After selecting from an assortment of vintage perfume vials—each filled with a natural oil from a nearby herboristerie—Biard sets to work. Quickly lulled into a meditative state by her deft hands, I have to take her word for what follows: a four-part protocol—warming, draining, stimulating, and what she refers to as “redesigning” the visage—that she tailors to the individual.
“The approach is always different,” Biard stresses, noting that she will emphasize light, rapid strokes to energize the complexion or deep, slow movements to decrease bloating (and in my case, the less-than-desirable side effects of an overly decadent dinner at L’Ami Louis the night before)—but the effect is invariably transformative. Upon glancing in the studio’s vintage, bow-adorned mirror just 60 minutes after I collapsed onto her table, my eyes are bright; my face is lifted—sculpted, even; and despite the fact that I’ve been battling a particularly bad bout of jet lag, I feel rested. That she also sends this weary world traveler on her way with a glow worthy of only the City of Light is, as we say en englais, the proverbial cherry on top.
Photo: Courtesy of Anouk Biard