October 9th, 2007
That glow: Sonya Dakar launched her skin care business at home. Now she’s preparing to take Beverly Hills with her customized treatments
SONYA Dakar was treating acne, scarring, discoloration and irritation at her home before setting up her skin care business on Beverly Boulevard, where she operated for 14 years and developed a celebrity clientele that she says includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Debra Messing and Cameron Diaz. Born in Israel, where she attended aesthetician school, she is about to open a five-level clinic in Beverly Hills, with a location in New York to follow. Her products are also sold in about 100 spas and are being introduced in hotels. Dakar, who works closely with her husband and four kids, envisions clinics popping up across the country.
Answer: Anti-aging today is the most screaming thing, maybe even more than acne. The people in their 20s are worried about the first few lines. I have a 20-year-old musician, huge, famous. He said Sonya, “I don’t like the frown here.” They are concerned today. They see the moms who used to be sitting on the beach with a reflector and baby oil. It used to be the St. Tropez look, Bridget Bardot–to look tan is wealthy, beautiful. Today, it is the opposite.
Q: So what’s it like to get a treatment from Sonya Dakar?
A: You come to me, and you fill a form just like you are going into a doctor’s office. What products you are using, what kind of medication. I am very, very detail oriented. I will do a skin analysis. I will get you the products you need and give you a regimen. That is my partnership with you. I will take photos. I document all the skin conditions before you start the treatment.
Q: Doesn’t sound like the pampering approach normally associated with Beverly Hills,
A: I am not going to be sweet with you because you are going to love me. No, I will tell you everything. The treatment is basically a boot camp.
Q: Yet you’ve managed to attract several celebrity clients.
A: My celebrity clients look for what all my other clients come to me for–results. They do not mind the boot camp approach because it works. They do not come to me for pampering. They come for good skin.
Q: Who was your first celebrity client?
A: Cameron Diaz. She wasn’t very famous at the time. We kind of grew together. It was like Cameron is getting here, and I am getting there and all these things are happening.
Q: The fashion and skin care world thrives on celebrity endorsements. What do you think of them?
A: Celebrities are pushing certain brands even though they are not necessarily using them. Everything is about money. It’s business and that is why they endorse a product, not necessarily that they use them or believe in them.
Q: Still, wouldn’t you want your own?
A: I have actually had celebrities offer this to me many times. I always told them that when the time is right and budgets allow, I will take them up on it.
Q: Don’t you think we’re too obsessed with looks and beauty?
A: I have mixed feelings. Los Angeles may be known for being obsessed with beauty because the entertainment industry is based here and their face is their business card. Celebrities have no choice but to look good. That is part of their job. It spills into society because we read and watch these people all day long and feel inspired to look like them. My business is not about covering up your natural beauty, it is about being a natural beauty.
Q: You’re not cheap.
A: $220, $225 (a session). The first time takes an hour and a half. The rest of the treatments would be like 30 minutes.
Q: Do people wince at the cost of your treatments/products?
A: My products are an upscale solution to corrective skin care. They deliver results and everybody wants results. People everywhere want good skin, no matter where they live.
Q: Did Botox take away some of your business?
A: Not at all. Botox can do anything for your forehead, but the whole face is not just a forehead. We have a lot more. When we age, the pores become enlarged, the texture is not the same. Botox is really a small part of the whole need.
Q: Why aren’t you selling widely in stores?
A: My product really is about everything customized. I couldn’t visualize a saleswoman analyzing someone’s skin.
Q: How did you raise your profile?
A: In the last six or eight years, the company got a lot of media. The more they started writing, people started calling. People started flying to me from all over, from South Africa, from Australia–”Make a vacation to Sonya Dakar.” I had people flying from New York for 24 hours.
Q: Do you actually develop your own products?
A: It takes a year, up to two years. My husband is like the controller. We have three chemists working all the time. I get all the information, I research it, I judge it, I dissect it, I analyze it. I give a sample to my clients. We keep a log on it. I want to see how is the elasticity of the skin or how is the discoloration coming. We want to see it long term.
Q: What about your skin care products?
A: One of the most well known is the drying potion. Men know about it for in-grown hair, and teen-agers know about it for breakouts. That sells for $25 for the small bottle, $45 for the big one.