Leading French podiatrist brings his intricate foot care regimen to offer the pedicure of all pedicures to Hong Kong

Pedicure

Bastien Gonzalez is known as the pedicurist to the stars in Hollywood and a “foot virtuoso” to others, his title roots from his introduction of what most in the beauty world would call an haute couture pedicure. So when we heard that The Landmark Mandarin Oriental was bringing in the foot care treatment from France, I leaped twice; I leaped once out of joy and leaped at the first opportunity to try the treatment myself.

The best pedicure you’ve ever had

First things first, I have to admit it made me feel slightly uncomfortable as the pedicurist, Albin Brion, turned out to be a far cry from what one would conventionally imagine a pedicurist to look like. He was a male podiatrist with a smile bright enough to sell toothpaste, definitely not your usual pedicurist. That aside, it was a smooth sail here on out. I quickly propped myself onto the single leather seat in the middle of the room and anticipated the treatment. The Bastien pedicures are executed using three simple steps: remove the dead skin; buff the nails; followed by a moisturising soothing massage.

An express lymphatic facial is now on offer at The Mandarin Salon. Read our review of the offering here.

In the world of Bastien Gonzalez, a pedicure is no simple feat, in fact I’m pretty sure the pedicurist would snub his nose at 20-minute express pedicures. The pedicure in this case doesn’t require water to soak the feet or any fancy salts, the logic behind it was explained to me by drawing similarities with a dry hair cut; when you get a dry cut only then will you see how your hair falls au natural, the same logic applies to your feet, apparently.

bastien gonzalez manderin oriental

The contraptions are one where you can tell where minute details were considered. The pedicure tools reminded me of the lengthy list of metal surgical instruments seen at the dentist. His toolbox also had the sterility akin to a doctor’s medical bag, in fact all the tools – including the use of scalpels, lancets and drills - were retrieved from plastic packs stored individually and sealed. Instead of pushing the cuticle skin and then trimming them like most beauty salons do, he simply trims them with a very light hand. His approach is much more foot-friendly: if you overcut the skin, it’s prone to re-growing faster and thicker as you’re triggering it and the skin’s natural reaction is to protect the feet with a thicker barrier. 

Fact: The cuticle skin is also a waterproof layer to protect the skin and nail bed from any bacteria, if you trim it bare, you’re more prone to infections as well.

For women who swear by pedicures, you’ll know that over wearing nail polish results in embarrassing yellow-toned nails. Albin recommends you wear nail polish for five days and remove the colour and let the nail breathe for two days – repeat. He moves on to step two by using an electric file on the nail bed to remove the top layer of the skin and remove any kinks and bumps on the nail. For those who suffer from white specs of the nails, it’s necessary to mention here that even a nail file will not remove the white. It is commonly recognised as a calcium deficiency, however this is a fallacy as the white reflects a lack of zinc, so foods such as sesame, oysters, dark chocolate and cocoa powder, roast beef, chickpeas and garlic will help remedy that.

While I’m a big fan of wearing nail polish myself, the shine on my nails thanks to Albin’s skilled buffing using the signature horn buffer and the Nail Brightness buffing cream which uses pearl powder to give the extra shine, paired with the signature glass file for precise but gentle filing, steered me away from the tempting rainbow range of alcohol-free nail polishes on offer. The shine was so impressive, it looked almost as if I had a coat of sheer pink gloss coat already.

Bastien gonzalez

Fact: The white specs in your nails reflects a lack of zinc, so foods such as sesame, oysters, dark chocolate and cocoa powder, roast beef, chickpeas and garlic will help remedy that.

Next up was the massage. The seat reclines accordingly and a massage focused on the cushion of the sole is given extra attention. Apparently, if you simply massage the cushion of your foot everyday for ten minutes, it will spare your feet of any grave damage, this includes bunions and callouses. His whole concept revolves around the fact that the foot is intelligent, in so that it responds to its surroundings. So if you wear tight shoes, the foot will respond to compression and grow thick skin around pressure points to protect the foot or if you place a lot of pressure on the sole by wearing high heels, by massaging the feet and giving the foot small pinches, the skin will react to this and it will improve the skin elasticity and increase the blood flow.

To enhance your tan and give your skin a moisture boost, we recommend you try out the Mandarin Oriental Spa's Pearl Body Treatment.