The Carol’s Daughter flagship store is on 125th Street in New York City, on a block filled with the latest retail buzz: you’ll pass an H&M….a MAC Cosmetics store, and then you’ll see the unmistakable flowery orange sign.
I didn’t know the store had some great surprises tucked away at the very back too: appropriately named The Back Room, this is your secret enclave, away from the police car sirens and the deafening noises of the ambulances outside.
I was delighted to get my mani done there, and Lisa Price (the founder) was sitting in a chair getting hers done too. The Back Room Hand & Foot Spa is not really that old…it’s about three months young.
The room features home-cooked treatments (organic, natural) in a “see and be seen” setting. Heck that’s where I saw Lisa Price! And some of my other great friends.
There is a menu of completely customized treatments – and the range of nail lacquers is simply high end…from Chanel to YSL to butterLONDON. Apparently Mary J. Blige can’t keep her hands off the Almond Cookie Scrub (heck, I couldn’t!).
The services use completely natural products: all essential oils and paraben-free potions and lotions, and being a vegan I was completely blissful when I heard that.
There are several signature mani/ pedi treatments that you can get:
Love Your Hands: Lemon, lavender, chamomile and ginger are blended into a frothy milk and your hands and feet (depending on what you get) are soaked and scrubbed to perfection.
Haute Chocolate Experience: This is a decadent treatment for the fall, and you’ll feel as though you are some pampered movie star soaking in a tub on the set of The Hills. It features cocoa, brown sugar, honey and cream. Bring a spoon if you’re hungry and dig in.
Lavender & Vanilla experience: This is the treatment I received because I’m a lavender nut. It features lavender, chamomile, vanilla and sea salt.
The Rose Petal Ritual: features rose petals, milk, coconut, peppermint and tapioca. This is not surprisingly- the most popular choice. Don’t get in the way of a gal and her roses.
Pearls Are a Girl’s Best Friend: Lemon, violet, vanilla, sugar and tapioca.
The Princess in Me Mani: Lemon, Gummy Bears and Tapioca.
The treatments are completely inexpensive for luxury. They’re $42-$48 for BOTH a mani and pedi…can you believe it?
My brilliant nail aesthetician, Dawn, gave me the signature Carol’s Daughter treatment: two nail lacquer shades on one hand (especially some bling on the Blackberry thumb…they call it the Blackberry bling, lol!). Dawn picked out the shades for me — Chanel’s Kaleidoscope (which is the silver one), and the beautiful matte gray shade by YSL called La Laque.
I went home happier than a kid at Dylan’s Candy Bar. I would SO go there again in a heartbeat. Watch out, Dawn.
The Back Room Mani/Pedi
Carol’s Daughter Flagship store
24 West 125th Street, NY NY
