Allouche was born in Constantine, Algeria in 1960, when Algeria was still a French colony. His parents moved back to Paris when he was two months old and he has never returned to Algeria. For the past five decades his home has been the fashionable arrondisements of the eternal city. He now lives in the 16th, which he treasure for its flowers and birds.

'I was 12 years old when I first became interested in biology and medicine,' he says. 'I went to the Necker University Hospital in Paris with a friend of my father.'

After that visit Allouche returned Necker whenever he could. And he used all his spare pocket money to buy science kits from toy stores. Much to his parents' alarm he became adept at playing pranks, sometimes of an explosive nature. After boarding school in Switzerland, Allouche trained as a doctor and by 1988 he was working in the intensive care ward at the Val de Grace military hospital.

'I was treating a lot of serious wounds,' says Allouche. 'It was my first experience seeing how the skin reacts under severe stress and when it's starved of nutrients.'

His encounters with injured soldiers taught him important lessons about how to repair and nourish skin. He found that patients who had the correct nutrients and oxidants recovered quicker. While Allouche was continuing his education his father, Yvan Allouche, was building Biologique Recherche into an internationally renowned company. In the early 1970s, Allouche had seen the need for products that achieved rapid results. Working with some of France's most famous film stars he began using high concentrations of active ingredients derived from pure botanical and marine extracts.

Yvan's wife Josette, a physiotherapist, worked with him to design massage techniques that would combine well with her husband's products. The gentle sculpting motions she devised are a critical part of the Biologique Recherche method. The company continues to provide its products primarily through its spa locations - including one in Hong Kong - where the massage techniques developed by Yosette are an essential part of any skin treatment.

In 1990 Phillipe Allouche had moved to the Fernand Widal Hospital in Paris and began working in the acute toxicology department. Part of his work involved treating post-operative infections in surgical wounds. He grew dissatisfied with the skin care products available and joined his father in building the Biologique Recherche business.

'My emphasis on building better skin,' says Allouche. 'That requires a holistic approach. I treat the skin as an organ and that means seeing it in the context of the whole body: Liver, heart, lung and kidney function can all affect the skin and vice versa.'

At Biologique Recherche Allouche has not lost his passion for research. The company has an active research programme and Allouche is a key player in the development of products, including the remodelling face machine which has revolutionised the skin care industry by making it possible to prepare the surface of the skin for treatment in a more efficient way than before.

'Research is at the heart of everything we do,' he says. 'I want to learn more about the skin every day. By understanding all the ways that skin responds to stress we are able to develop products that are revolutionary.'

Allouche has given careful thought to the special needs of men and women in Hong Kong. Since the brand began to have an active presence here in 2001 its products have been stocked at Lane Crawford and the brand's spa on Duddell Street in Central. Therapists have been carefully trained to deal with the skin stresses that are caused by Hong Kong's climate and pollution.

'This city causes a lot of damage to the skin,' says Allouche as we saunter past a table full of scrumptious deserts. 'It's important to have a defence against that. This is not just about looking better. A healthy skin is a vital part of being healthy and living longer.'

For those who crave the total Biologique Recherche experience Allouche recommends a visit to the company's sumptuous spa at Baumaniere in Provence. Just don't try to go in March or September before or after the Paris Fashion shows - then the spa is full of celebrity models getting their pre- or post-catwalk fix of Allouche's magic.