Esthetics Embassy

Lydia Bubanja Brings Biologique to Pound Ridge

Lydia Bubanja represented Serbia before the United Nations Disarmament Committee, negotiated bilateral agreements with European nations, and even turned down an ambassadorship… and now, she’s a year into operating Esthetics Embassy as the top esthetic practice in Pound Ridge…

PHOTOGRAPHY: Gillian Gaughan

Her story begins in Montenegro, where she was born into a family of intellectuals. Her father served as a key advisor on trade across multiple governments in former Yugoslavia. “Advanced degrees were the expectation in the household,” Lydia shares matter-of-factly. She attended one of Yugoslavia’s elite secondary schools, where she studied French, Latin, and molecular biology. “Our school was known for producing doctors and scientists. I was always encouraged to use my brain. And, from the start, the world felt both very large and also within reach,” Lydia explains. 

At the University of Belgrade, Lydia studied economics, but her ambitions were always pulling her outward. She dreamed of Italy, of languages, of somewhere beyond the system she found stifling. “Right out of college, I applied to be a diplomat and passed all of the exams. But it was a time of change in Yugoslavia, and the post-Milošević government decided to clean the slate and start fresh with all new people. I thought that career possibility was over. So I went for my MBA instead!”

Lydia graduated from her MBA program two years later with perfect marks. “Just before my last exam, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called. They were looking for new diplomats and had reviewed my files and found that I was one of only a handful of prior applicants that hadn’t had ties to the Milošević government. They told me that they wanted me back…”

“I had already moved on and was ready to start a new life and to become an entrepreneur and open a business…but my mother’s gentle challenge - ‘I didn’t know you give up that quickly’ - set a fire within me... and the next week I started the two year program at the diplomatic academy.”

She rose quickly. “I started in the department covering bilateral issues with Europe, and pretty early on, before I even became an attaché, my Minister appointed me to become the Deputy Ambassador to South Korea. I was honored…but I was an unmarried young woman, and I wanted to be stationed in Italy and find a beautiful Italian man,” Lydia laughs, “...so I declined.”

“A few days later I was called into the Minister’s office - I figured it was to be fired. He asked why I wasn’t accepting the position, and I told him, point blank. He picked up the phone, called the Secretary General, and they sent me to the United Nations to represent Serbia before the United Nations Disarmament Committee in New York - which was one of only six United Nations committees, covering some of the most consequential issues in the world.” She was young, she was a woman, and she carried the full weight of her country’s voice on the global stage, explaining…”It was an honor…and a huge responsibility.”

“I spent four years as the Press Officer and First Secretary for the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Serbia to the United Nations - and New York took hold of me! I met my now-husband, Dragan, who was working on the same mission. And I returned to school - this time to Columbia University on a full scholarship to study macroeconomics. When I graduated I was offered to become an ambassador from Serbia to whatever country I wanted… but by then I had become enthralled with the United Nations and all I wanted to do was work for the United Nations directly.” 

“I worked directly for the United Nations for four years after that. For the first 6 months it was a love affair…and then I realized how much I couldn’t stand the politics, bureaucracy, or operations of the United Nations,” Lydia sighs. “And, at the same time, in 2017, my husband got diagnosed with an aggressive cancer called Adanoic Cystic Carcinoma, and I became his caregiver.”

“We moved up to Katonah in 2020. As much as we both loved Manhattan, city living had become too difficult while my husband was battling cancer. I still commuted in some days, but I wanted to provide him with the most healthy life possible. Good oxygen and a good lifestyle. We’re so glad we found Katonah -  because we love it!”

During her husband’s illness, Lydia began researching the relationship between what we put on and in our bodies and the health of our cells at the most fundamental level. “I was getting into a clean lifestyle for both of us, and my research led me to Biologique Recherche - a Paris-based skincare brand that I always say is like the Hermès bag of skincare…”

“I went back to Belgrade and visited an old friend who had spent most of her career as a lawyer - who then left the legal profession and opened an esthetics studio. It was amazing. She was the happiest she’d ever been. And the studio was beautiful and brought real joy into people’s lives. …I was ready for a switch, and this lit me up,” Lydia reflects. “So I enrolled at Christine Valmy, New York’s most respected international esthetics school, and graduated with honors. I traveled back to Europe for more advanced training, completing two years of coursework at a pharmaceutical university in Belgrade, and was then admitted to Biologique Recherche’s own academy, a rare honor typically reserved for professionals with decades of experience in the field.”

“I started practicing locally in 2023, and I opened Esthetics Embassy in Pound Ridge in May of 2025! My embassy of beauty!” Lydia declares. “I’m admitting people from all around the world with all different cultures. It’s my little United Nations right here in Pound Ridge. It feels like a sisterhood, and I’m getting to prove  that we can save the world…with beauty!”

Inside, the philosophy is singular: luxury without snobbery, science without sterility. Lydia describes her approach as a fusion of the Eastern European tradition - where monthly facials are considered basic healthcare, not indulgence - and French methodology, with its emphasis on efficacy, clean formulation, and deep cellular treatment.

Biologique Recherche products are known as the gold standard - made in Paris from 100% organic ingredients, with no added fragrances or artificial fillers. Natural, ‘clean’, and incredibly effective. The brand’s famous P50 lotion - part toner, part gentle peel, entirely unlike anything else on the market - has become a cornerstone of Lydia’s treatments, as has the Masque Vivant, which works across every skin type. Where other brands dilute their active ingredients into layered cocktails, Biologique Recherche keeps its serums pure and targeted. “It’s essentially a pharmaceutical brand and I’m performing treatments,” Lydia says, “and the results speak loudly.” 

Lydia is already established as the go-to skin treatment resource for many of the local celebrities, and known in younger circles as the woman who heals acne. She even has one entire family that comes to her all the way from Chile twice a year. “Many of my clients are looking to beautify their skin, add glow, reduce redness, help prevent wrinkles… and those results are spectacular and the word of mouth has been tremendous. But it’s also so rewarding to help people with cystic acne and other skin issues, who have cycled through dermatologists and prescriptions for years, and then help them to achieve completely clear skin.” 

Among her services, the buccal massage - a technique that works from inside the mouth to release jaw tension and sculpt the face - has  drawn particular attention, as has her ‘red carpet facial’, designed to deliver an immediate, luminous result.

Lydia is now expanding. A second treatment room is coming to the Pound Ridge location. And two additional estheticians are joining the team - each rigorously vetted and trained to Biologique Recherche’s standards. “It’s taken me a full year to bring anyone else on because I have incredibly high standards. I’m only going to bring someone on if I think their skillset is equal to my own,” Lydia says. In addition, Lydia is expanding internationally, as she has two more Esthetics Embassy operations now taking shape in Belgrade and Montenegro.

For someone who once held a diplomatic passport and addressed the General Assembly - Lydia’s new life might seem like a radical shift. But Lydia posits, “I left one kind of embassy for another! There’s nothing a United Nations resolution can do to change someone’s confidence the way what I’m doing for people changes their lives. …I’m building people up. I see the results immediately. And the happiness I have here is something I’ve never experienced before. 

…Giving people confidence is the greatest gift!”