GC Salon & Spa

Profile

This family-run salon and spa offers a big menu, minus the pretension and high prices of its neighbors. In 1967, owner Gloria Cabrera left her native Philippines to study in New York City, with plans to bring innovative techniques to her salon back home; she stayed after meeting her husband, and in 1973, the couple opened a salon in Gramercy Park. Word-of-mouth spread from the original base of Philippine doctors, and the location expanded to include a spa. In 1993, the couple opened a flagship Midtown location, which is laid out in two sections: Clients enter via a spacious salon, which can accommodate up to twenty at a time for manicures, pedicures, makeup, and hair services, while through a glass door, the spa reserves the Sunshine Room for waxing, the Aroma Room for body treatments, and the Orchid, Oasis, and Crystal Rooms for six types of massage and thirteen kinds of facials which use only all-natural products by Cabrera. Less mainstream services include Japanese Thermal Straightening, skin bleaching, cosmetic tattooing, and eyelash extensions. Popular among businesspeople and bridal parties, Cabrera and her workers help beautify each year's Miss America and, when in town, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. — Christine Ajudua

Gloria Cabrera’s affordable, family-run spa will pamper the bride and her friends with individual services or with its Bridal Suite package, which includes a massage, facial, manicure, pedicure, hairstyling, and makeup ($225 per person).