BEAUTY PROFILE
electric avenue
"Tracie Martyn's facials combine cutting-edge technology with TLC. Kathy Phillips visits her New York sanctuary - a favorite of the stars"

The beauty grapevine is transatlantic these days. Before I even got to New York on a recent visit, three separate people had told me about Tracie Martyn. So I made my way to her Fifth Avenue oasis to find out about her Resculpting Facials™. Behind the glass door and up the very steep staircase is a perfectly peaceful atmosphere, completely at odds with the frenetic pace of the street below. Organic herbal tea, meditative music and oriental calm prevail, yet a large part of the inner sanctum - an all-white room decorated with lotus blossoms and orchids is taken up by an oxygen tank and a bank of high-tech machinery. Welcome to twenty- first-century beauty: spiritual but technical; ecologically sound but based on science; Feng Shui and good business sense all at the same time. Normally, Resculpting Facials™ use electrical charges to tighten and firm muscles, but Martyn has developed the technique further, adding more settings to her machine (there are now over 100), as well as a series of pronged attachments, which she uses like sculpting tools over the face on different wave formations. Sometimes on low wave settings, she also uses her hands and the client becomes the electrical conductor as she uses lymphatic drainage movements not only to exercise the muscles, but to improve circulation. Besides the electronic element of the treatment, Martyn also cleanses the face with hot flannels and aromatherapy oils - she is working on her own antioxidant gel that will provide extra nourishment for the skin. The technique has now been adapted to treat cellulite. Martyn started her career as a make-up artist, developing her skills with electronic machines in her spare time.

After photographic shoots, she would offer the models a facial massage. Bridget Hall, Eva Herzigova and Helena Christensen were all eager volunteers. And they told their friends and agents. Before long, people were ringing up for appointments. Last year, Martyn teamed up with masseur Marius Morariu and together they transformed their three- room space into a sanctuary with secondhand furniture, oriental artifacts and muslin curtains. As I was leaving the salon, Susan Sarandon arrived for her regular treatment.
Sadly, there was no time for rubbernecking, but I can tell you that many famous faces - including Uma Thurman, Cyndi Lauper, Michelle Pfeiffer, Donna Karan, Steven Meisel, Liam Neeson and Matthew Modine (it works on men, too) - frequently climb those stairs.

Martyn's clients leave enraptured that they have rediscovered their jawlines, cheekbones and upper eyelids without resorting to surgery, and that they have just spent a wonderfully peaceful hour or two in angelic hands. Of course, the secret of Martyn's success is her holistic approach - her gentle presence acts as therapist and rejuvenator in itself, proving that there's still no substitute for the human touch.