Summer Skin in the Saanenland
08.08.2015 Gstaad Living
But while in Switzerland, why not opt for something unique to nourish your skin? Gstaad has options ranging from naturally simple to simply high-tech, and everything in between.
Herbal Delight
Switzerland is well known for its beautiful mountains, covered with herbs, grasses, and flowers. Many of these plants have medicinal properties, and can be found as an active ingredient in locally made beauty products.
At Jardin des Monts (see our August profile interview on founder Charlotte Landolt-Nardin), flowers are both picked wild and cultivated on steep terraces high above Rossinière. After harvesting, the fragrant, dried plants are used in a collection of creams and oils. The Gstaad Palace Spa and Jardin des Monts have created a ritual that takes you to the heart of alpine nature. This treatment, made with 100% organic oils will pamper your skin with the detoxifying properties of sweet marjoram through a relaxing or a revitalizing massage.
Fit for a Queen
From Cleopatra’s famed milk baths to use of jade stones, the most attractive women of ancient times knew how to pamper their skin. They would be the first to line up at Le Grand Bellevue for a series of one-of-a-kind modern treatments given by Nicole Jonay, Le Grand Spa's enchanting beauty guru.
Jonay’s beauty studio is something between a zen temple and a NASA Lab. Ancient methods are still used. The elegant beauty expert will massage your face gently with a jade stone–which she says removes negativity and drains toxins–just like the Egyptian queen believed.
Alongside traditional remedies is a magic tool is called the LPG Ergolift, which provides a facelift without surgery or needles. The benefits of this cell-stimulation therapy are many–it activates circulation and provides a feeling of deep well-being.
From the Inside Out
GLOW! was started by two local friends with South American roots, Diana d’Hendecourt and Blanca Brillembourg. In addition to signature juices, GLOW! makes à la carte recipes for customers and designs bespoke smoothies to meet customers' specific needs.
All ingredients are organic, including the kale and wheatgrass grown here in the Saanenland. Freshly made everyday, the juices are blended with JAX coconut water, another product developed by Gstaad residents Jane and Max Gottschalk. Coconut water is billed as a hydrating, low calorie drink whose electrolyte level is similar to that of human blood. Adherents say juicing increases health by allowing the body to access nutrients more easily. By crushing the ingredient, enzymes hidden in the fiber matrix of whole fruits and vegetables are better absorbed as well.
While they now deliver their cleansing programs all over Switzerland through their online shop, here in Gstaad you have the chance to visit their original location, where you can work on your skin’s glow by sipping one of their delicious concoctions.
Beauty, Brazilian-Style
Oxygen is an essential element for maintaining the vitality of the skin and is necessary for skin regeneration. No one knows this better than the father of Brazilian plastic surgery Dr Ivo Pitanguy (read our cover interview from August 2014). The sprightly doc has been coming to Gstaad for decades and has ensured his line of skin treatments are available to those in the Saanenland.
At the Gstaad Palace, Clinica Ivo Pitanguy claims to provide anti-aging results by using oxygen to carry ingredients to the heart of the skin cells without needles. After an hour, deep wrinkles are filled, and the complexion is radiant.
But don't be put-off by a pricey facial. Dr Pitanguy’s inner circle of friends all know his best recipe, which is affordable for everyone. Take one drop of pure vitamin E, a drop of avocado oil, and mix together with any base cream for a beauty “fai-da-te” (hand-made beauty)
Herbal Delight
Switzerland is well known for its beautiful mountains, covered with herbs, grasses, and flowers. Many of these plants have medicinal properties, and can be found as an active ingredient in locally made beauty products.
At Jardin des Monts (see our August profile interview on founder Charlotte Landolt-Nardin), flowers are both picked wild and cultivated on steep terraces high above Rossinière. After harvesting, the fragrant, dried plants are used in a collection of creams and oils. The Gstaad Palace Spa and Jardin des Monts have created a ritual that takes you to the heart of alpine nature. This treatment, made with 100% organic oils will pamper your skin with the detoxifying properties of sweet marjoram through a relaxing or a revitalizing massage.
Fit for a Queen
From Cleopatra’s famed milk baths to use of jade stones, the most attractive women of ancient times knew how to pamper their skin. They would be the first to line up at Le Grand Bellevue for a series of one-of-a-kind modern treatments given by Nicole Jonay, Le Grand Spa's enchanting beauty guru.
Jonay’s beauty studio is something between a zen temple and a NASA Lab. Ancient methods are still used. The elegant beauty expert will massage your face gently with a jade stone–which she says removes negativity and drains toxins–just like the Egyptian queen believed.
Alongside traditional remedies is a magic tool is called the LPG Ergolift, which provides a facelift without surgery or needles. The benefits of this cell-stimulation therapy are many–it activates circulation and provides a feeling of deep well-being.
From the Inside Out
GLOW! was started by two local friends with South American roots, Diana d’Hendecourt and Blanca Brillembourg. In addition to signature juices, GLOW! makes à la carte recipes for customers and designs bespoke smoothies to meet customers' specific needs.
All ingredients are organic, including the kale and wheatgrass grown here in the Saanenland. Freshly made everyday, the juices are blended with JAX coconut water, another product developed by Gstaad residents Jane and Max Gottschalk. Coconut water is billed as a hydrating, low calorie drink whose electrolyte level is similar to that of human blood. Adherents say juicing increases health by allowing the body to access nutrients more easily. By crushing the ingredient, enzymes hidden in the fiber matrix of whole fruits and vegetables are better absorbed as well.
While they now deliver their cleansing programs all over Switzerland through their online shop, here in Gstaad you have the chance to visit their original location, where you can work on your skin’s glow by sipping one of their delicious concoctions.
Beauty, Brazilian-Style
Oxygen is an essential element for maintaining the vitality of the skin and is necessary for skin regeneration. No one knows this better than the father of Brazilian plastic surgery Dr Ivo Pitanguy (read our cover interview from August 2014). The sprightly doc has been coming to Gstaad for decades and has ensured his line of skin treatments are available to those in the Saanenland.
At the Gstaad Palace, Clinica Ivo Pitanguy claims to provide anti-aging results by using oxygen to carry ingredients to the heart of the skin cells without needles. After an hour, deep wrinkles are filled, and the complexion is radiant.
But don't be put-off by a pricey facial. Dr Pitanguy’s inner circle of friends all know his best recipe, which is affordable for everyone. Take one drop of pure vitamin E, a drop of avocado oil, and mix together with any base cream for a beauty “fai-da-te” (hand-made beauty)
Swiss Miss
Swiss dermatologist Dr Brigitta Cavegn has doctored up a scrub guaranteed to leave your skin smooth and supple. Scrubs are known to be hit and miss--larger grain scrubs with a lotion base don't leave skin as expertly cleaned and polished as one might like. Dr Cavegn, who looks at least two decades younger than she is, must have found the fountain of youth in her own scrub, B-SAND. Known as "The Power Peeling", the scrub manages the perfect grain size to exfoliate like a champ, and has the added benefit of alpha hydroxy acids to help skin renew itself. A tiny drop goes a long way, and a small tube can last six months or more.
No matter which path you choose–from the herbal and natural to the best modern technology–there is a wealth of treatments to enrich your skin in the Saanenland this summer. For more information please visit www.glowhealthbar.com, www.bellevue-gstaad.ch, www.palace.ch, and www.jardindesmonts.ch.