Modern beauty standards were established by ancient sun worshippers, who strove to emulate its golden color and natural hairlessness. Achieve solar smoothness with today's Groupon: for $50, you get a $100 gift card for hair removal and other spa services at completely bare on Fifth Avenue.
Founder Cindy Barshop of The Real Housewives of New York City helms a hair-removal spa that bids a firm adieu to unwanted follicular guests. Professional waxing specialists apply a patented formula of wax engineered to reduce pain by adhering to hair and not skin, leaving everything from the upper lip ($18) to a basic bikini area ($42) as smooth and relaxed as a napping alto saxophone. For more-permanent fuzz farewells, laser hair removal targets and swiftly decommissions the root of each hair and the tiny rivets that hold it in place without damaging skin. After an initial complimentary consultation, highly trained techs schedule an average of six sessions to cast long-term silkiness and icy disdain for hair's poor fashion sense over lower stomachs ($150/treatment), lower legs ($550/treatment), or a choice of 30 other areas. The spa's aestheticians also adorn the skin they've defuzzed, with services ranging from spray tans to Vajewel and Vatoo bikini-area designs.
Completely Bare
Cindy Barshop may have a familiar face. She gained reality-TV fame as a cast member of The Real Housewives of New York City, but she found success much earlier when the Madison Avenue spa she founded more than 10 years ago grew into a hair-removal brand known throughout the country. Completely Bare’s waxing specialists dab bikini lines with the shop’s proprietary blend of ouch-less wax, which adheres to hair instead of skin to avoid the painful pull that often accompanies a waxing session. The blend is hypoallergenic and does not cause acne, which makes it ideal for depilating sensitive skin and touchy bodily zones. Routine waxing sessions add extra sparkle with the salon’s vajazzling service, which bedecks newly hair-free spots with up to 70 Swarovski crystals arranged into such shapes as hearts, stars, peace signs, and MPAA ratings. The spa specialists also migrate beyond the below-the-belt area to polish the rest of the body with facials, laser hair removal, spray tanning, and teeth whitening.