For women who visit the opulent Swiss ski destination, it's all about radiant, glowing skin, and skis that help them schuss in style.
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The Natural
Media Platforms Design Team
Jardin des Monts, available at the Palace Spa at the Gstaad Palace Hotel, is a new organic skincare line from Charlotte Landolt and Laetitia Jacot, two horticulturists who set out in 2006 to restore the fields surrounding a 19th-century chalet. Today the pair make use of more than 30 skin-enhancing local botanicals, all carefully tended by a flock of goats to help keep the pastureland from getting overgrown. Once mature, they're hand-picked, dried, and delicately stored in paper bags to preserve their nutrients. The popular Edelweiss Lip Balm is made with a mountain flower known as the "star of the Alps" because of its shape and brilliant white color; its extracts protect lips from UV exposure.
From its perch above Lake Geneva, in the canton of Vaud, the Valmont Clinic has tended to the needs of its chic clientele since 1905. (Both Coco Chanel and Ingrid Bergman were regulars.) Today the company's best-selling Renewing Pack Cellular Anti-Stress Face Treatment, a daily mask, helps maintain the glowing skin of resident beauties with its high concentration of mineral-rich water from the Valais glaciers and a blend of emollients that shield delicate complexions from the drying effects of high altitude.
Gstaad is home to one of the largest ski areas in the Alps, with more than 75 square miles of slopes, and the sport is the preferred local method for staying lean and toned. Völkl skis, with their lightweight wood cores and tip rockers for smooth turns, are a must-have for hitting the powder (volkl.com). For those looking to improve their skills or go off-piste, Alpinzentrum Gstaad offers private instruction and mountain guides.
Christian Heeger's meticulous mèche technique of layering highlights and lowlights to create a natural, sun-kissed look has won the stylist (pictured) a loyal following at the Gstaad Hair Room. (He previously headed the salon at the Grand Hotel Bellevue.) This winter he reports that he's playing with "feminine shapes of the '60s" (think of Bernese bombshell Ursula Andress), as well as more modern, asymmetrical cuts with graphic lines.
Although Gstaad women don't do health fads — muesli might be the most recent wellness craze — they do count on Burgerstein Hair & Nails vitamins. The daily supplement, part of a range of vitamins developed by Dr. Lothar Burgerstein in the 1970s, contains golden millet extract (high in amino acids), calcium-rich red algae, and folic acid to promote the strength and growth of strands and enamel. (at local pharmacies)
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Après-Ski
Media Platforms Design Team
The Feuerstein Facial from skin guru Olivia Saramito at the Bellevue Spa at the Grand Hotel Bellevue (bellevue-gstaad.com) prolongs a sporty glow with a combination of edelweiss, silk protein, and aloe vera to help increase skin cell turnover and calm redness. For a healthful boost to aid tired muscles, the spa at the newly launched hotel Alpina Gstaad (thealpinagstaad.ch) is angling to be the go-to spot for green juice.