Spring Fling

Although it is only a few days old, I am convinced that the new nail salon Paintbox will become my home away from home. A simple menu placed at each station relays an array of nail designs by editorial manicurist and Paintbox Creative Director Julie Kandalec, plus a well-curated list of shades from brands like Essie, Chanel, and Deborah Lippmann. In the bar area you can get a quick polish change not to mention drinks like Grady’s Cold Brew Iced Coffee, champagne, and scotch; there is even a mini-photobooth installed for easy Instagram-ing. Did I mention the scotch?

Manicure (polish, $35; gel $50), Design Manicure (polish $55; gel $65); Paintbox, 17 Crosby Street, New York City, (212) 219-2412, paint-box.com. Photo by Andre Maier.

A swipe of one of these delicious creamy tints on my lips leaves the perfect post-Popsicle stain and a few dabs blended into the apples of my cheeks makes my skin look sweet and glowing. Need I say that the buttery texture is simply addictive?

Josie Maran Infinity Lip & Cheek Creamy Oil, $18, sephora.com

The cult facialist to stars such as Allison Williams, Charlize Theron, and Maggie Gyllenhaal has moved her practice into brand new digs (within the same midtown building as her previous studio) and recently concocted a peel that will leave your face feeling a fresh as the paint on her walls. After using microdermabrasion followed by fruit acids and gardenia stem cells, Vargas then soothes skin with a calendula oil massage and green herb mask so you walk out the door radiant, not red.

Rejuvenating Botanical Stem Cell Peel ($400 with Joanna Vargas, $250 with an esthetician), Joanna Vargas, 501 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1203, New York, NY 10017, (212) 949-2350, joannavargas.com

This nighttime topical lotion feels like gentle velvet, but its armed with antioxidant to fight free radicals from the sun and city pollution. I use it every other night, alternating with my prescription retinoid, and love that it’s rich without being heavy.

SkinCeuticals Resveratrol B E, $130, skinceuticals.com

I’ll be honest: In the spirit of spring fever, I wear this fragrance for my boyfriend, who exclusively notices scents with sweet caramel-y notes (or any baking-type smell—what a surprise). The light floral element still makes me feel breezy and like myself, though.

Prada Candy Florale Eau de Toilette, $68, sephora.com

If you’ve been thinking your post-winter complexion could use some kind of skin vacuum, let me propose the opposite: The just-opened L.Raphael Beauty Spa at the Four Seasons New York offers facials using an exclusive device that propels custom-selected serums into skin using powerful gusts of pure oxygen. Though the blowing sound from the machine may drown out the spa music, your newly glowing skin will look more blissed-out than ever.

Oxygen-machine facials from $690 and up, L.RAPHAEL Beauty Spa at the Four Seasons Hotel New York, 57 East 57th Street, (212) 758-5700, fourseasons.com/newyork/spa

I’ve been slowly incorporating natural and organic beauty products into my routine, and it doesn’t get much more clean and green than the Canadian brand Living Libations. While it also offers dreamy body and facial skin care products, I’m most in love with the shampoo and conditioner that not only leave my hair feeling fresh and healthy, but makes my color look a touch brighter, too.

Living Libations Seabuckthorn Shampoo & Shine On Conditioner, $48 for set, livinglibations.com

After a visit to this small, newly opened eyebrow and lash salon in the West Village, I’ve decided I shall never face another eyebrow threading appoint without the help of some champagne—an offering now available at Wink—and that I may just tie the beauty knot with aesthetician Yanghzum Tamang, who can shape and tint my brows so that they looked clean and symmetrical, but somehow still thick and full.

Brow shape and brow tint, $38, Wink Brow Bar, 7 Greenwich Ave, New York, 212-600-1857, winkbrowbar.com

The jelly-like consistency of this luminous blush not only feels lovely when applied to cheeks, but it also speaks to the moisturizing ingredients that make skin look dewy and cherubic. I find myself looking for new places to add blush—the bridge of the nose, the very top of my forehead—just for an excuse to double-dip.

By Terry Cellularose Blush Glace in Rose Melba, $58, barneys.com

It’s not everyday that Rose-Marie Swift—makeup artist to Miranda Kerr, Gisele Bundchen, and the J.Crew catalogue models—comes out with something new in her all-natural makeup line. She just introduced her first mascaras in Volumizing and Defining versions. Both are dark black and made with natural oils and waxes, but I’m partial to the Volumizing formula, which gives the same feathery effect to my lashes as my old conventional mascara.

RMS Beauty Mascara Volumizing Formula, $28, rmsbeauty.com