BA Skin Lab on Grove Street in March marked its tenth year in business, a major milestone for the skin care clinic.
Founder of BA Skin Lab and Master Esthetician Barbara Aquino
Founded by Barbara Aquino in March of 2015, BA Skin Lab’s main focus is tailoring their treatment for each individual client, a strategy which has attracted customers from all over the state, she said.
“Everything we do is very different. It’s not a typical fashion place that does cookie cutter treatment,” Aquino told the New Canaanite. “We don’t even have a menu of treatments, because we are going to tailor the treatment, boosters and products based on the skin that we see, whoever comes in. It might be a different treatment each time they come. I really feel we are like the personal trainers for the skin, all the clients will follow the protocols at home. The goal is really to build stronger, healthier, radiant skin without anything invasive.”
BA Skin Lab in New Canaan
What Aquino said differentiates BA Skin Lab from other aestheticians, however, is its use of a French skincare product line known as “Biologique Recherche.”
“I call it a ‘raw diet for your skin,’ ” Aquino said. “There’s a high concentration of active ingredients, but really it’s a result-driven line. So it’s not something that just smells good and feels good but maybe doesn’t do anything, or even worse, might actually harm your skin.”
Due to its limited availability, in addition to the knowledge required for its application, Biologique Recherche can be difficult to find in the United States, but Aquino said she is trying to change that.
“This brand has a big cult following and it’s not easy to find, it requires a lot of training to be able to work with them,” she said. “To start with the line, you need a few months of training, but after every year, we have big seminars that we constantly go to, and learn new things and stay in the loop. It’s like a community with whoever carries the line, we help each other.”
BA Skin Lab in New Canaan
Aquino said was trained by Biologique Recherche’s founders, Philippe and Josette Alouche.
“The original founder, Philippe Alouche, was the one that created the formula for the products,” Aquino said. “He really wanted to create products that made a difference. Back then in France, it wasn’t very popular to create something that’s not in a beautiful jar. It was all about presentation, and good smells, and he did the opposite. He wanted the money to go into the value of the product, of what’s inside, and not use things to make it smell prettier or look prettier if it’s not a raw ingredient that will deliver the results. It might not smell the best, because there is nothing added to make it look or smell prettier, and the packaging is very simple as well, so all the value goes into the product. His wife Josette Alouche, was a physical therapist and an aesthetician, so she developed the techniques to go with the products.”
After training with Biologique Recherche’s founders, Aquino would go on to share her newfound knowledge with the U.S. beauty community.
”For many years, I was the only national trainer in the U.S.,” Aquino said. “The brand wasn’t that well known, so I was the one traveling and teaching others about the products and the techniques.”
BA Skin Lab has become so popular in recent years that one of Aquino’s biggest challenges has been making enough time to meet demand.
“I’m so happy to see my clients improve,” Aquino said. “For the longest time I didn’t really accept new clients because I had such a strong base and it wasn’t fair for them, they could never get an appointment.”
This ultimately led Aquino to expand her business, signing a lease for a neighboring space in March of 2024. The process entailed a complete redesign of the space, adding additional treatment rooms, and an expanded retail/reception area. Renovations were officially completed on April 2, 2025.
“I really started missing the challenge,” Aquino said. “It’s amazing to see all my people—they are like my family—but when I get somebody completely new, that doesn’t even know what’s possible, and I’m able to show it to them, and present how different their skin looks. There’s people sometimes thinking there’s nothing that can be done. I was on antibiotics, I was on all these different medications, nothing helped, and then we are able to show them that it can be done, and there is nothing better on top of the world than to do it.
To mark the clinic’s expansion and anniversary, BA Skin Lab plans to host an anniversary celebration for some of its most loyal customers, Aquino said.