Beauty & Spas in Livingston

With more than 25 years in the medical field, Dr. Pamela J. Stuart has focused her attention for the past 10 years on rejuvenating complexions with noninvasive treatments at Physician’s Skin Solutions. Dr. Stuart commences all services with a personalized consultation that helps create each patient’s skin profile, which helps identify sun damage, textural problems, and unnecessary fine lines—the kind that cannot tell your future. In addition, all nonsurgical procedures, including dermal fillers, laser hair removal, and radio-frequency skin-tightening treatments, are performed by the skilled doctor. And to further foster healthy glows, Dr. Stuart and her team are armed with advanced skincare products from brands including Obagi and SkinMedica. They also stay up-to-date on the latest beauty treatments, such as age-reversing Allumera topical cream.

Elegant Image Skin & Laser Spa brings together an eclectic team of cosmetic-nurse specialists, stylists, nail techs, and certified massage therapists to pamper and prettify patrons with a full menu of spa and salon services under one roof. Nurse-administered beauty injections such as Botox and fillers aim to smooth out fine lines, and spa facials and microdermabrasion treatments aim to imbue skin with the elasticity of a spandex-wearing gummy bear. Massage therapists coax out tension with soothing Swedish or deep-tissue strokes, and techs cheer up extremities with manicures, pedicures, and spot-on impressions of Rodney Dangerfield's toes. In the full-service hair salon, stylists spritz patrons' topknots with professional products from brands such as Paul Mitchell and Redken as they update outmoded ‘dos into chic looks.

The aestheticians at Mermaid Serving Beauty practice the ancient arts of threading and henna to create elaborate body decorations and groomed brows inside a welcoming studio. Armed with a thin cotton thread, eyebrow artists twist and pull the fibrous string over unwanted strands on eyebrows, upper lips, or full faces to create precise lines and remove large swaths of hair accurately and without the irritation waxing can cause skin. The 5- to 10-minute treatment unseats each hair at the follicle level, removing many strands at a time to give brows a shaped appearance that’s hard to achieve with tweezing. The salon’s in-house henna artists bedeck palms and wrists in intricate designs using henna, which gradually fades over the course of a few weeks for a semipermanent accessory that adds exotic flair to style and a testing ground for a pet ant’s navigational skills.

Trips alongside her mom to the salon are what sparked Liz Holten’s desire to become a nail technician. “The manicurists got to gab and talk and play all day like little girls and got paid,” she says. At 18, Liz got the opportunity to pursue the career she dreamed of as a child. A stint in a London salon allowed her to hone her trade in one of the world’s trendiest cities, but, intrigued by the increasing popularity of the celebrity manicurist, she made her way back to California.

Through e-mail exchanges with Charlize Theron’s personal manicurist, Liz further developed her skill set with firsthand tips on celebrity-grade services, but her clients were not always receptive. “I got a reputation for bringing people back to natural nails because they asked for the celebrity look,” she says. “I would tell them to open a magazine and show me one celebrity with pink and whites and I would give them their next three sets for free.” Liz Holten was the only person to win the bet.

Nail companies mirror her preferences and have recognized Liz for her work with vibrant polish colors instead of long, fake nails. She earned the title of grand master from Creative Nails and continues to refresh her skillset, which now includes her favorite products, Shellac and gel polish. These fresh trends, she says, are what keep her passionate about her career. As trends change, though, Liz does keep one thing constant: her meticulousness when working with clients in her private treatment room at Visage Salon. “You leave when I’m happy,” she says. “If it’s up to the client, they’ll leave even if it’s not perfect, but it’s my work on their fingers, and I want it to be right.”

Licensed aesthetician and manicurist Sylvia Chavez boosts the health and appearance of skin with facials customized to meet each client's specific needs. She can tailor skincare to men, women, and teens, treating a wide variety of skin types, from oily to dry to potato. With waxing services, Chavez transforms sparse or bushy brows into perfectly arched designs to complement individual face shapes. She also pampers hands and feet with natural nail services and attacks acne or wrinkles with chemical peels.

By working in a physical therapy office, a chiropractic office, and a day spa, certified massage therapist Dominique DeBenedetto of Spa Bleu Fonce gained a diverse set of skills. Relying on more than six years of experience as a massage therapist, she combines her comprehensive knowledge to relax bodies and relieve tensions with Swedish, deep-tissue, and sports massages. Dominique also soothes expecting mothers and pregnant pet fish with prenatal massage and promotes overall health and wellness with reflexology sessions. Aside from massage therapy, Dominique offers UV-free airbrush tanning to imbue skin with an even, natural-looking bronze color.