Gita Gabriel

Profile

When Wes Anderson wrote The Royal Tenenbaums he included a part for his favorite facialist, Gita Gabriel. (She is immortalized treating Gene Hackman.) The petite esthetician-for-the-elite—who could easily be mistaken for a Gabor offspring—has been taking care of the sensitive skin of the celebrated since 1978, when she arrived in the US from her native Hungary. Gabriel offers endermologie, makeup application, relatively ouchless waxing, and nail and tanning treatments, but it’s her anti-aging facials that have made her famous among beauty cognoscenti. Clients value her combination of old world training and cutting-edge technique, and the fact that Gabriel supplements years of European education with frequent refresher courses from the world’s top skin care companies. Located inside a discreet Upper East Side office building, her cheery yellow spa is tricked out with the latest skin toning and microdermabrasion equipment and stocked with premium products from Syence and Institut Esthederm, which are used in treatments and available for sale. Her able assistants have up to thirty years of experience, which is fortunate, since getting an appointment with Gita herself is more difficult than reserving for dinner at Daniel. — Eve Gerber