Ivan Pol Believes a $1000 Night Cream Is “So Worth It”

Welcome to Beauty Around the Clock, Marie Claire's weekly peek into the daily lives of some of the most game-changing men and women in their industries. Ever wonder how they get it all done in a day? Here's your answer.

Snatched, in the most un-ironic way, indicates a tight, lifted, sleek, and defined appearance. That is why it is the sole appropriate descriptor for Ivan Pol’s famous Beauty Sandwich facial. Pol spent over a decade refining his coveted priority radio frequency method, which is so incredibly effective at contouring that it’s become a staple treatment for Kim Kardashian, Emma Stone, and Penelope Cruz—to name a few.

It’s well-documented that Pol and his Secret Sauce are responsible for celebrities’ “snatched” faces, but what does the facialist himself do to keep up his appearance? The answer: A lot. Mentally, he leans on mantras and meditation. Physically, he gets his butt whipped by famous trainers. Cosmetically—well, you’ll have to read on to see.

Here, Pol walks Marie Claire through his entire beauty routine, from the $2,000 laser he swears by to the grocery store yogurt he slathers on his face.

I always start my skincare routine with a mini intention or meditation. Specifically in the morning, I think it's important that we center ourselves, even if it’s just for a minute. I repeat my magical mantra: I am love. I beauty. I am energy. It’s a simple way to remind yourself that you’re made of love. Beauty is the result that we want from these amazing products that we will use on our faces, but we need to remember that the energy that flows through us is from a higher source.

I’m obsessed with Anastasia Beverly Hills’ Brow Laminate. If I’m going to be working, I’ll mix a little Chanel Brow Gel in with it, too. I like Dr. Devgan’s lip plumper, too.

I'm really big into Tracy Anderson and Jason Walsh. I’m in the cult. I just started working with Jason—Brie Larson and Emma Stone use him—and I get why his clients look so good. Everything is really custom-tailored to your body. Tracy, I love for the music. In the way that I figured out how to snatch a face, she’s really figured out how to snatch a body. When I travel, I always put her on.

Sally Hirschberger does my hair. She’s iconic, and I have a great haircut. I use David Mallet’s natural products in my hair. I’m obsessed with his volumizing spray and his sea salt spray. I mix them a little. I also use a little bit of his hair powder to give my hair some grit and texture. Matt Rez does my color. My hair is pretty dark, but as I get older, I’ve been wanting to bring back that softer tone. I go between him and David Mallette in Paris.

I start my routine with my brand new Amuse Bouche, a facial appetizing mist. It’s a digestive enzyme for your skin, awakening its appetite. There are natural botanicals in there that boost your skin’s chi and energy throughout the day. It has pre- and probiotics to feed your skin's microbiome, too, so that whatever you put on your skin afterward can be digested. I don’t wash my face in the morning because I don’t believe in that extra step of stripping your skin. There's no real need (unless you have a retinoid on your skin).

I’ll go in with Laura Devgan’s hyaluronic acid serum—it’s so good. It plumps up the skin and seals the pores. I use Dr. Diamond’s Metacine and then follow up with my Snatching Sauce. You always wanna use snatching sauce in the day. It’s like the overprotective boyfriend. It’s rich in antioxidants that protect the skin and is like a cup of coffee for your face. It's like shapewear; it’s really going to depuff. It makes everything bright and tight.

Oh, easy. Chanel’s L’Extrait D’Nuit Sublimage Ultimate Repair. I think it retails for $1,000, but it’s so worth it. There are 117 varieties of the vanilla plant. They use the seed, the flower, and the stem. The seed is from Madagascar, the flower is from Mexico, and the stem is from Bhutan. It’s fabulous. The molecules burst on your skin and deliver hyaluronic acid, so it’s very hydrating. It also mimics your sleep cycle, so it’s the ultimate beauty sleep.

I don’t want to go to the drugstore, but I will go to the grocery store. I buy organic yogurt—either cow or sheep—and put it on my face. I use it as a cleanser or even an exfoliant sometimes because I don't believe in harsh exfoliation or chemical exfoliation. It’s very rich in lactic acid, which we know is in products like P50, and it's also rich in fatty acids. Fats seal in all your other serums and you’re going to get such a good glow. It’s the ultimate “drugstore” product.

My favorite treatment is in Paris at the Biologique Institute. I get the remodeling facial there. I’m always in the driver’s seat of the facial. That treatment really snatches the face in a different way because it gets this part of the muscle under the eye that is really important for me.

While I’ve never used mascara in my life, my lashes are getting very light as I get older. Dr. Devgan makes a lash serum mascara that coats the lashes and has lengthening ingredients in it. It gives a slight tint in the morning.

Be gentle, and less is more. Well, that’s my advice. I don’t believe in using aggressive things on your face—that comes with injectables. That’s how Beauty Sandwich started. I was working in a dermatology practice and I started to see women who were just doing too much. It was 15 years ago and they were sold on getting Botox or filler every two months. There was no talk of snatching—it was let’s plump up our faces. People were really starting to get distorted.

Have you ever heard of Dr. John Amaral? He literally does—like—exorcisms. He levitates your body without touching you. You’re kind of floating around but you feel so incredible afterwards. It’s beyond just aligning your chakras. He’s working through your spine and unraveling all the trauma that’s in your tissue. I looked like Linda Blair without the vomit. It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.

Coolsculpting. Ten years ago, that was the craze. I went to the CoolSculpting University and did the training, which is like a week. Then you have to take that knowledge and put it to all these different body and face types. I knew about paradoxical hyperplasia as a side effect. It wasn’t a secret, but you just never think it will happen to you. Well, I got it. I’m still dealing with issues. I had cellulite and lumpiness everywhere because I got CoolSculpting everywhere. I ended up with a worse stomach than I had to begin with.

My go-to is Dr. Jason Diamond. He is a colleague and a mentor. He’ll tell you the truth. He is not afraid of the word, no, and I respect that. Many people just want to appease instead of giving a discerning opinion. He keeps it real, and he keeps me in check.

All of these aggressive treatments. There’s this big Morpheus trend right now. I don't think that Morpheus itself is bad. I think that what is bad is having a technician that doesn’t really know how to do the procedure treating all these different people with different concerns. With all of these trends—sometimes you’re just not really a candidate and they’ll still tell you it’s for you.

For my evening skincare, I’m listening to a different frequency. It has to be something that’s going to start putting me to sleep. My apartment is dim and my blue blockers are on. I’m all about my Secret Sauce at night, because that’s going to help with cellular turnover. It has more rich oils, rosehip three ways, and jasmine. It aids in beauty sleep. Then I use the Chanel night serum. I like to use my LYMA while I’m watching a show at night. Then I look at myself in the mirror and tell myself I’m beautiful.

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