My Trip To The Dior Spa Reminded Me To Not Neglect Self-Care In 2026
In 2025, I found it difficult to find time for self-care. In the sea of day-to-day work, work travels, planning bachelorette trips, attending weddings, and intense grief after losing a […] The post My Trip To The Dior Spa Reminded Me To Not Neglect Self-Care In 2026 appeared first on Essence.
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In 2025, I found it difficult to find time for
And speaking of facials, one that I had at the new Dior Spa in NYC, in particular, at the end of last year, really inspired me to get it together in the wellness department. So, if you’re looking to treat yourself this year, I highly recommend booking an appointment.
Read on to discover more about the spa and facial experience that I received, and how to maintain a facial-like glow even from home.
The Spa Experience
The spa, which is the first of its kind in NYC, came onto the scene last year in August. You can expect fully custom and tailored treatments to your needs, which is refreshing. The vibe exudes all things princess treatment, quiet luxury, and pampering. Upon entering, I received a tray of tea and a super cute Dior cookie—to sip and snack on as Idecoding="async" src="https://www.essence.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/IMG_2289-scaled.jpeg" alt="My Trip To The Dior Spa Reminded Me To Not Neglect Self-Care In 2026" width="400" height="533" /> The Facial Itself
While many may opt for The Haute Couture Facial, due to its classically Dior and luxe appeal, I opted for the Kobi Dior Facial. It’s meant to target all the things: lifting, plumping, sculpting, wrinkle reduction, contouring, firming, and even draining. As you can imagine, given where I was at mentally and physically at the end of last year, I was ready to indulge in and benefit from this high performance facial.
And, it’s not like any other facial out there thanks to it opening with a “grounding ritual.” In other words, a moment of breathwork, compression, acupressure, and gentle stretching. All of this is done to help you center yourself and relax.
After this, the esthetician goes in with the first product, Dior Prestige Le Baume Démaquillante, to remove any makeup. Then, my face was massaged with their special technique for lymphatic drainage benefits. To cleanse the skin, Prestige La Mousse Micellaire was used before a floral peeling lotion to exfoliate. To improve microcirculation, a dry brushing technique was used on my skin—doubling down on lymphatic drainage benefits again along with contouring the face. Safe to say, I had no complaints thus far.
An interior of the new Dior Spa 57th St. store on August 01, 2025 in New York, New York. (Photo by George Chinsee/WWD via Getty Images)
And if you think that’s it when it comes to the sculpting elements of this facial, think again. The esthetician continued to massage my face, but this time with a technique inspired by the ancestral Japanese Kobido technique, working to target and tone the muscular structure of the face. It also reduces puffiness—which I tend to deal with a lot of.
As for my favorite part? The Dior cooling petal tools which were so soothing and also aimed to de-puff and lift. A firming and hydrating mask was then applied, followed by cryo acupressure to seal the deal. Rounding out the facial was a warm oshibori towel that helped me de-stress and release tension in areas like my scalp and neck, before topping everything off with a light rose mist.
How To Maintain Your Post-Facial Glow
To get your money’s worth, maintaining your post-facial glow is key. Additionally, these are great tips that you can incorporate into your routine at home if a facial isn’t in your regular budget. Either way, maintaining your glow is all about, as Akram says, “nourishment, circulation, and protection. With the right clinical skincare and at-home tools, you can extend your glow for weeks in between professional treatments.”
Akram advises to “keep your skin calm, balanced, and deeply hydrated.” But directly after your treatment? Ensure to do absolutely nothing. “Give your skin routine the night off—less is more,” she adds. The day after, she recommends going in with “a gentle, oxygenating cleanse.” Then, “follow with the most glow-preserving layer you can give your skin,” like the Dior Prestige La Micro-Lotion de Rose because it “calms, tightens pores, and gives that juicy, dewy bounce.” Additionally, she mentions the importance of “feeding the skin with reparative serums” between facials and “sealing everything in with rich nourishment at night.”
And of course, keep the sculpting going, even at home! “Your glow lasts so much longer when your lymphatic flow stays active,” Akram says. Specifically, she recommends her Sarah Akram Cryo Sticks for 2–3 minutes a day. “Upward sweeps along the jawline, cheekbone, and brow area,” she says. “They instantly depuff, tighten, and keep that signature facial sculpt.”
Taking things up a notch, use LED lights at home. “The Omnilux Contour Face keeps collagen activated, boosts brightness, and maintains that smooth, poreless finish we create in treatment,” she mentions. Meanwhile, I personally love Shark Beauty’s LED mask as well as products from CurrentBody.
As Akram says, don’t forget to treat the eye and lip contours, too, with eye creams and lip oils. “These areas age fastest and lose glow quickest—so don’t skip them,” she adds. And possibly the most important step of all, SPF. “My go-to is Tizo lightly tinted SPF, because it protects while adding the most beautiful, luminous sheen to the skin,” Akram says. “The tint also serves as an extra protection layer.”
The post My Trip To The Dior Spa Reminded Me To Not Neglect Self-Care In 2026 appeared first on Essence.
