Clarins Skin Spa at Bloomingdales

I got a gift cert for working at a charity fund raiser — what a neat piece of PR! but when I went to use it, the ladies at the counter told me that they don’t honor them any more at the spa but if I wanted to sit at the counter they might could accommodate me but not right now. Ah. Two stars because they did have lovely complexions.

I have battled skin issues for decades… zits, rashes, ruddiness, you name it. I have been in and out of doctor’s offices more than I can count. It wasn’t until I started getting a monthly facial here starting about 6 months before my wedding that I started to notice a consistent change to my complexion.
Honestly, if I could gush without sounding «too good to be true», I would. I have been seeing Dalia, and she might be the most adorable person ever. So sweet, so gentle, great memory, very warm. She introduced me to a new range of products, and gave excellent advice on what my skin needed. Boy, was she right! After half-​a-​year, my skin has completely changed. I can actually see… radiance? It’s great.
The facilities, while small, are full service and clean. Great ambiance, timely service. Could not recommend more! And the prices for basically all of their services are incredible compared to other salons. Definitely maintaining a monthly visit even though my wedding has long since passed.

Although the products are superior to their competitors, the massage not so hot. In fact no to anything anymore due to no massage therapist at this time. I did enjoy the facial, but not enough to keep a remaining balance on a club/​gift card. Cashed in my reserve, seeking a replacement based on referrals.

This is more a review of the aesthetician than it is of the spa. The spa is beautiful and very quiet — considering all the foot traffic right outside its doors. So, in order to promote their services they were having a 20 minute discovery facial and 20% off a single spa treatment (although I do have to say when I booked the discovery facial I was told the 20% could also be applied to a package of facials). I thought great let me try it out. So I scheduled with a very slim blondish woman with a foreign accent. I show up the day of my facial approximately 5 minutes before my allotted time and wait, 5 minutes go by and I wait some more, 10 minutes go by and I continue to wait. The person I booked my appointment with eventually comes out and says oh hello you are here early — I said no I was scheduled to start at 3, she then says «that is impossible, someone made a mistake. we only start every quarter hour.» I then show her the card she gave where 3pm was clearly written and say «you scheduled me». She then apologizes. Fine. We get in and she talks to me about the spa products but then says we are not using those on you today bcse this is a discovery facial so I will just use the regular Clarins products. Fine. She proceeds to do the «facial» I leave and I swear to you I still had make up on — that is how thorough a cleaning she did!!! I chalked it up to the fact that this is just a promotion — who cares, of course Clarins will not go all out and offer free and thorough facials. So, then she walks me over from the spa to the Clarins counter — during our walk she starts talking to me about my sun damage (freckles on face and nose). I tell her I use spf every day but I still get them from time to time — she then repeats herself and says «people think its cute but it is not it is damage you have to do something about that» (granted she has said this to me at least three times already). Oh and when we were in the spa I said that my skin was dehydrated and pretty dry in some places but that I get hormonal breakouts around my skin — she laughed and said «well that is not dry skin then — you have oily/​combination» — Ok,
So by this point this lady has me frustrated and I kick myself for not saying anything — Instead I book an appointment for 8 weeks later — she writes me in and gives me an appointment reminder. I ask her if I will get the 20% off for the facial she rolls her eyes takes the reminder from my hand and proceeds to write on it «20% off». My appointment isn’t for another few weeks but I am calling to cancel or reschedule with another person. I don’t want to be scolded again for my freckles eventhough I do use sunscreen EVERY DAY!!!

Definitely listed as a
GC taker on Spa Week, definitely said that they take the gift cards while booking my appointment on the phone, definitely said that they took the gift cards while I was filling out my personal information on their form. Didn’t want to take the gift card when it came time to pay though.
Thank god this all happened before the facial. If I had been asked to pay afterwards, I would have flipped my s**t.
Sad to say, my one-​star has nothing to do with actual facial services, but more how I was treated when wanting to use a service that they claimed to offer online, on the phone, and in person.
***15 minutes after I wrote this, status on
changed to ‘not accepting GC’s’.