Kick-Butt Workout
Belmar’s Muay Thai Kickboxing & Fitness
White Plains (914) 426-0359
Tired of jogging on the treadmill while watching Seinfeld reruns? We thought so. Kick it up a notch—literally—with Peter Belmar’s Muay Thai kickboxing classes. With what may be the most challenging workout in the county, Belmar—who’s practiced Muay Thai for 26 years—will have you slamming pads with fierce roundhouse kicks, jabs, and hooks in no time. Prepare to become one lean fighting machine.
New Beauty Boutique
Olivier
Rye (914) 305-2000
“If you wouldn’t put it in your mouth,” says Olivier President Gabriella Valentine, “don’t put it on your skin. We would eat anything we sell.” Well, maybe we wouldn’t go that far, but we do love this elegant beauty boutique for its luxurious, eco-friendly indulgences, including all natural artisan soaps, facial creams, lip serums, body lotions, shampoos, and shaving creams. All are crafted from pure ingredients such as organic olive oil, virgin coconut oil, cocoa butter, shea butter, and beeswax—and without any preservatives or detergents.
Laser Hair Removal
Dare to Be Bare
Eastchester (914) 346-8900
Co-owners Sandra Cossa and Colleen McMahon have worked in the beauty biz for more than 20 years, opening their own spa just last year, and they are so nice and friendly, we’d go just to chat! But, of course, they are also very good at what they do: removing hair. They have the latest-model lasers, TVs in each room, and numbing creams for the sensitive. Nice bonus: if you buy a prepaid package and any hair dares to grow back, your first three touchups are free. We dare you to find a better deal.
Permanent Makeup
Halina Wawrzyniak
Oggi/Adam & Eve
Scarsdale (914) 472-0010
When someone is working near your eyes with tiny needles, you want that someone to know exactly what she is doing. That someone is Halina Wawrzyniak, who lines eyes and lips, defines eyebrows, and covers up tiny imperfections with an artist’s eye and has been doing so for 18 years. The result is natural, polished, perfect. She also gives a totally decadent facial. Splurge—spend the day. You’ll be in good hands.
Brazilian Bikini Wax
Sonny Sharma Spa & Skin Center
Hartsdale (914) 428-6772
What price beauty? Fifty bucks and a lot less pain than you might think. A New York City waxing snob snootily thought she wouldn’t find adequate services out here in the ’burbs. She thought wrong. “Sonny gives the least painful Brazillian I’ve ever experienced,” she gushed. And, Sharma is, we’re told, very thorough.
Yoga Instructor
Abbie Galvin at Katonah Yoga
Bedford Hills (914) 241-3413
She learned quite literally at the feet of the master—Nevine Michaan, owner of Katonah Yoga and last year’s Best Yoga Instructor. Says fellow teacher David Nayor, “Outside of Nevine, Galvin is hands-down the best yoga teacher in Westchester.”
Salon for Curly Hair
Devachan Salon
White Plains (212) 274-8686
Curly girls, rejoice! Devachan, the hair-styling mecca for the curly coiffed, has opened an outpost in White Plains. With 14 chairs and a cool exposed-brick wall exactly like its sister salon in SoHo, the salon offers the same level of curl experts that New York City offers, along with all the fabulous Deva products curly girls have come to love.
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Skin Rejuvenation
SkinCentre Advanced Medical Aesthetics
Hartsdale (914) 949-6200
You can get anything from a facial to a facelift (and just about everything in between) at this full-service skincare clinic. Of course, there are the medical-grade products like Retin-A and topical serums that are more effective than over-the-counter lines. Then there’s the full gamut of skin rejuvenators: facial peels; lasers to correct sun damage, even out pigment, tighten pores, and eradicate spider veins; and plastic surgery from partial to full face lifts. What’s more, it’s all under the direction of Dr. Joseph Sozio, a cosmetic and laser surgeon. He and his staff of physicians are physically in the office (not just “on call”) for best results—and complete peace of mind.
Skin Care
Aqua Laser & Aesthetics
West Harrison (914) 337-3700/(914) 202-3154
If you’ve got an issue with skin or hair, Barbara Campos and Nina Vuljevic have a laser to deal with it. Their not-so-ouchy elÅs lasers use radio frequency to do their magic: zapping away broken capillaries and age spots, taming cellulite, reducing unwanted hair. The end result? A newer, fresher-looking you.
Gym Amenities
Pace University’s Ann and Alfred Goldstein Health Fitness and Recreation Center
Pleasantville (914) 773-3275
It’s not just the hours that we love (open until midnight during the school year) but how can you not love the facility? A gymnasium with three basketball and volleyball courts, an elevated indoor track, a collegiate swimming pool, a weight-training and aerobics center, a dance facility, and men’s and women’s general locker rooms—can anything beat that?
Tattoo and Piercing
Big Joe & Sons Tattooing & Piercing
White Plains (914) 644-8222
This family-run and -owned shop is one of the oldest tattoo studios in the county. Owner Adam Kaplan, Big Joe’s oldest son, has 27 years of experience using the human body as a canvas.
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Pre-Workout Protein Boost
Big Apple Smoothie
White Plains (914) 997-7700
You certainly don’t have to be training for a marathon to enjoy the all-natural smoothies at Big Apple Smoothie. The smoothies—with names like “The Olympian,” “The Hulk,” and “The Venice Beach”— will fuel your body and delight your taste buds with all-natural blends of fresh fruit, supplements, and fruit juice. They are completely customizable (add however much and many supplements like flaxseed oil, L-Glutamine, whey protein, antioxidant blend, etc. you like). And if your Herculean self craves more, just grab a nutritious wrap, panini, salad, or soup—all made in-house.
Dance Class Selection
Josie’s International School of Dance
Ossining (914) 432-8502
Gotta dance? Here’s the place for salsa, ballet, Argentine tango, zumba, flamenco, hip-hop, belly dancing, swing, classical Spanish dance, Kindermusik—the list goes on; it’s like the U.N. of dance schools. All classes are available at both beginner and intermediate levels. The offerings make for such happy feet that even owner Josie LaRiccia, who teaches several classes herself, takes lessons from her hand-picked instructors, right alongside the rest of the students.
Hip-Hop Dance Instructor
Debralyn Press at Sleepy Hollow Performing Artists
Sleepy Hollow (914) 909-5070
For tip-top hip-hop lessons, look to Debralyn Press, who’s been dancing for more than 36 years and teaching for 20. She takes hip-hop as seriously as classical dance forms like ballet, hiring instructors who have choreographed for Ludacris and danced with Janet Jackson. Today, SHPA—a not-for-profit that moved to a new 3,500-square-foot studio last year—has its own company of teen hip-hop dancers, and students even perform a one-of-a-kind hip-hop version of The Nutcracker each year.
Bargain Gym
Strata Health Club
West Harrison (914) 694-4656
For $32, get your body into beach shape in a month at Strata Health Club, with no commitment! The one-year-old, 7,300-square-foot facility has brand-new Atlantis, Life Fitness, and Sports Art equipment and offers massage services, nutritional counseling, yoga and cardio classes, plus personal training packages as reasonable as $75 per session.
New Day Spa
Oasis
Dobbs Ferry (914) 409-1900
The Zen rooftop garden is so ethereal, it’s easy to tune out the traffic down below on the Saw Mill Parkway as you succumb to the supreme indulgence of an alfresco hot-stone massage from the very guy who invented it! This latest addition to the New York City-based, three-spa chain has 16 treatment rooms, party space, and a retail area filled with lots of lovely potions and lotions—plus outdoor yoga in the garden. Heaven on Earth.
New Fitness Center
Apogee Pilates & Wellness Center
White Plains (914) 644-8884
Wow! A whole center for Pilates. And yoga. And a bit of spinning. But that’s really not all you’ll find in this sparkling new 8,500-square-foot facility. You can get a massage, life coaching, nutritional advice, and one-on-one with a Pilates instructor. You also can buy workout threads and grab a bite (a healthy one, of course).
Next: 5 Favorite New Facials
