Organic herbs may be great for tea, but it can leave skin feeling tight. Susanne Kaufmann’s glistening spa in Berlin-Mitte employs only natural herbs culled from the Bregenzer forest in Austria and immediately hands out hot mugs of healing, purifying and herbal teas to set the tone of her holistic white space.

Soothed, we were whisked away to our own personal changing room, offered a plush bathrobe and asked to lie down before a practitioner gilded our face with her magic hands. For 90 minutes, she worked our skin invigoratingly, extracting stubborn blackheads and warming our facial muscles with Kaufmann’s exclusive brand of products. By the time she finished up with a jet stream of hot oxygen, we were steeped in pain—but had supple skin and a healthy glow the next day.