Beauty & Spas in Kentucky

The friendly skincare experts at Bays Boutique refresh visages with Nobel Prize–winning ingredients from the RéVive skincare product line tested on customers during counterside facials. The mild Cleanser Gentil Gelée ($65) cleans, refreshes, and soothes all skin types by preserving natural moisture and restoring pH balance sent off-kilter by orange-juice baths. Fingerfuls of eye-renewal cream ($110) erase dark circles and puffiness around peepers and protect the skin with RéVive's exclusive, patented Epidermal Growth Factor, which earned a Nobel Prize for its healing effects on scarred and burnt cells. EGF also rejuvenates faces in a lightweight, oil-free tinted moisturizer ($85), which balances light, medium, or deep complexions and defends sun-shy skin with an invisible UV fence charged to an SPF of 15.

Owner Erin Miller stocks The Crushed Violet Fragrance Boutique with delightful scents that are imported from around the world or locally brewed. Shoppers can browse shelves of luxurious brands such as L'Artisan Parfumeur and Lucy B, or enlist Miller's matchmaking skills, a fragrance wheel, and a series of speed dates to find the most accentuating perfume. Peruse a variety of sweet-smelling spritzes such as elizabethW's Sweet Tea ($32) or Lucy B's Royal Egyptian Amber & Honeysuckle ($30). Gift wrapping ($2.50/gift) a whimsically packaged TokyoMilk Sea & Sky scent ($30) or a locally made Woodford Wicks candle makes a great present to welcome a new neighbor or celebrate the end of a pet's job search.

Voted the Readers’ Choice Best Vintage Store in Louisville in 2010 by Leo Weekly and featured in Elle magazine, The Nitty Gritty mines vintage and retro-cut clothing gems from the quarries of time, spanning the 1920s to 1980s. Friendly, sartorially savvy staff members help browsers scout for authentic costume components or retrofit everyday wardrobes with recollective style. Swap 3-D specs for fashion eyeglasses and sunglasses that expose the velcro boundary between space and time ($10), or tug earlobes winsomely with fashion-forward, backward-glancing earrings ($6–$10). Put on a men's fedora ($20–$25) to add timeless oomph to suits, trench coats, and rainy outdoor business dance-offs, or sling on a vintage purse ($12–$25) for whacking burglar-costume wearers.

Sugar & Spice shines a spotlight on boys and girls. The business has two sides, serving as a boutique clothing shop as well as a venue for birthday parties and special events. New shirts, dresses, shoes, and other items arrive on shelves regularly; the shop's Facebook page keeps customers up to date on new arrivals. For parties, hosts supply everything needed, including cake and activities, which range from making friendship bracelets to appraising the gemstones on the birthday girl's tiara.

Dancewear, plush toys, make-your-own perfume and lip gloss, room decor—when young girls enter Club Tabby, colorful items beckon from every corner. Kids and parents can visit just to browse or to get a Glam Station makeover and sport a whole new look. Club Tabby also hosts birthday parties, and festivities can include rock-and-roll themed extravaganzas, outings in a limo complete with a red carpet stroll, or cheerleading sessions with a special Club Tabby cheer.

The Kentucky Center for Orthodontics’ trio of doctors all got into orthodontics when they realized just how much a great smile can improve someone’s life. Dr. Douglas Durbin, the inventor of the Flosspik polypropylene interproximal dental cleaner, Dr. Thomas Garner, and Dr. John Huang enhance the smiles of both children and adults with Invisalign treatments, braces with clear brackets, and invisible retainers glued to the back of teeth. They use digital imaging to construct treatment plans, they avoid headgear whenever possible, and they never just pull out a tooth when it won’t cooperate. Under their steady hands, The Kentucky Center for Orthodontics has straightened the teeth of more than 35,000 patients, including Miss Kentucky USA 2009 Maria Montgomery.