Winter is traditionally a time for dry skin, but for some of us, the arid season never seems to end. So when The Spa at Delamar Greenwich Harbor — part of a family of Delamar spas — invited us in for a facial, we couldn’t resist.
We had been to the Greenwich spa to sample some of the products in its full complement of services for May 2014 WAG’s Chic Choices feature. We also savored some tea in The Spa’s lavender and periwinkle Relaxation Room with its delightful aviary-themed wallpaper.
So we had a taste of the relaxation and rejuvenation in store. Now our actual spa experience would deliver all that and more.
We put ourselves in the subtle, skilled hands of spa supervisor Stephanie Torres — who in addition to being licensed to give facials, body treatments and massages is a former equestrian conversant with animal massage. Stephanie would bring that refined sense of touch to a series of purifying, hydrating, targeted and radiance products from Valmont, a luxe Swiss antiaging line. (The spa also partners with Biologique Recherche, a French skin-care line.)
Valmont is also known for the butterfly technique with which its products are applied — a sweeping, upward motion designed to work against gravity to relax and re-energize you. Stephanie would use this movement in most of the various products she applied to my face, neck and décolletage, beginning with the White Falls fluid cleansing cream. This was followed by Vital Falls invigorating toner.
One of the mistakes people make in their skin-care rituals, Stephanie says, is to neglect applying toner after cleansing their faces in the morning and evening, often because they think it will be too drying. (Guilty on that front.) If so, Stephanie says to look for one that has rose oil, or another oil, instead of alcohol.
The next step was the Face Scrub revitalizing exfoliating cream, a morning product that Stephanie massaged into the skin with tiny circles, avoiding the eye area. After she rinsed this off thoroughly, it was time for the Prime Renewing Pack instant rebalancing mask — which is applied in a thick layer and left on for 20 minutes, the excess being removed with a clean, dampened cloth. This is a great protective, rejuvenating product for frequent fliers, Stephanie says, as it goes on clear — so you won’t be frightening fellow passengers the way Julia Roberts, sporting a cakey green mask she fell asleep in, startled Rupert Everett in “My Best Friend’s Wedding.”
From that mask we moved to another evening product, the Moisturizing With a Mask instant thirst-quenching mask, to be used twice a week in a thick layer, avoiding the eye contour. After 20 minutes, Stephanie removed the excess, which can be done with a soft tissue or by rinsing. Then it was time for the Clarifying Infusion illuminating face serum followed by the Hydra 3 Regenetic hydration activator concentrate. (The Hydra 3 Regenetic products are particularly good for dry skin, Stephanie says.)
If it seems as if our eyes and lips were being neglected, they weren’t. Stephanie dabbed on the Prime Contour eye and lip contour corrective treatment with her fingertips, before applying the Clarifying Surge illuminating face cream and the Hydra 3 Regenetic prolonged hydration cream over our face and neck. In applying creams like these, she says, don’t forget the back of the neck.
Stephanie completed our facial with the Just Time Perfection tinted antiaging complex enhancer cream. One look in the mirror told us this would be a great product if you’re on the go sans makeup. But being the high-maintenance diva that we are, we just had to top it all off with our own full “Memoirs of a Geisha”-style palette — smoky eyes, crimson lips.
Thanks to our facial at The Spa at Delamar, our makeup glided along the contours of a renewed, dewy landscape.
There’s also a spa in the Delamar Southport and one that is scheduled to open with the Delamar West Hartford in 2017. For more, visit delamargreenwich.com.
