this is life in austin & aspen » facial

Skin by Ann Webb

Lyssa — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:14:21 +0000

I love Trisha. She pads out of a back room in cute sweatpants and a vintage tee and says, “Ready?” It’s time for my first facial (this one wasn’t that good) at Skin by Ann Webb, a place I’ve grown to love as I’ve gone for some laser hair removal on the recommendation of not one but two friends (likewise, I highly, highly recommend it, ladies. Trisha is very efficient). Coincidentally, I also won a gift certificate at Fight Gone Bad in September and finally remembered to use it on this:

New Client Customized Facial - 65
We know that each person is unique, and spending time getting to know your skin is our first priority. Once we understand your skin care goals, a program is put together that is right for you. We have specialized treatments to deal with acneic, aging, dry, sensitive, or hormonally imbalanced skin. Each treatment will include enzymes and fruit acids to exfoliate or hydrate your skin. Cold therapy and an oxygen treatment follow to calm, heal, and rebuild your skin. You’ll leave feeling fresh, energized, and with that signature “Ann Webb” glow.

People, I am GLOWING. Shiny, happy face. It was completely and totally relaxing–well, except when she put some acid stuff on me which I’m sure was really good for me but stung like the dickens, but even then Tricia took the sting out with an oxygen machine blowing on my face. Love!

Once you’ve had your first facial, repeats are only $45.

In summary, even if you aren’t a girly-girl, go see Trisha Lewis at Skin by Ann Webb. Your face will be smooth and pretty afterward! (or your, um, other areas should you choose to get lasered…)

I hereby dub this shopping week

Lyssa — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:12:25 +0000

While everyone else is “Free Week”ing it–let those live-music lovers revel–I think we should be shopping. Mainly because I’ve found a lot of great deals to share with you! And it seems like all I’m blogging about this week is shopping … stimulate the economy, people, stimulate! Does this make me the Czarina of Shopping?

Apparently there’s a website out there about local shopping called Shop512. Now, snotty native that I am, I don’t think I need this, but surely it could help newbies find some good shopping off the beaten path. Plus, there’s a sales section, and who can resist that?

Also, in the name of shopping and getting pampered at the same time, check out the sweet spa days at Saks this month:

Armani Facial Event
Every Monday in January
Receive a complimentary stone facial and makeup application with Armani skincare
and cosmetics.
To schedule your appointment, please call 512.231.3787

YSL Spa Event
Saturday, January 10
Let the YSL team professional makeup artist create a sleek, sophisticated look just for you.

Sisley Spa Event
Wednesday, January 14 through Friday,
January 16
Get luminous skin with our Sisley products and learn the secret to beautiful skin.

Sisley International Makeup Artist
Personal Apearance
Saks invites you to meet Alfredo Lizardi,
Sisley’s International Makeup Artist
Friday, January 16
For additional information or to schedule an appointment, please call 512.231.3765

La Mer Spa Event
Friday, January 23
Get perfect skin with a complimentary facial
from La Mer.
For additional information, please call 512.231.3763

La Prairie Spa Event
Friday, January 30 and Saturday, January 31
Indulge your skin with a luxurious facial
with La Prairie skincare.

Four Seasons Lunchtime Spa Retreats

Lyssa — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:50:33 +0000

Lunch hour is the perfect time to re-energize the work day with a quick workout, walk around the lake, or meeting with a friend. Now the Four Seasons is throwing a new plan into the mix: a little R& R plus a deluxe Four Seasons boxed lunch. Afterward, you’ll probably have the most productive afternoon ever! Indulge a little–it’s a new year and someone has to stimulate the economy!

The Spa at Four Seasons is offering these mini-treatments:

Essential hand therapy; 30 minutes – $45

Essential foot therapy; 30 minutes – $55

Rapid results facial; 25 minutes – $85

Nature’s break massage; 25 minutes – $80

Gentlemen’s nail buff; 25 minutes – $45

After your treatment, head out to a hammock on the hotel’s lawns overlooking Lady Bird Lake for a peaceful nibble of your quickie box lunch. For more details click here or call The Spa at (512) 685-8160.

Another Thursday, Another Plethora of Events

Lyssa — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:35:08 +0000

Good thing I have that fence to paint (it’s never done. You finish building the sucker and you just have to paint it) or I’d never be able to decide which of these events to go to! That and I’d go to the LAST Nike training run at SIX lounge before the big run this Sunday if I had time. Run 7pm at SIX.

+ Sabia (that spa I got a facial at and LOVED!) and KickPleat host a party:

Sabia + Kickpleat Party Invite

+ Rae Cosmetics is hosting its Third Birthday party (although really, when isn’t Rae Cosmetics hosting or displaying at some party? Their lip gloss is great so I really can’t complain, but it’s true, they’re everywhere.

Three Beautiful Years

Come join the fun at the Rae Cosmetics Studio and Courtyard. You are invited to a fabulous evening of food, drinks and music. Enjoy a free makeover, a trip to the photo booth or a spin on the dance floor.

Proceeds benefit Girlstart. (www.girlstart.net)

Thursday – August 28th, at 7:00pm
The 26 Doors Shopping Center – 1206 W. 38th Street

+ Speaking of places that are always partying, its also Second Street district’s second birthday and they’re OBVIOUSLY throwing a bash.

For the second time in the past month, the district is celebrating its birtday with giveaways, sales, and snacks, plus an 8pm champagne toast on the Taverna patio with cupcakes from Delish, cookies from Tiff’s Treats, and gelato from Paciugo.

+ Along the same street, Design Within Reach is hosting a Wine and Design event:

From 6 to 8pm, try wine from Taste Select Wines (which is getting good reviews for coolness and being able to buy 1/2 glass of wine … who wants only half a glass of wine?!) and shop for dining room furniture, which is 15 percent off when you mix and/or match six or more chairs, stools, and tables. RSVP to austin@dwr.com. DWR, 200 W. Second St., 472-7200.

I <3 Sabia

Lyssa — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:59:09 +0000

There are some things I don’t get about Austin. Like today when I was trying to find DaVine Foods for some sprouted grain pizza, and I stumbled into the Enchanted Forest where a man was welding some things and didn’t notice me as I walked by four times looking hopelessly out of place. Only in South Austin would a bunch of toilets strung together and stacked on top of each other qualify as a wall in this ridiculous forest. Needless to say, there was no pizza for me.

There are some things, however, that make me sigh happily and think, this is why I love Austin. Sabia is one of those things. The little spa in a little house offers as many local products as possible, including a rare line of natural skincare products by a woman named Marisa and an exclusive line of essential oils sold to no other spa in the country. We all know I’m not a spa girl, as hard as I might try to be one. My first (and only, until now) facial was mediocre at best and I generally exfoliate by wiggling my toes in some Zilker Park sand. But this facial–and it was just a mini-facial!–I had today might convert me.

Pam, the aesthetician, is a brilliant organic chemist in a hippie’s body with the smooth face of a 13-year-old. In other words, a person immediately trusts her. She massaged, steamed, scrubbed, soaped, cleansed, antioxidized, moisturized, and sunscreened my face, softly soothing but with the precision of a surgeon. She told me about the products she was using in detail, and gave me samples of things she used after the treatment. In short, she made this rookie feel like an old pro. Oh sure, I get facials all the time. Oh, your spa didn’t use the cocoa butter sea salt scrub on you? Tsk, tsk.

I don’t even LIKE beauty products. I can barely be bothered to wash my face before bed. I apply sunscreen religiously but mascara plays only a distant second. But perusing the goods in Sabia’s quaint little house on South First, I wanted to buy one of everything. Vitamin C serum? I need some of that. Kiehl’s tinted moisturizer? Sign me up. SkinCeuticals mineral-based sunscreen? Check. Dr. Hauschka, no I can’t even pronounce your name but I need some of your bronzing gel.

Sabia also carries their own line, handmade here in Austin, and it changes with the seasons, the availability of ingredients, and so on. I was chatting with Sabia’s young, cool owner Jessica (who turned around a business plan and scraped together cash in 72 hours when the spa’s former owner offered her the place) about their impending move–in September they’re getting roomier digs on 5th & Lamar, between a gym and a bike shop–and she was assuring me that sporty types totally fit in at Sabia. Their Sabia line already features an awesome sore muscle soak; but she thinks the new location will be even better for sportsters because they’re bringing on a new acupuncturist and massage therapist who specializes in working with athletes. Perfect!

She also swears that they’re the best at waxing and makeup. For everyone, of course, not just us unkempt sporty types.

In the end, Pam told me that she likes my soap-and-water routine, as she likes simple. And then she gave me a scrub and told me to start using it 3-4 times a week.

SkinBella facial = so-so

Lyssa — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:26:06 +0000

Maybe I’m biased because I don’t really have problem skin, but my spa week treatment was not as exciting as I had imagined. Maybe it’s because I didn’t really realize that my SkinBella “facial” was a microdermabrasion treatment instead of the exfoliating-masque-extraction-moisturizing facial I was thinking of. milk + honey itself was nice enough, if a bit dark and cramped, with luxurious robes and a sweet staff–everyone I encountered, down to the woman emptying the dirty towel bin, was extraordinarily friendly.

Bottom line: though milk + honey is nice, I still don’t feel like I’ve had my first facial yet.

Tip: there’s still time left in Spa Week! It runs through Sunday, so book an appointment stat for milk + honey’s massage or mani/pedi, or one of the other salons!

Word on the street: the Hill Country Galleria iteration of milk + honey will let you book more than one Spa Week treatment, still for just $50 a pop!

Spa Week!

Lyssa — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:52:23 +0000

Spa Week is somehow little-known, but it’s amazing! Spas present several of their (normally very expensive services) for just $50! It’s to promote awareness and hopefully hook you on spa visits, but for me, it’s going to be my first facial.

Four Austin spas are participating:

milk + honey (2 locations: downtown & hill country galleria)
512.236.1115

Avant Salon Spa
512.502.8268

A Beautiful You Med Spa
512.336.1772

Spa at the Lake
512.263.7611

I will be hitting up milk + honey for a 45 minute skin Bella facial either today or tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Also, I am going the SUPER CHEAP route and buying a discounted $50 gift certificate here for only $35, making my facial $35 + tip. Sweet! I’ll also let you know if that works or not. They do mail you the gift card, and I don’t know if it’s available for pick up, so that could be an issue if you’re thinking you’ll go the same cheapo route as me. However, they have other discounted cards for Kerbey Lane, Blue Dahlia, and milk + honey, so it’s worth clicking on.