Katie Holmes Helps Dr. Barbara Sturm Celebrate Two Manhattan Store Openings

For a city filled with Dr. Barbara Sturm disciples, New York surprisingly didn’t have a store dedicated to the German skin-care brand. That is, until now; as of this week, uptown and downtown Manhattan each got their own spa and boutique. It was all the reason Sturm, alongside fan Katie Holmes, gathered a very chic group at Casa Cruz for a night of cocktails, dinner, and dancing. 

On the 5th floor of the member’s club/dinner lounge (freshly imported from London), the likes of Sienna Miller, Michael Kors, Justin Theroux, Lindsey Wixson, and more could be spotted. If there was a color of the night; it was undoubtedly Pierpaolo Pink. Sturm donned a punchy Oscar de la Renta mini dress that matched her own spirited energy. Alina Cho wore a similar hued ensemble, as did Saks’ Roopal Patel. Sturm’s ever-elegant daughter Charly wore a black Galvan dress while Holmes kept it cool in an all-leather look that was once edgy and relaxed.

“I just love the products,” Holmes explained to Vogue. “I haven’t done anything to my face, and I care about using products with ingredients I know.” Holmes went on to list her favorites, which include Sturm’s purslane-infused Face Cream. “Using the products, you get to be a woman that's proud and unapologetic and valued for who you are at every age. And I think that that's a message that we need to continue to tell each other,” she continued.

Go-to serums, balms, and drops dominated many conversations—because what’s more fun than gabbing about beauty routines? But as Sturm pointed out to her dinner guests in charming, heartfelt remarks, it’s not about beauty but feeling great in your skin, no matter what. “I look in the mirror at night, and I do my skin-care routine, and I love my skin and that's how we all should feel…that's why we are doing this and that's why I created this brand.”

Following a cocktail hour, guests migrated to a dinner table for a family-style dinner; it was the ideal format as the room contained a close-knit group. Sturm’s greatest champions were present; she even called out Cassandra Grey for being the first to get behind the brand by carrying it at Violet Grey many moons ago. Hearts were warmed even further when Charly spoke to congratulate her mother on the two new openings. “Your entire story has always been such an inspiration to me, and I hope it is for a lot of women out there,” she told the partygoers.

Throughout the course of the night, Sturm impressed upon the room just how much she valued every individual it in. (She also gushed about her latest product, The Night Cream, which “has a super hydrator called polyglutamic acid, which is four times more hydrating than hyaluronic acid.”) But mostly, she wanted to underline that the purpose of the evening was celebration. “Don't leave after dinner!” she told her guests. “I know in America you like to leave early, but not tonight! “We’ve brought in our friend Hugo Heathcote from London, who is the best DJ so we are all going to dance!” And just like that, the Doctor’s orders were followed.