The Arcona Studio: Perfect organic facials

Where to get a perfect organic facial: The Arcona Studio in Santa Monica.

As soon as you walk in, you'll notice the salon's sleek, minimalist aesthetic. Then you'll be led into an equally swanky waiting room and offered cucumber- or orange-flavored water. You'll feel pampered even before your facial begins.

But that's not what makes Arcona the perfect place for an organic facial. This eco-conscious salon and skin care company does things like no other salon does. First of all, there's no prolonged pore extraction included in the facial. Instead, Brandi, my aesthetician, gave me a slightly tingly organic fruit enzyme peel that ostensibly did the job of a typical extraction, sans pain; she explained that for women who develop marks and scars easily, extractions can be counter-productive. This rang true to me, because my face was rather raw and reddish for days after my facial at The Bey's Garden.

Second, Arcona's personal care products are really eco-friendly, with an impressive list of forbidden ingredients; you'll find no petrochemicals, binders, fillers, chemical stabilizers, parabens, sodium lauryl sulphates, perfumes, dyes, or any other caustic, toxic ingredients in these cleansers and moisturizers.

Third, Arcona doesn't sell any thick, heavy creams. Brandi explained that they believe those products just weigh down the skin, enlarging pores and causing blackheads. So Arcona offers only light hydrators. After the facial, Brandi talked about the "Basic Five" method that Arcona preaches for proper skin care. But instead of pressuring me to buy anything, she simply gave me samples of these five items to try and see for myself.

I've been using these samples for a week now, and honestly, my skin looks better than it has in years. I even went through the ingredient list of the Arcona products (the ingredients aren't listed on Arcona's own site, but are listed on Amazon) and plugged them in to the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep database to make sure the products were as safe, healthy, and eco-friendly as they claimed. They were, and I'm officially sold.

This perhaps explains why Arcona has a long list of celebrity clientele, including Sofia Coppola, Jessica Biel and Adrien Brody. The one downside of Arcona's products is that they don't come cheap; five full-sized products to make up the "Basic Five" run you about $200. Then again, some women spend more than that on expensive "brand name" creams made with parabens, questionable chemicals and noxious fragrances.

The Arcona-curious can try out the "Basic Five" by getting a travel kit, available for $87. Or just get a facial -- they're not particularly more expensive than those at other salons -- and receive some free samples with your treatment!

The ARCONA Studio. 425 Broadway. Santa Monica. (877) 272-6620, (310) 458-3800.

Earlier: The Bey's Garden Day Spa; Get an eco-facial in Los Angeles

Top photo courtesy of Arcona; other photos by Siel