Wellness Review: Gotham x Sofie Pavitt

Written By Michelle Manis

Name a better combo… I’ll start: Tea, Tarot Readings, and Treating Your Face. If you’re as excited as I am right now, and are picturing yourself nice and relaxed with a cup of your favorite brew and your newest tarot pull below you, you’d most definitely enjoy Gotham x Sofie Pavitt’s guided facial event. This past Monday I had the pleasure of joining celebrity esthetician, Sofie Pavitt, for an exclusive guided facial experience at Gotham NY featuring high tea from Harney & Sons and tarot readings by Goddess Earth. Let me tell you all about it!

I’ve done guided meditations before, but never a guided facial and I have to say, expectations were exceeded. Sofie was a wonderful and knowledgeable host and walked us through every step with her expert pointers, ensuring we were all giving our skin the greatest cleanse of our lives. I could not believe how hydrated my skin looked and felt by the end -  I was so dewy and glowing. Here’s how Sofie took my “I’m maybe getting 3 out of 8 glasses of water in a day” skin and turned me into a hydrated queen:

After a bit of free time pursuing around Gotham's beautiful store, we went upstairs to get the facials started. Each of us had an instruction sheet, a sticker sheet with labels for your products, a mirror, a mixing bowl with mask powder, a mini cup of moisturizer, a cotton round, and a spa headband. We started by putting on our spa headband and pushing away any stray hairs. After, Sofie came around with hot towels to dampen the face and open the pores for all the nourishment to come. We then used Sofie’s very own gel skin cleanser, the ​​Clean Clean Cleanser to take off any residual makeup and wash away any dirt and sweat build up throughout the day. This cleanser was unique in the sense that unlike most gel cleansers, it didn’t leave my skin dry and sticky, instead, my skin felt clean, hydrated, and happy. We removed the cleanser with another hot towel and moved right along to mixing and making our mask. 

I love skincare because to me, it’s a science. Skincare is very similar to cooking and the science behind mixing different ingredients together to create different consistencies and outcomes. I love learning about ingredients that have different healing properties and when combined, do wonders for your health. This mask I tried is a great example of just that. One of my favorite parts of this event was making our Japanese jelly face mask, which consisted of mixing water in with our mask powder and lavender flowers concoction until it was a jelly-like texture we could paint onto our faces. Allow me to nerd out for a second about the coolest face mask I've ever experienced. Here I am mixing a powder that will suddenly turn into a jelly paste that when dried will peel off of my face and feel like jelly? This face mask was a shapeshifter and was so fun to do! The process of making it reminded me of mixing cake batter- and it didn’t help that it smelled good enough to eat. The calming properties of the lavender fused with the cooling sensation of the jelly mask helped depuff my skin and reduced inflammation. And to top it off, my face was covered in pretty purple lavenders! Can you tell I enjoyed it?

After that cool experience (quite literally), we moved onto something even cooler: Sofie Pavitt’s Nice Ice Toner Pods. I’ve never tried a toner in the form of an ice cube (or circle) but it definitely did not disappoint. The ice pods were a refreshing boost of hydration paired with the healing properties of a toner– a skin care win-win. If you’re like me, someone who always looks for multi-purpose skincare that targets multiple needs at once, you’ll love these pods. Sofie sent all participants home with a few to try and I’m looking forward to adding these to my skincare routine. I could tell this toner was gentle yet could get the job done– no annoying stinging feeling necessary. 

We finished our guided facial off with a few pumps of Sofie Pavitt’s Mandelic Clearing Serum, a great choice for a skincare active if you’re looking to implement a gentle yet powerful active into your skincare routine. Mandelic is a great active to use on sensitive acne prone skin so if you get stress acne sometimes like me, consider adding mandelic into your skin care routine to experience some healing magic.

Last but not least, Sofie spoiled us by allowing us to seal everything off with a spa grade moisturizer she uses in her personal skin care studio. This moisturizer smelled heavenly and was light and refreshing. It felt thinner than a lot of other moisturizers that I’ve tried in the past making it the perfect product to use after all the products preceding it. We got to take home the spa headband, Nice Ice Toner Pods, a skincare bag, and sticker labels with steps 1-5 so we all could keep our skin care routine organized at home. Special thanks to our lovely founder, Tonia Berry for this nourishing experience, and thank you to Sofie Pavitt and Gotham for hosting. I’m honored to say that Sofie Pavitt walked me through my very first facial! Remember to treat yourself to the good things that make you feel good, and treat yourself with kindness!

Be Well,

Michelle