• Duane Reade Look Boutiques

  1350 Broadway, nr. 35th St.; 51 W. 51st St., nr. Sixth Ave.; 131 Eighth Ave., at 16th St.; 358 Fifth Ave., at 34th St.

  There’ve been a lot of changes recently in our ubiquitous local chain. There’s snappy new snack packages, better lighting, new points cards—and a surprisingly great stash of beauty supplies. The Look Boutiques (there are four right now, with plans to expand) have wide, well-organized aisles stocking higher-end products like Too Faced and Pür Minerals makeup lines, T3 hairdryers and fragrances from lines like Demeter and Bulgari. There’s Ramy’s no-appointment-required eyebrow-grooming bars where black-clad associates, many of whom are licensed estheticians, can demonstrate how to do a smoky eye. At the skin wellness center, you can get a skin analysis. And if you don’t like something you’ve bought, there’s a no-hassle return policy.

From the 2010 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine