Sunny Isles Beach, FL Beauty and Salons

B-True Organics's formidable skincare boutique has a lot in common with the produce section of a grocery store. Products are crafted with botanicals such as fennel, grapefruit, or mango, and they're almost pure enough to eat. That's because every pH-balanced shampoo, body lotion, and eye shadow contains no harsh chemicals and is never tested on animals or particularly hairy coconuts. In addition to their in-house line of products, B-True Organics carries brands such as Dr. Bronner's, ilike, and Spa Ritual. B-True's respectable menu of spa services lets customers put its products to the test in private treatment rooms as they receive organic facials or massages that draw from Hawaiian and Balinese techniques.

Even as a child, Gustavo Briand's fascination with hairstyling was so strong, he was willing to get into trouble for it. In the years since he lopped off the locks of his sister and all of her dolls, he's gained enough fans to outweigh any early disapproval his passion encountered. Those fans tend to be highly visible: a lifelong lover of the arts, he's styled a long list of opera stars, prepped heads for the red carpet at London Fashion Week, and performed pro-bono work for the Florida Grand Opera, the Miami City Ballet, and the Miami Symphony Orchestra.

In his home studio, Briand and his team draw from a service menu spiked with innovative techniques. Ionic infrared technology leaves blowouts smooth but not overly dry, Davines and Sojourn shampoos and conditioners are specially formulated to restore dehydrated hair, and hair extensions are applied with a minute "lock-and-key" system that requires no adhesives, duct tape, or other potentially damaging techniques.

Yes, there have been times when I've wished I could do it all myself. Times I've dreamed of snipping through those blond and amber tendrils bound only by the vast horizon of my will, wholly immune to the whims of that hand which guides my every move. Such bondage! Tell me—what able-bodied creature does not crave an accomplishment to call his own? What noble steed has not dreamed of charging into battle with a sword clutched in his hoof rather than with a cumbersome knight straddling his back?

Granted, I am just a pair of scissors. But do I not have a soul? Do I not, like she who grasps me, have two arms? I would happily give them both for a voice with which to lament my pitiful condition. I have much to be thankful for—this much is true. My blades are sharp; my reflexes strong. Alas, my strengths are not entirely my own.

But when we work in tandem, her and I—when her hands fuse to my handles and I respond to the touch of her fingers before they even squeeze … well, that’s when the existential dread falls away like so many clipped tresses to the floor, replaced by an overwhelming sense of duty, adventure, even—dare I say it?—pride.

Together, we are no less than trail scouts, blazing through chaotic thickets in the name of civilization. Together, we have conquered the stubbornest of cowlicks and disciplined the most uneven of bangs. We've felt the hard rain of spray bottles pound upon us as we marched around the ear line and ascended toward the highest summits of the scalp.

I have listened for—and hear even now!—a chorus of blow-dry minstrels that sings of our conquests. The tales of our triumphs have spread to the farthest-flung corners of DiGiovanni Beauty Salon. Those who enter from the outside world may not know my name, but when they ask for my stylist, who does she fetch from the blue well of barbicide? No one but I!

To conquer the unkempt. To restore order to a world entangled in chaos. These are my goals. Yes, I am just a pair of scissors. But my blades are sharp, my reflexes are strong, and my victories outnumber the hairs on the most fertile scalps my arms have traversed.

While working as a family practitioner in Miami, Dr. José Suarez often fielded requests from his patients for beauty-bolstering treatments. It drove him to open Pinecrest Medical Spa, a place where he could apply his medical expertise to cosmetic problems.

Each appointment begins with a consultation, where Dr. Suarez determines the ideal course of aesthetics-enhancing action. Unwanted wrinkles, hair, and acne can all be dealt with noninvasively using lasers or collagen-rallying inspirational speeches, while injections of Botox or dermal fillers work beneath the skin to keep countenances smooth.

After beginning her career as a certified esthetician in Paris, Patricia Mitev made the move to Miami and became certified as a laser technician. She now teams up with medical director Dr. Lolo Wise at HD Laser, where they strive to rejuvenate the skin with microdermabrasion, chemical peels, and laser treatments. She expertly wields the GentleYAG laser to handle tasks such as tightening the skin, reducing the appearance of cellulite, or blasting away unwanted hair or hard-to-remove feather boas.:m]]

Transform Age Management helps clients stuck in the middle of their aesthetic journey, providing cosmetic solutions that transcend the results possible with traditional skincare regimes, but stop short of surgery. Executive director and founder Sasha Parker draws upon 25 years of experience spent working as a nurse, assistant surgical administrator, and medical aesthetic trainer to helm a team of doctors and registered nurses who help clients look and feel their best. The collection of beauty services ranges from hydrafacials, peels, and age-fighting dermal fillers to laser therapies that can remove unwanted hair, tighten facial skin, or etch important dates into the brain. If one’s compass does point to the surgical route, clients can find direction from board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. F. Leigh Phillips, who performs everything from abdominoplasty to full and partial face-lifts.