Profile

Isabelle Bellis's facials go beyond the requisite cleanse, extract, and treat regimen. Her space, the penthouse floor of a townhouse on a quiet, residential block on the Upper East Side, is very different from a bustling spa. After clients complete a lengthy questionnaire inquiring about product usage, diet, stress levels, and so on, Bellis, a native of France with a strong French accent and luminous skin, escorts you from the spacious, chicly bohemian reception area to the sole treatment room in the back. In line with her European attitude (rather than the New York mantra of in-and-out services), Bellis's treatments take roughly two hours, starting with a lengthy breathing exercise and scalp massage so that clients are completely relaxed before serums from the Joelle Ciocco product line are applied. Next there's a massage, the use of a cupping machine to rid the skin of toxins, a few extractions, another massage, and more massage, leaving you supple, glowing, and possibly fast asleep. — Randi Eichenbaum

Appointments are hard to come by; book at least six to eight weeks in advance.