The Holistic Skincare Sanctuary This Designer Swears By

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Pamela, who started her line back in 2007 and has since won several CFDA awards and nominations along the way (including the eco challenge for sustainable design), knows the whole Fashion Week circuit well. While she used to formally present her collection each season, she now approaches this time in a slightly more sanity-preserving way, taking appointments in her studio throughout the week with buyers and editors. We say "slightly" since nonstop meetings were always part of the week for her, but the absence of a formal show eliminates a different kind of pressure. While still extremely hectic, there’s something else that makes the time more bearable, and that would be Negin.

Pamela is the first of three fashion insiders we're profiling during New York Fashion Week with Waiting for Saturday: a project by best friends Nicole Benuska and Olivia Villanti with a simple goal: sharing the off-duty habits and interests of creative people. Read on for more on Pamela's refuge.

Pamela:

I've known Negin for 10 years, she was doing facials at the gym I used to belong to and I went to her for one. I was such a brat then, she says. I was like, "My skin is terrible, this wrong and this is wrong…" So eventually she left Clay and I left Clay and now we work two blocks away from each other. I come like once a month, sometimes more, sometimes less. She was my introduction to this kind of stuff, now I have lots of friends in the beauty industry. I don't really think of her as "in the beauty industry," as much as I think of her as a spiritual healer.

During Fashion Week, a time when I am really busy, I try to recreate a lot of this stuff at home. I take a lot of baths with salts and roses and candles. I put in a mixture of pink himalayan salt, epsom salts, dead sea salt, lavender oil and dried roses. I could sit there for an hour. I'm a Pisces so I need to be in the water. Sometimes I read, sometimes I answer emails which my husband thinks is crazy. Sometimes he'll come in and sit with me and chat because I'm in there so long. I have so many oils and tinctures and products — from Negin, as well as Joanna Vargas who is also a friend of mine. I feel like I have the best baths because of them.

At a certain point I realized Fashion Week wasn't healthy for me. I was drained by work and socializing. I go to certain things to support my friends, of course, but I am at a point where I feel balance and peace is more important than partying. Fashion week is a very busy time for my business. I need to be in my best head space to be in sales appointments all day. I can't afford to run myself ragged.

Admittedly, when I'm super busy a lot of shit goes out the window. I'll eat the kind of crap I wouldn't normally eat. Last night I ate three slices of pizza, which isn't the way I usually eat but...I know it should be the other way around, when you're super busy you should stick to a routine. My exercise regimen suffers the most. I know how important it is for me to be healthy and active, but I usually go through the month without it.

Negin on Pamela's treatment:

I use a lot of crystals because they're magnetic and have a lot of energy. I use healing stones, that's the work I do, it's restorative. Black tourmaline I use on the third chakra. Darker stones extract and purify. They absorb electromagnetic rays and physical pain. Amethyst is good for combating addiction or obsession. Heart-shaped quartz is a good one for kindness and beauty. And then turquoise is great is if you're ever feeling sad or depleted or down. Turquoise and black tourmaline are both really powerful. I put rose quartz in the island of Pamela's eye. It's cooling and represents love and sweetness and beauty. On her third eye is turquoise for peacefulness.

Pamela on Pamela's treatment:

I love the tourmaline the most because it has weight and energy. For me it's not just about the treatment, it's the whole experience. By the time I leave Negin my skin looks awesome but it's really not even that. It's the whole experience.

The spot: JustBe Skincare, 28 W. 27th Street, Suite 706, New York

Pamela’s treatment: "Reiki and energy work, as well as organic facials and Thai massage."

Ambiance in five words or less: "Serenity, clarity, peace and relaxation."

Her insider tip: "If you are getting Thai massage wear socks, leggings and a long sleeve shirt. Your body temperature will drop during the course of the treatment and you can feel cold."

What she's looking forward to at the end of the week: "Getting out of town with my husband."

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