from New York Resident Magazine - Vol 16 / No 25 - December 8,2003
By Ellen Scordato
beautyeditor@resident.com
In
the health-and-beauty realm, New York City offers just about anything anyone
could want to give or get around holiday time. But for those seeking the new
and different — or even just a slight twist on the usual — unique
choices abound, from the latest in spas to ancient oils.
Two new spas offer intriguing options. The brand-new SimplySpa (104 W. 14th St., 212-647-8919, sim-plyspanyc.com) has a blockbuster concept.
They book high-quality services by time, not activity — thus, you can give 60 or 90 minutes of time at SimplySpa, and your recipient can choose from up to four services, including manicure, pedicure, massage, and facial. Alternately, you can book one service as a SimplySession for the whole 60 or 90 minutes.
Founder Christine McKelvey comes from the restaurant world, and her new "menu" offers four types of pedicures, manicures, facials, and massages. All services are provided by dually trained estheticians/massage therapists in a serenely luxurious space.
A nice touch: The art in the treatment rooms comes in the form of transparent panels over the ceiling lights, since the ceiling is what clients wind up looking at anyway. Another great relaxing feature: You stay in your own lovely cocoonlike room while the estheticians come to you.
The staff is all multitalented; Cheryl gives a marvelous facial and beautiful, effective full-body Swedish massage with equal skill, while Evelyn the manicurist is swift and sure.
The products are all top-notch, from Bath Bloomers to Comfort Zone, the hot new Italian skin-care line. For busy Manhattanites, multitasking a manicure, pedicure, and massage at the same time may be so alluring you'll wind up booking 60 minutes for yourself.
In an unlikely building on an unlikely block, Azure Day Spa and Laser Center (227 W. 29th St., 212-563-5365, azuredayspa.com) features exhilarating skin care that's likely to please any recipient.
Deep in the heart of the Garment District among the furriers, owner-director Mina Bowker offers facials, massages, and laser-hair removal in a harmonious environment. Cozy treatment rooms are paneled like a Finnish sauna, adding to the aura of natural peace.
In the business since 1985, Mina combines her hands-on treatment experience of what works and what doesn't with a thorough knowledge of scientific skin care and laser therapy. An oxygen glycolic rose oil facial included an excellent explanation of how the oxygen and glycolic acid work.
Esthetician Jenelle delivered an amazing facial that left my skin soft and noticeably smoother and radiant for days. Her massage background revealed itself in a heavenly scalp and neck massage as the creams did their work.
The salon uses Jan Marini, Karin Herzog, and proprietary products, which are also available on the Web site. The oxygen glycolic rose oil facial featured a marvelous combination of scented stuffs, from the peppy peppermint oil in the cleanser to the super-soothing rose oil at the end.
Fans of natural oils and the simple life would appreciate Mei camellia seed oil (212-682-0680, victani.com). Long popular in China and Japan for cooking as well as skin care, camellia oil is pressed from seeds of the camellia sasanqua plant, a member of the tea family that blooms in Japan and China through the winter. Upper-class Japanese women of the 17th-century Heian period used it to groom their silky floor-length tresses.
In addition to its excellent hair conditioning properties, the oil also protects skin from dryness. It's popping up in several product lines, but for simple skin care, Mei's pure cold-pressed camellia seed oil is available in both scented and un-scented varieties.
Press a few drops onto the face after cleansing in the morning, and use it to remove makeup and to moisturize at night. It's a light massage oil too, nonirritating for most users. (If you think you might be sensitive, do a patch test first and wait 24 hours.) ¦