Skin Care for a Red-Carpet Glow

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While I treat my skin well — cleansing nightly, maintaining a diet that mitigates breakouts, and trying to remain as sun-safe as possible — you’ll rarely find me stepping foot in a skin clinic for regular facials. The reasons for this were once myriad (no time; journalist’s salary; etc.), but the tide recently turned when I booked an appointment with none other than Joanna Vargas, a bicoastal esthetician who owns three booming spas across Hollywood and NYC and has touched the faces of everyone from Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal to Dakota Johnson, Sofia Coppola, and Naomi Watts.

Vargas is part of the old guard when it comes to celebrity facialists, but she nonetheless chases innovation with a vehemence. The timing of my visit to witness her tried-and-true techniques couldn’t have been better, considering the Oscars were right around the corner: one of the busiest times for Vargas, who starts prepping clients’ skin way in advance and puts the finishing, camera-ready touches on their complexions right before they get in the car and head to the Dolby Theater.

“It’s very common for me to see someone in NYC for prep steps and then again in LA for the final glow-up,” Vargas tells WWD. “People often start thinking months in advance depending on what we’re working on and what their personal goals are.”

The day of my own glow-up, I introduced myself to Vargas, and she immediately led me to one of her studio’s inner chambers: a room where throwback jams (no white noise here!) were playing over the speakers, soft-pink couches chic-ified the space, and a variety of contraptions — microcurrent machines and the like — sat silently behind the esthetician bed.

Vargas, equal parts talkative and professionally restrained, started by examining my every pore under a light. Her verdict? My blackheads and intermittent pimples needed a good ol’ fashioned extraction, which is most definitely not advisable the morning of the Oscars (but, given that I’m neither an actress, director, nor costume designer, this rule didn’t apply in my case). She worked with impressive dexterity, thanks to the kind of muscle memory that comes from training your hand for decades. Supplementing the procedure, Vargas used her brand’s skin care salves and saviors on my face. Some products smelled, gloriously, like a just-picked citrus fruit; others blessed my skin with a much-needed cooling sensation, and I felt like my face was depuffing in real time.

Then came time for a shortened version of Vargas’ magnum opus: the Triple Crown Classic Facial that celebrities have stayed loyal to across dozens of awards seasons. With two little gadgets that looked like face rollers, Vargas initiated a microcurrent therapy meant to tone facial muscles and amp up skin’s collagen production. I felt a consistent flow of tiny zaps, which didn’t hurt at all but simply signified that the woman in charge was doing her thing. After drawing strategic circles around exactly half of my face — forehead, cheekbone, jaw, and even décolletage for good measure — Vargas handed me a mirror.

“Look at the difference,” she said, first pinching the affected part of my face and then the still-uninitiated one. The former barely budged, so chiseled it was after mere minutes.

One of my other favorite parts of Vargas’ red carpet facial: the pure oxygen blast, which mimicked something your dentist might do to your teeth during a routine cleaning. Staying one step ahead of the rest always, Vargas infuses the O2 flow with green tea, vitamins, and aloe.

After the hour was over, the word that repeated itself in my head as I gazed at my reflection was “dewy.” My skin was quenched and cleansed at once, and Vargas’ fluency in her craft made the time absolutely fly by.

While the Triple Crown is currently Vargas’ bread and butter, she reports that regulars have been increasingly turning to the Glass Skin Facial (which merges “salmon DNA with non-invasive lifting,” according to her) and the Cellstory procedure (“like microneedling with sea sponge”). A fan of cutting-edge technologies and ancient health secrets alike, Vargas has also introduced a XERF machine into her spa, which harnesses radio frequency to tighten up the skin. Think no-surgery-needed face lift paired with the “cumulative benefit of long-term collagen stimulation.” No wonder Kim Kardashian has tried it out for herself.

Notably, Vargas also complements her facials with the Body Booster: a leg compression gizmo that promotes lymphatic drainage, builds immunity, and speeds up healing.

Throughout my time at Vargas’ Midtown Manhattan outpost, she never once mentioned an A-list client directly. The simple reason for that? Vargas wants her brand to speak for itself. “Whether it’s my skin care formulas, my book, or my patented LED bed, the impact I value most is that I’ve led with innovation and thinking beyond the usual boundaries of an esthetician,” she shares.

Vargas’ first-ever salon landed in Manhattan circa 2006, with a West Coast expansion following and a Brooklyn location opening its doors only last year. The through line connecting these ventures has been Vargas’ reliance on a skin care brand she launched in 2011. Stocked everywhere from Amazon and Bluemercury to Shopbop and Dermstore, the Joanna Vargas assortment boasts a trinity of hero products that beauty gurus have been using religiously for years: the Vitamin C Face Wash, the Daily Serum, and the Exfoliating Mask.

As she pampered my skin with these and other plant-based topicals, I developed an incredible feeling of well-being. Clearly, the textures, smells, and immediate after-effects of Vargas’ eponymous product line, combined with her magic touch, is what kept the Mindy Kalings, Laura Derns, and Julianne Moores of the world coming back to Vargas’ studios for more.

Hollywood insiders have been entrusting their faces to Vargas for events like the Met Gala, Actor Awards, Critics Choice Awards, Academy Awards, and beyond, but you don’t need to be a household name or live in California or New York to experience what she has to offer. Besides the three marquee products above, Vargas sells everything you need to optimize your skin’s health online — from bar soap to wrinkle-fighting moisturizer — and her selections are also available at select luxury hotels around the world (not to mention having recently appeared as part of special-edition vanity kits in American Airlines’ premium cabins).

You might not be walking in front of a step and repeat anytime soon, but looking like it just got a whole lot easier.

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Meet the Author

Stacia Datskovska is a Senior Commerce Writer at WWD. Previously, she worked at ELLE DECOR as an assistant digital editor, covering all things luxury, culture, and lifestyle through a design lens. Her bylines over the past five years have appeared in USA Today, Baltimore Sun, Teen Vogue, Boston Globe, Food & Wine, and more. Prior to joining ELLE DECOR, Datskovska learned the ins and outs of e-commerce at Mashable, where she tested products, covered tentpole sales events, and curated gift guide roundups. She graduated from NYU with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and international relations. Datskovska regularly reports on beauty trends, celebrities’ skin care routines, and what’s worth shopping to get the look at home.