While we cope with inflation and a topsy-turvy stock market, entrepreneurs and clients alike are not neglecting the $19.42 billion skincare industry, which is expected to grow annually by 4.96%.
No wonder spas, both dermatological and nonmedical, are blossoming all over the region. Recently, we told you about how The Opus, Westchester in White Plains is positioning itself to be an urban resort, partly through its new Opus Spa and other wellness offerings.
Meanwhile, Greenwich Medical Spa has just opened locations in”¯Glastonbury and West Hartford. (The medical spa”™s other locations include one in Scarsdale.)”¯
And Ever/Body has opened a fifth cosmetic dermatology studio in the resurging Vernon Hills Shopping Center in Eastchester.
We”™ll have more on all this in an upcoming feature in the Westchester and Fairfield County Business Journals, but in the meantime, we wanted to let you know about our fabulous experience at the Valmont Spa at The Carlyle in Manhattan. Area spa enthusiasts are no doubt familiar with Valmont products from visits to the spas at the Delamar Greenwich Harbor, Southport and West Hartford. The luxe Swiss skincare company uses Alpine glacial waters, botanicals, minerals, peptides and a patented form of cellulotherapy, among other ingredients, to reduce the signs of aging. (The company also creates some cosmetic products and perfumes.)
The Valmont Spa at The Carlyle had us from the moment we entered the changing area and saw a black-and-white photograph of zaftig women in bathing suits in a sauna. That put us at ease, as did the warm treatment room and the gentle ministrations of aesthetician and skin therapist Hitomi Batt during the 90-minute Firmness of the Hills facial. While we would”™ve been delighted to fall asleep and let her work her magic, we chatted about the best Valmont products for everything from exfoliation (she recommended the LumiMask) to dark circles (L”™Elixir des Glacier Vos Yeux, an eye cream from a line with an intoxicating, yummy scent).
Unlike some other facials we”™ve had, this one included a particularly effective face and neck massage that we felt all the way down to our legs. Not only did our skin look more even and radiant at the end but a knot of tension subsided.)
Afterward, we enjoyed some Champagne, raspberry macaroons and a conversation with another guest in the relaxation room. A most unconventional lunch, but then, isn”™t a little oasis of calm, escape and aesthetics in an ever-changing world what you look for in a spa?
