Ear Seeds Acupuncture Without Needles

Devotees of the trendy practice of auricular therapy claim it can treat ailments from addiction to insomnia. Should you try it?

- Martha McCully

When the Allbright private women’s club from London hosted its opening bash on Melrose Place in L.A. last autumn, the line to get in snaked around the block. Inside, beef tartare, French fries, and Veuve Clicquot were served; there was a Ladurée macaron cart and a caviar bar. Co-founders Debbie Wosskow wore Marchesa, and Anna Jones (former CEO of Hearst Magazines UK) was dressed in Ba&sh. “The place was bumping,” says one of the club’s founding members. Guests were treated to mini facials by Emilia Clarke’s facialist Georgia Louise and to percussive therapy sessions by Theragun. There were also complimentary applications of 24-karat-goldplated ear seeds to relieve ailments ranging from migraines to stress to indigestion. Mona Dan, the acupuncturist on Goop’s “10 Wellness Gurus on Tools for Manifesting Positive Outcomes” list, was there herself, dispensing the tiny magnetised beads to the anxiety-prone ears of the social and swanky.