most expensive materials,” never has a spa service had a more apt moniker than Dior’s Haute Couture Facial Treatment.
The lavish facial, co-designed with celebrity aesthetician Sarah Akram, incorporates a plethora of high-tech, big-gun complexion saviors customized to leave skin plump, firm and glowing. While the $1,300 service debuted with the recently opened spa at New York City’s Dior flagship on 57th street, this season, Akram took her show on the road to the hottest of hot spots on the Cote d’Azur, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, before heading to the Cannes Film Festival and tending to top celebs including Ruth Negga at the exclusive Dior Beauty Suite at the hotel Le Majestic.
As luck would have it, GRAZIA scored a coveted appointment with the master while she was in residence.
The morning of my service, I padded through the beautifully manicured gardens of the Hotel du Cap, winding my way along rose vine-studded paths towards the Dior Spa Eden-Roc. It’s no wonder why the next season of White Lotus is set on the French Riviera; even the flora here looks like a billion.
After checking in, I sipped a lovely rose water-infused “wellness elixir” (in a chic Dior cannage-patterned cut crystal shot glass, natch) while I tapped my skincare concerns into a sleek iPad. Then I was brought to my own private dressing room to change, and finally into the skincare pro’s treatment room.
Akram, petite and astonishingly pretty, has the kind of flawless, hyper-even complexion that looks as if it was run through a Paris filter. Clad in a Dior striped shirtdress and kitten heels, she got right down to business and asked extensive questions about my skin behavior and goals. Taking into consideration that I’d just had an in-clinic monopolar radiofrequency XERF treatment, Akram chose to focus on lifting and firming protocols to maximize my results, while improving skin quality.
Over the next 90 minutes, the Washington D.C.-based pro — who’s tended to the complexions of Angela Bassett and Robert Pattinson — set to work to redefine my facial contours. After a deep cleanse, she incorporated a bespoke combination of facial massage, cold laser, ultrasound, micro-current, LED, cryotherapy tools and an oxygen infusion, using a customized machine she helped design specifically for this treatment.
She finished with serums from the Dior Prestige line — La Micro-Huile de Rose for face and Le Micro-Serum de Rose Yeux Activated on eyes — plus a refreshing spritz of the new La Micro-Brume de Rose facial mist.
The results were major: My jawline and cheekbones were super-sculpted and my complexion looked smoother and more luminous, the little lines along my upper lip (the trouble spot that drives me crazy) noticeably plumped up. But more than anything, I left Akram’s treatment room feeling like I’d just experienced something next-level luxurious and tailored precisely to my needs and desires — in other words… haute couture.
