All good things must come to an end, and after six months of the Biologique Recherche’s Haute Couture facial, my last appointment had sadly arrived. The Haute Couture facial both begins and ends with a facial with Dr. Allouche and so, one hot afternoon last week, I head to the Four Seasons Spa to see the doctor one last time.

The treatment begins with one final check-up. I had already noticed significant improvement to my skin over the past months: I had managed to coast through the summer so far with matte yet glowing skin, bringing to mind that old saying that horses sweat, men perspire and women glow. Another improvement I had noticed throughout the course of my treatment was that while my usually sensitive skin liked to flare up every month or so with a rash here or a bit of redness there, it had stayed quiet and incident-free for the past six months. In the past three months, I have had many a casual acquaintance come up to me to compliment me on my skin.

To go with my general and rather unscientific observations, however, Dr. Allouche’s final test demonstrated other improvements through science and numbers. My lipids level, which were low at the beginning of my treatment, is now back to normal. My skin’s elasticity, while always normal, was now “extraordinary”, leading to bouncy, firm cheeks.

Turning away from the machine and their positive results, Dr. Allouche notes that he would still like to work on my skin’s pigmentation. Fixing me with a firm look, he asked if I had been out enjoying the sun this summer. Guiltily, I admit to a few pool sessions but defensively state that I’ve also been using plenty of sunblock. Evidently, it is not enough as the doctor says that my forehead is a shade or two darker than the rest of my face. He proposes for my final treatment to fix that with a gentle peel. I agree, although I’m unsure how gentle the peel will be, as he also warns me against consuming any alcohol or spicy foods after the treatment.

For the past six months, my therapist for the Haute Couture facial had been Christine, and I had gotten used to her gentle hands and soothing manner, usually zonking out as soon as she puts her fingertips to my face. Dr. Allouche, however, is a whirlwind, mixing up his potions and serums and layering them onto my face quickly, efficiently, and with so much energy that falling asleep is definitely not an option.

Part of the Haute Couture treatment (and one reason why it is so costly), is that every month, the lab in Paris sends over a box of serums and lotions that are especially designed for your skin’s present condition. The goal of the whole course of treatments is that by the end of the six months, your skin should be in such a good state that these specially-formulated products are no longer necessary, and is stable enough to use off-the-counter products, from Biologique Recherche or otherwise.

After six months of not needing to wonder what I should put on my face, and being spoon-fed the correct potions that continually improve my skin, one unexpected side effect was that I felt as dependent and helpless as a newborn puppy. I was suddenly unsure of what products I should now be using to make sure that my skin stays in this unnaturally excellent condition, and I worried that without these monthly treatments and boxes of potions, my skin would go back to its previous, hyper-sensitive, sorry state.

So I was relieved to find out that although the Haute Couture course of treatments was now over, my skin would not be sent out to fend for itself just yet. Rather, Dr. Allouche takes the results of my last test and will be sending off a final package of products to me for this transitional period. So the day of independence has been postponed, for another month at least and I console myself with the fact that at least the Four Seasons Spa still offers Your Facial by Biologique Recherche, and when my trusted therapist Christine comes back from maternity leave in October, she will be able to check on how my skin is coping and hopefully prescribe me with a regime of off-the-shelf products to maintain everything Dr. Allouche and the Haute Couture facial has accomplished.

When I first told people about the Haute Couture treatment, the most common reaction was disbelief at its cost (HK$275,000 for facials and personalised boxes of products every three weeks). And yes, it is expensive, but I would argue that the benefits that I (and others) have seen on my skin are equally jaw-dropping. And costly though it may be, it is definitely less invasive, more enjoyable but just as effective as other treatments such as botox. Case in point, my cheekbones had become so scarily firm that a friend actually poked them and asked if I had gotten fillers. Most people probably wouldn’t want to opt for a lifetime of Haute Couture, but as a treat to really fix your skin once and for all, we really couldn’t recommend it more highly.