It had been two months since I started my Haute Couture facial treatments from Biologique Recherche at The Four Seasons spa, and I was reporting back for my third facial. For the first time, I had taken spa director Shoshanna Weinberg’s advice and decided to try it bright and early, at 9am in the morning.

Find out what exactly the Haute Couture facial is and why it costs HK$275,000 here.

My 90-minute facial begins with Maria, my therapist, conducting a quick test on the Skin Lab computer, which measures things such as my lipid levels and sebum secretion against what is considered the norm, as well as against my own previous records. Maria says that after two months of only using exclusively Biologique Recherche products, my skin age is quite young, and that if I was not particularly sensitive that morning, she would like to do a scrub.

The unique thing about the Haute Couture treatments is that not only are you prescribed with a precise set of cleansers, toners, masques, serums, creams and moisturisers to use at home, but the staff also have a record of what you are using, so that when you visit the spa, you are using the same prescription.

Some readers may wonder, in that case, then why don't I just spend 90 minutes putting all my stuff on at home? The answer is two-fold. First and most importantly, Biologique Recherche facials rest equally on both products and techniques. Yes, the products work and produce notable differences in the skin, but the techniques of the specially trained therapists are also noteworthy.

Maria, for instance, spends a good 20 minutes prepping my skin prior to the scrub, by putting a serum (which I also have at home) on my skin. Rather than just rubbing or slathering it on, she uses a series of staccato dabs, gentle pushes on my pressure points (but never the cheekbones) and long, upward motions, so that in addition to just hydrating the skin, she is also reshaping the shape of my face through drainage. She also suggests I spend more time pushing my right cheek upwards at home, as apparently it is rather more puffy than the left side.

However, there are also products that Maria employs that is only for spa-use, rather than home use. In this instance, she used a powder that worked not only as a scrub, but also as a lifting agent. Although initially the powder seemed a bit coarse and there was another good 15 minutes spent applying it from the top of my hairline to the top of the chest (shoulders, back of the neck included), this was then covered with a cooling gel.

All in all, I’m not sure if it was because I went so early in the day and the morning light reflected a special glow (and let's face it, whose face wouldn't brighten with an extra 90-minute nap first thing in the morning - basically amounting to a lie-in), but this was one of the most effective facials I’ve had yet with this treatment. I’m looking forward to when Dr. Allouche returns with his assistant in two weeks.