Summer after summer, I have put myself on the waitlist for New York City’s Shakespeare in the Park (I still haven’t nabbed tickets). I have waited for Rubirosa’s pizza (yes, it’s as good as they say) and Mansur Gavriel’s ballerinas (the new collection is coming soon). But most recently, I played the waiting game for Biologique Recherche’s Masque Vivant, a complexion purifying and stabilizing mask so good, it garnered a three-month waitlist earlier this year when a fraction of the expected import arrived in the U.S. from France.
Having worked in the beauty department at a magazine for five years, it had been ages since I’d hit the “add-to-cart” button on anything beauty-related. But the family-owned French line had me ready to invest, and ready to pay up for its Masque Vivant magic—until I couldn’t.
“They’re sold out everywhere,” Danuta Mieloch, founder of Rescue Spa, tells me over a facial. Mieloch, who sells Biologique Recherche, was instrumental in putting the wunder-mask on the map. There was once a time when she had to convince clients to use this “brown, stinky” treatment. Now that it’s a cult-favorite, she urges clients to explore other options while they wait, like Biomagic Mask. Without fail, a stash of Lotion P50 is always on hand because “we never want to run out!”
