Chicago Party Recap: Celebrate YOU

The windy city was awfully tranquil last night.

Spa Week Daily co-hosted Celebrate You: Chicago, a party at the 6000 square foot, newly re-opened, and quite beautiful Joseph Michael’s Salon & Spa in downtown Chicago. Why? To celebrate the independent lifestyle, the August 16th Chicago/West Coast launch of the $50 treatment directory on Spaweek.com, and of course, you.

Following Joseph Michael’s annual participation in Macy’s Glamorama earlier this past weekend, bloggers and Chicago scenesters joined us for a relax-and-mingle evening of manicures, mini-massages, lip treatments, blowouts, wine, sushi, desserts and freebies, and the first thing everyone noted upon arrival? WOW— Joseph Michael’s employees are SO NICE! It’s true, the moment you walk in the door, you’re family.

The Joseph Michael's Salon & Spa "Family"

The owner Paul (front left) made a great point about how he hires his staff: “You can always train people to get better at what they do and master techniques, but you can’t train people to be have a better personality.” Allison, who I had the pleasure of working with to plan the event, is an absolute doll. Paul says of Allison (standing next to Paul), “I never dreamed I’d find someone who I felt could run my spa without me. She does everything the way I would want it done, and that is priceless.”

Hair and makeup artist Ronnie (below with Afrobella) who shaped a lot of eyebrows last night, possesses one of the most coveted qualities you could want in your salon employee: It is impossible to meet him and NOT want to make him your new gay bestie. (Hayyy boo!)

Ronnie working his magic on Ms. Afrobella

It turns out a lot of the attendees had been slacking on split end maintenance–including me (and Jessica of Beauty Woo Me below). Hair stylist Eileen dished out some much-needed trims and blowouts, leaving everyone with voluminous locks and one less thing on their to-do lists. Very thankful!

Eileen doing my hair, Jessica Teas in line to be next!

I loved meeting a whole new set of bloggers, including ones I’ve enjoyed working with for months now. Congratulations to Kim who writes The Stylish Life– she took home the $50 Spa Week Gift Card raffle prize. I asked her where she was going to use it and she said: “Definitely Joseph Michael’s. I love it here!”

See the rest of the party pictures on our Facebook page.

To put on the event we partnered with Sherri Lamgburt, founder of SingleEdition.com, whose mission is to enhance single life via her consumer-facing site, and also to connect non-mommy bloggers and give them means to monetize their talent, something often taken for granted in the world of blogging. Know your worth!

All sorts of ways to celebrate you, but start here: Sign up for Spa Week and book one (or more) of the three luxurious $50 services Joseph Michael’s Salon & Spa is offering during Fall Spa Week (September 13-19).

  • 45 Min Lomi Lomi Massage
  • 45 Min Water Lily After Summer Soothing Wrap
  • 45 Min Microcurrent Turbo-Lift Facial

Joseph Michaels Salon & Spa
1313 North Ritchie Court
Chicago, IL 60610
312.482.9800
http://www.mychicagosalon.com

Twitter @mychicagosalon

Award-winning Joseph Michael’s Salon and Spa delivers uncompromising care in a relaxing, unpretentious atmosphere. Voted Citysearch Best Spa, Best Facial and Best Massage 2009 and named Best Chicago Day Spa by Allure magazine 2009.


Photos by Jessica Lapidos

SPA MADNESS has begun!

spa-madness

It is officially Spa Madness. It all started with Bryce Gruber’s Vajazzling, which went viral around the world from Gawker to Croatia… now there’s no turning back.

Spa Week Daily is sending bloggers to the spa as our little agents all across North America to capture a sneak peek of the delicious massages, facials, wraps, eyelash extensions and other treatments that’ll be just $50 during Spa Week®. Videos, photos, highly personal accounts, Tweetments™ (the act of Tweeting the play-by-play of your spa treatment), perhaps some live video streaming… no holds barred… this is madness we’re talking!

And it’s all leading up to the main event… Spring 2010 Spa Week®, April 12-18. We’ve got the official SPA MADNESS page linked on the right hand side of the page, which will keep track of all the appointments as they get confirmed, and will be your source for links to all the insider spa coverage as it comes in.

CLICK for the madness! >>

VAJAZZLE: The Feature Film and Spa Directory

Vajazzling – the spa treatment heard round the world, the trend that just won’t die and one that most are curious to try. Now you can consult this ever growing list of spas around the country that specialize in the vajazzle.

 

Completely Bare Spa – Uptown

764 Madison Avenue 3rd Floor

New York, NY 10021

Completely Bare – Bond

25 Bond Street

New York, NY 10014

212.366.6060

Completely Bare – Downtown

103 Fifth Avenue, 4th Floor

New York, NY 10003

212.366.6060

Completely Bare – Scarsdale

12 Chase Road

Scarsdale, NY 10583

212.366.6060

Sweet Escape Spa and Skin Care Boutique

294 Washington Street

Winchester, MA 01890

781.368.9338

Savoir Faire Skin & Body Boutique

2524 Dixwell Ave

Hamden, CT 06514

203.287-9607

Ambiance Salon & Day Spa

369 Independence Blvd

Virginia Beach, VA 23462

757.497.5511 or 866.443.6191

Wax Art Spa

2862 NE 8th St

Homestead, FL 33033

305.242.1114

Classic Tans

200 West Sahara Ave #903

Las Vegas, NV 89103

702-335-2667

Escape Nails and Spa

1913 E Fire Tower Road

Greenville, NC 27858

(252) 215-9220

Le Beau Salon & Spa

4051 E. Main St.

Ventura, California, 93004

805.320.0324

Metro the Salon and Spa

136 South Main Street St.

St. Charles, MO 63301

636.724.7676

Sweet Samba

4300 Paces Ferry Rd. Suite 472

Atlanta, GA 30339

404.347.5211

Skin Beauty Lounge

404.5 8th Street SE

Washington, DC 20003

202.543.6993

Entebello Apothecary & Spa

324 East Paces Ferry Road

Atlanta, GA 30305

404.477.2933

Blossom Day Spa

3317 E. Indian School Rd

Phoenix, AZ 85018

602.954.9262

RawNature Face & Body

375 Pharr Road NE

Atlanta, GA 30305

404.771.0164

Glamour By J’s

941 4th street

Miami Beach, FL

305.672.7142

A New You Salon and Day Spa

1580 North Park Ave.

Eugene, Oregon 97404

541.688.7155

All Dolled Up

755 North Salina St.

Syracuse, NY 13208

315.477.1088

Suddenly Slimmer Spa

3313 E. Indian School Rd

Phoenix, AL 85018

602.952.8446

Rosina’s European Skin Care Clinic and Day Spa

2801 Waterman Blvd. Suite 190

Fairfield, CA 94534

707.428.3444

Nourish Skin and Body Day Spa

3611 W. Azeele St.

Tampa, FL 33609

813.350.0402

Just Wax It

4617 Montrose Blvd #C145

Houston, TX 77006

713.807.8525

The Naked Monkey

270 W. Carmel Drive

Carmel, IN 46032

317.566.2929

Strippers Waxing Salon and Boutique

3224-B Crain Highway

Waldorf, Maryland 20603

301.885.IWAX

Brazil Bronze Glow Bar

580 Broadway Suite 501

New York, NY 10012

Vajazzling Heard ‘Round the World

vjj

We didn’t start the fire! Oh wait, yeah we did.

It’s been just over 48 hours since we sent Bryce Gruber of The Luxury Spot to get Vajazzled, and be the first human being to ever share a personal account of the latest phenomenon of bedazzling your va-jay-jay. Since then, she’s been the talk of the town. Or, universe rather. Some were enthralled with Bryce’s sparkling bits, others were appalled with the thought of Swarovski crystals crumbling, or even worse–a disaster during sex. And some we didn’t understand because they were in non-Latin-based dialects. We’ve scurried the interwebs and compiled a list of the funniest, most opinionated, most eye-popping comments on the subject. The verdict? Jury is still out.

“Gross. People who vajazzle should have their vaginas taken away,” he said. “They can have them back when they are ready.” (Gawker)

“I prefer the term vagina-jewel-gluing, not vajazzling, because I am an adult and do not need to invent nursery rhyme words for things that people do to their genitals.” (Blackbook)

“Vajazzling involves women feeling like they need to change some part of their body and this change requires them to spend lots and lots of money on a regular basis. I can take my vagina bushy or bald, but I don’t think I could live with my vagina if it was all bling…” (Vegina)

“I need to share my enthusiasm for VAJAZZLING with someone who will appreciate it!” (Married to the Mob)

“Am I the only one grossed out by this?” (Make Her Up)

“To feel good about your privates you have to superglue crystals to them? (Feministe)

“Najnoviji trend u osobnom uljepšavanju jest Vaginiranje, odnosno Vajazzling. Možda će mi se oni upoznati s ovom procedurom smijati, ali bio sam uvjeren da je friziranje, ili pak kompletno izbrijavanje, jedino što se s tim područjem dade napraviti.” (idesh)

“Eww, it looks like little crystal in-grown hairs.” “Or a bad case of shiny herpes.” (The Frisky)

“Then, per her aesthetician’s instructions, she “abstained from vigorous activity” for 24 hours afterwards. Because, you know, that’s the whole point of vajazzling—abstinence.”  (Racked)

“Maquillage et accessoires pour le pwubs! Un peu excessif mais j’adore regardé quand même! Je me retrouve dans cette zone! (Benybabeliscious)

“Those crazy folks at Swarovski have found themselves a brand new market. Looks like this will be hot with all those rhinestone cowgirls out there. (slutty much? jeez) So let me get this straight, pubic hair is out, pubic jewels are in. Oh I get it. What the hell?!” ( i could cry but i don’t have time)

“I would have expected a trend so bikini friendly, so sparklerific, would have had to have started here. But no. It happened in Manhattan. I guess the Swarovski crystals had to get tested on the subway before showing up on the surf set?” (Mom Fluential)

“Have you ever stared down at your freshly waxed, pre-pubescent looking vagina  and thought, this is missing something…sparkly!” (2PzNapod)

“There is nothing good about this, nothing at all.”(NY Mag)

What do YOU think about it all? If you’re feeling sparkly inside… and want to feel more so on the outside… you can get Vajazzled (which includes the wax!) during Spa Week®, April 12-18, for the sweet price of $50 (usually $112) at Completely Bare on Bond St. NYC, or at their Westchester location. There’s also a spa in Washington, DC called Strippers (number: 301-885-1929), also offering Vajazzling during Spa Week®.

“Spa Week… making it shine where the sun don’t!” But don’t quote us on that.

Little Luxury Report: Huge Lips Skinny Hips

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This post is a proud member of the Purple Lab Blogger Mafia. Check out the rest!

The Little Luxury: Huge Lips Skinny Hips lip gloss, by Purple Lab NYC

Relationship Status: We met in July on Twitter. It kisses me with or without lipstick… and we still tweet pretty much every day.

It Plumps Your Lips and Not Your hips: This gloss has lip plumper and hoodia (the appetite suppressant)–an idea that popped into founder Karen Robinovitz’s head at a wedding years back. She had eaten too much and told her husband Todd she wanted to leave. Karen said: ”If my lip gloss would only plump my lips and not my hips, I wouldn’t be in this mess.” And poof, Purple Lab was born: “Double Duty Beauty for the woman who wants it all!”

Only Settle For The Best: When Karen started out her career as a beauty and lifestyle editor, she sampled every lip gloss known to womankind. When she created the formula for Huge Lips Skinny Hips, she wouldn’t settle until it was the absolute best gloss she’d ever tried.

Launching a Brand through Social Media: Just as Karen (and her fabulous, irreplaceable marketing director Sharon) met me through Twitter– they’ve developed an enormous and devoted network of bloggers and supporters through social media. If you’re ever looking for inspiration in succeeding in social media, look at what Purple Lab has achieved.

Let’s get to the pole dancing and Louboutins: What? Yes… the thing that sets this brand apart most is the personality behind it. Every gloss comes with a love story and is named after an inspiration in Karen’s life. Kittypole Dancer–because this is Karen’s favorite sport (she has a pole in her living room). Red Sole–because shopping at Christian Louboutin is Karen’s other favorite sport.

Clearly… the clear gloss is called No Panty Lines.

Living Dreams: A huge congratulations to Karen! When we met in July, she told me her dream was to be on HSN. Just last week, Purple Lab rolled out a whole line of Double Duty Beauty on HSN. Parties were thrown in her honor all across the country, and Karen was truly a star. Purple cupcakes and boas and a million tweets of Purple Lab love.

Buy Buy Buy: For all their Cool Makeup – Purple Lab NYC is the place to go. The gloss is $25 and worth every lipsmacking penny.

Fun and Games (on a personal note): If you want to read more about Karen, Purple Lab, and a fun little game (blog) I invented over the summer in which I lived by the rules of different influential New Yorkers… visit Karen’s round of The NYC Game

Hot Stone Scale: 6 out of 6

hot-stone-scale_6stones2

THE GIVEAWAY: Until Sunday, February 28th… you can enter to win Huge Lips Skinny Hips from our SWAG giveaways page. 10 winners!

BONUS, because Red Sole is my favorite… I’ll be giving away a bonus Huge Lips Skinny Hips in Red Sole to someone who comments below and tells me: is there anything hotter to do in red-soled Louboutins than riding on the back of a motorcycle? (Karen would argue no. Can you think of something?) Comment by Sunday at midnight, winner announced Monday, based on creativity!

WINNER: Jenny Henning
Her Answer: “No sex, no games. Throwing on a pair of red soles, just to swagger down Abbey Road. Nothing less, for the legendary walk ;)”

Me in my red soles on the back of Karens husbands motorcycle

Me in my red soles on the back of Karen's husband's motorcycle