When it comes to skincare products, I’ll try just about anything that promises to improve my less-than-youthful glow. When quarantine hit last March, the at-home masking and under-eye patch application hit an all-time high in my life—I was basically swapping my nights out and about in Manhattan with friends, for my couch, a glass of wine and some sort of at-home anti-aging treatment that I now had the luxury of time to apply. As this routine continued month after month, I found myself entrenched in—and quite frankly obsessed with—finding the best products on the market, which is when I landed upon La Prairie’s most exquisite product launch in the Swiss brand’s history; a month-long intensive facial treatment that promises to remove the stress of time that often takes its toll on your face.

La Prairie Platinum Rare Haute Rejuvenation Protocol, the latest product to stem from the brand’s ultra-luxurious Platinum Rare Collection featuring platinum blended with the brand’s signature Exclusive Cellular Complex, comes with a hefty $1,980 price tag—which begs the question, is it honestly worth it?

Let’s start from the beginning, shall we? Before you even get to the product itself, you’ll find yourself unwrapping the most exquisite packaging in history. Housed inside a cylindrical box-slash-sleek-display-case, you’ll unearth three gorgeous amethyst glass vials that can best be described as the world’s most luxurious-looking science experiment. To activate, you place the first vial into an activating case (this also serves as the vanity display stand that will keep the Protocol upright on your bathroom countertop). I gave it a nice lil’ turn clockwise and a vigorous shake, which mixes the two phases of the formula together. Voila, we’re ready for application.

It may come as no surprise that the luxury formula comes with a very specific, spa-like application process (as does most of the brand’s signature products). I started by cleansing and toning my skin, then patting it dry with a towel before opening the vial and letting a tiny, smooth drop of Protocol slide onto my fingertips—warming it up between my hands before lightly smoothing it over my forehead, down my cheeks and over the bridge of my nose. I let my face absorb every last drop before applying any excess product to my neck and the back of my hands. The formula feels extremely light and smooth to the touch, and glides perfectly over the skin. To be honest, I’ve never experienced a facial product as smooth and light.

After a month of applying the Protocol religiously morning and night (I went through three vials, each vial lasted me about 10 days), I felt rejuvenated, indeed. Friends that I slowly began to see again after almost a year of connecting with them exclusively on Zoom commented on my skin, each asking what I had been doing differently. My face felt tighter and more lifted, and the tiny lines that started to accumulate in the corners of my eyes from squinting at a tiny computer screen for upwards of an entire calendar year looked noticeably improved. Note that the Protocol is not an everyday affair because of its potency (which is probably a good thing given the price tag). Instead, it is recommended for use in 30-day increments, intermittently four times a year.

I think of it this way; an in-office collagen-stimulating treatment of similar sorts like laser can run you upwards of several thousand dollars, and not only does the Protocol combat the loss and degradation of skin tissue that comes with age, it offers the rare opportunity to fight the signs of aging right from the confines of your own couch, sans the downtime.