Only her cosmotologist really knows for sure...! "You smoke? Light up, if you want," she says, pulling an ultra-slim " cigarette out of a leather cigarette packet emblazoned with the face of an Egyptian pharaoh. "Want some coffee? Also there's some sausage and bread here. Help yourself."
Cigarettes, coffee, sausage -- did I get the address wrong and come to some newspaper office by mistake? This is not exactly the usual reception one might expect at a health and beauty center. Then again, as soon becomes clear, very little about the Vita Center is what one might call usual.
In the center's offices on Bolshoy Prospect, women of all ages, some with electrodes attached to their faces and necks, are receiving one of the treatments in Vita's patented "wonderful triad of the apparatus cosmetology." Massage specialists dressed in lab coats attend to clients while televisions play softly in the corner.
The Vita Center offers treatment and training in "apparatus cosmetology," a three-part system developed by Ms Lipovetskaya. The "wonderful triad" consists of a light manual "Egyptian massage," "Biomechanical stimulation" (BMS) with the help of a mechanical vibrator, and "Miostimulation" (MS) through the use of electrodes.
"The basic idea behind apparatus cosmetology is giving the muscles of the face a workout," says Ms Lipovetskaya. "Just like with the rest of the body, if you exercise the muscles, your face will be toned, healthy and young-looking." The three components of apparatus technology come from different sources, and were developed into a single system by Ms Lipovetskaya. Miostimulation, for example, was initially developed by Russia's Institute for Space Studies to help keep cosmonauts fit.
A catastrophic skiing accident was behind Ms Lipovetskaya's conversion to belief in biomechanical stimulation (BMS), which eventually led to her idea of applying BMS to cosmetology, and the birth of Vita.
"I had a horrific accident while skiing. I had been skiing all my life and was headed toward a career in the sport. But then I had a tremendous wipeout when I was going extremely fast down a mountain," Ms Lipovetskaya explains. "I just tumbled and tumbled. It was horrible."
After undergoing a series of operations, Ms Lipovetskaya was told she would never walk again. Facing the prospect of life in a wheelchair, she met a Russian professor named Nazarov who had invented the BMS system and offered to treat her with the aim of getting her on her feet again.
"That was 10 years ago," says Ms Lipovetskaya. "And now I'm still skiing, healthy and active. The doctors couldn't believe it when they saw me on the slopes again. I do still have some pain, but that's a far cry from being in a wheelchair."
So what do all these scientific techniques actually feel like? What's it like to have your face feel like it's gone on a three-kilometer run? In the interest of research, and the hope that I could turn back the clock on those pesky worry lines that have appeared since I've been in Russia, I underwent a session of the "wonderful triad."
"Take your shoes off!" shrieked Lida the massage specialist, as I started to kick my booted feet up onto the padded treatment table. As I reclined, looking warily out of the corner of my eye at the assortment of wires and electrodes that awaited me, I began to fear that I might come away from this therapy with more worry lines than ever before.
Part one: Egyptian massage. Not sure why this has endured for several thousand years. The specialist applies cream and then spends the rest of the time lightly touching the client's face and neck until the cream is just kind of a sticky residue. Kind of like a kid playing with scotch tape.
Part two: Biomechanical stimulation. The specialist uses a vibrator with a narrow tip to massage the facial muscles. Unfortunately, the vibrator sound is a bit reminiscent of a dentist's drill, which doesn't do wonders for relaxation. But the sensation is not unpleasant -- your face jiggles like a bowl of pudding.
Part three: Miostimulation. Hook `em up, lets see how she runs. Electrodes are attached to the forehead, both cheeks, and the chin, and the electronic impulses are set at levels comfortable for the client. This step provides the client with that curiously thrilling feeling of electrical shock without the attendant fear of electrocution. A very odd-looking procedure, with clients' muscles moving under the electrodes as though the creature from "Alien" is waiting to burst out. An unusual sensation, but not uncomfortable.
When all was said and done, my face did feel somewhat refreshed from its little workout. But whether all Vita clients "acquire a rejuvenated look, a beautiful facial tone, and a feeling of confidence and ease," as stated in the firm's literature, is a subject for speculation.
Another of Vita's flyers quotes a 1913 issue of "Ladies' World" magazine: "When noted 18th-century courtesan Nikon de Lanklo turned 80, she still looked so young and fresh that her own grandson fell passionately in love with her. When asked how she stayed looking so young, she displayed a piece of leather and boiled water. `These are my cosmetics,' she said."
So the next time you see an older woman strolling around St Petersburg with a fresh, healthy look and wonder if it's Vita or just leather and water, remember:
Only her grandson knows for sure.