V. TO TREAT WITH EXCESSIVE KINDNESS OR CARE; TO INDULGE
They're the spas, services, and indulgence that saved your sanity this year.
Lauren Genatossio Sarra Beauty Studio
At her South Boston makeup studio, Genatossio gives clients full-service lessons and sends them into the world with photo-ready faces, colors from her own makeup line, and insider tricks of the trade. Read more
Face Plant
Sarra Beauty Studio Opens
You know your way around a makeup bag. But a recent rush job under office lighting had you looking like a two-bit hussy (thanks, Mom, for pointing that out).
For a more versatile look, hit up Lauren Genatossio’s new beauty studio, Sarra (pronounced “sah-ray”), where the editorial makeup artist and her capable team will school you in the art of face.
During a 90-minute session, Genatossio attends to one side, and you do the other, ensuring that every smudge, pencil line, and brush stroke is drilled into memory. After a peek at your own stash, she’ll supplement it with pieces from her signature line (with a discount on products).
The gleaming studio-like space is tricky to locate (look for signs in the building), but once inside, you’re as good as painted gold.
And not the cheap, chippy kind.
Sarra, 840 Summer Street, South Boston (617-269-8999 or sarraboston.com).
Helena Cohen Ardan MedSpa + Salon
Thirty years in the business have given Cohen razor-sharp instincts on which trends are here to stay. Whether she's doing corrective coloring or a standout relaxing service, she's got her clients covered from root to tip. Read more
Dive Right In
Keratin Complex Therapy Hair Treatment
The pool party invites are piling up. You’ve waxed front and back. But your feet have yet to hit the water.
Truth: You don’t do public displays of wet head. With your hush-hush weekly blowouts, you’ve let friends think your mane is naturally silky smooth. Or that you just can’t swim.
Book yourself a Keratin Complex Therapy treatment at Ardan MedSpa + Salon. The three-hour straightening process entails multiple shampoos, saturation with a coconut-scented keratin protein tonic, a blow-dry, and a thorough flat-ironing.
Unlike other relaxers, keratin is natural and actually nourishes your tresses. You can even apply it atop color. Once complete, there’s nary a frizzy strand.
Now, go take a dip.
Ardan MedSpa + Salon, 72 Central Street, Wellesley Center (781-235-7788 or ardanspa.com).
Marc Harris Marc Harris Salon and Spa
The stylist's swank new salon and spa opened in the Financial District this year, giving clients a sigh-worthy space for pampering, plucking, and primping. Read more
1 + 2 + 3 + 4
Marc Harris Salon and Spa Opens
Tired of counting the spots on your face? And those lines around your lips?
Count something a little more productive, like the number of days until Marc Harris Salon and Spa opens: zero.
The Newbury Street hair hero just opened his Financial District spa, turning a raw, industrial space into a chic enclave for hair care, skin care, and massage.
Upstairs, a team of fifteen stylists attends to hair; downstairs hides the spanking new spa. Slip in for the Bamboo massage or the Lotion Candle rubdown, which uses scented, melted wax. Clear all those dots you’ve connected with the hydrating and lifting Maui facial or the breakout-soothing Tomato peel.
How many minutes will it take to get there?
Start counting.
Marc Harris Salon and Spa, 125 Broad Street, Financial District (617-443-8633 or salonmarcharris.com).
