La Maison Valmont, a boutique beauty shop operated by luxury Swiss skincare company Valmont, has opened the doors to its first North American location in Vancouver.

Situated at Oakridge Centre (650 West 41st Avenue)—the second most profitable mall in Canada, according to a 2017 report—the store carries the Valmont Group’s three high-end labels: Valmont, which combines Swiss alpine ingredients with cellulotherapy, in which the DNA and RNA of young cells are introduced to the skin to aid in the revitalization of deficient cells, to produce a range of effective anti-aging products; Elixir des Glaciers, a line of creams, serums, and foundations for face and body derived from glacial spring water and Swiss plant extracts; and Il Provfmo, a selection of Italian-made fragrances that may be layered to create custom scents.

The company prides itself in the quality of its goods, which focus on infusing skin and body with hydration, energy, radiance, and firmness and anti-wrinkle properties. “It’s why we have very loyal and faithful customers,” Didier Guillon, cofounder of Valmont, tells the Straight during a media launch of the boutique. “They come back because they believe it’s a very effective product.”

La Maison Valmont also stocks hair and body-care items, such as recovering masks, stimulating scalp boosters, and cellular refining scrubs, and cosmetics from By Terry, a luxury French beauty line consisting of “colour-fix” eyeshadows, wrinkle-control sculpting powders, hydra-balm lipsticks, and more. Prices for skincare products start at $90 and may reach upwards of $400.

Face, body, and hair treatments (starting at $170) are offered in the store’s two private “cabins”, where clients may opt for facials and massages designed to calm, smooth, and hydrate the skin. 

Decked out in white and gold, the 300-square-foot, gallerylike space showcases its products in a way that allows customers to freely play with and sample them. An assortment of jewellery and decorative objects sourced from Murano, Italy, and pieces by German artist El Bocho are also on display. Didier, who founded Valmont with his wife, Sophie, in 1985, shares that he is on the hunt for works by local artists to feature. He considers art one of Valmont’s major pillars.

“Art is beauty and beauty is art,” he says. “So we prefer to showcase these pieces to give a specific experience to the customer, to give them an opportunity to discover something new.”

La Maison Valmont at Oakridge is the boutique's fourth international location. The retail concept was launched in Berlin in 2016 and the company has since opened stops in Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Check out some images from Vancouver's newly opened La Maison Valmont below.