The Newest After-Hours Club
We have hundreds of spas in the city, but surprisingly enough, there is still a niche that hasn’t been filled. Those who prefer to wind down with a massage or body wrap rather than a gin and tonic will be pleased to learn that a 24-hour spa, Juvenex (25 West 32nd Street; 646-733-1330), is set to open next month. The focal point is a solid-jade igloo – a sauna made entirely of the semiprecious stone – which, according to Korean custom, has healing properties. There are three pond-shaped pools for hot and cold plunges; soaks with sake, ginseng, tea, or honey and milk; and scrubs done with crushed jade and yogurt as well as standard salt – all this, plus a full range of facials and massages. But who’s going to make use of the spa at 4 or 5 a.m.? “People who have been out clubbing,” says owner Michael Modiri. “They’ll come in for detox and won’t wake up with a hangover.” There will be an as-yet-to-be-decided cover charge for use of the facility, and treatments will start at $50. The spa will be easy to locate through your cocktail-induced haze: A colored steam, which changes shade daily, will spew forth from the entrance.
Genie in the Bottle
Vitamin C, which has become one of the most common skin-care ingredients over the past year, has a new purpose – as a booster for hair color. The logic goes like this: Vitamin C is a powerful anti-oxidant, and oxidation is what’s responsible for turning bottle blondes brassy and fading vibrant red locks; hair color usually starts to oxidize the minute it’s mixed. Vitamin C delays this process and allows the color to penetrate the hair shaft easily. So Schwarzkopf has introduced Igora Royal hair color with vitamin C, in 98 intermixable shades, which colorists at Privé, Simon salon, John Frieda, and Bumble and Bumble have already begun using. But does the added ingredient actually work? “I can really see the difference; the color lasts longer,” says John Frieda’s Melissa Gonzales, who has used the product on Faith Hill. Suzie McManus of Privé, who colors the tresses of Uma Thurman, Téa Leoni, and Juliette Lewis, claims it makes tones more vibrant. “People have been stopping my clients on the street,” she says. We have a feeling Uma might have been stopped anyway – brilliantly colored locks or no.
Stardust Memories
Shimmering faces were a hit on the Gucci spring runways and (as any fashionista will tell you) are de rigueur for creating the perfect celestial aura for this season’s seventies-inspired romantic clothes or for adding warmth to the strict, tailored black-and-white look. To that end, a rash of products – more grown-up than the chunky glitter squares of past seasons, more subtle than the bronzing dusts of last year – is just hitting the stores. Versace’s Lights All Over, a platinum finishing powder ($35), will be available in March at Barneys, Sephora, and Versace boutiques; Chanel’s luxurious gold-flecked Eldorado blush ($37.50) has just arrived at Bloomingdale’s and Saks; Shu Uemura’s Luminizer, an iridescent bronze highlighter ($20), is also currently available at Bergdorf Goodman; and m.a.c’s Colour Theory 9 sparkly shadows ($15) can be purchased next month at Henri Bendel and M.A.C boutiques.
Prada Shielding Balm SPF 15/Lip/Tint
When Prada first stole our hearts and wallets, the fashions were a celebration in monochrome, with a little chocolate brown thrown in for flash. So now that the design house is launching its first cosmetic – lip gloss – it’s fitting that the colors are, well, understated. An extension of the treatment collection, which debuted at the end of 2000, the glosses hydrate and protect as well as color pouts, and come in mini-tubes, just like the skin-care products. There are five shades: pale beige, nude rose, soft peach, clear berry, and chocolate – not a red, orange, or hot pink in sight. And, true to the company’s luxe legacy, the fancy label comes at a fancy price: $38 for a box of ten, with about four applications in each tube, working out to a little under a dollar per smile (available in March at Saks Fifth Avenue, Barneys New York, and Prada boutiques).