Fashionably San Diego

Sugar & Spice SD Spa Review

 

Please excuse the predictable twist to the obvious proverb, but San Diego's new Sugar & Spice Spa is everything nice. Sugar & Spice is a skin care, waxing and nail studio that opened it's glass paneled doors last Wednesday in Old Town. Excited to review the spanking new space, I checked it out yesterday.

Bubble gum pink walls greet you while the minimalist decór calms you. The ambiance is best described as fresh, clean and girlie. 

Besides the walls, you will be welcomed in by one of the owners. For my facial appointment, Deven McCarty (Owner / Licensed Esthetician) greeted me like a well mannered girlfriend. None of that still, distant or sometimes weird demeanor I see sometimes from estheticians. I immediately liked her and appreciated her more and more throughout the delicious experience. She had a light and soothing touch, she listened to everything I had to say, and beyond the experience, the results are fabulous! My skin feels so so soft, so so hydrated and looks so freakin' smooth. 

When you get a facial you want the experience to be as amazing as the results and I hands down found that to be true at Sugar and Spice. I have never felt more comfortable with an esthetician and I have never been more pleased with a facial. 

On to the details, Sugar and Spice uses Epicuren products and Deven chose the Chai Soy facial ($85 for 60 minutes) to detoxify my skin and bring back some moisture. Although I am an advocate of organic products, which Epicuren is not, I was very pleased with the performance, feel and smells (Ah, the yummy smells) of Epicuren. 

The facial also included cleansing, a scrub that exfoliated with completely round particles that won't scratch the skin, a toner, and more. We ended with a spritz of sunscreen to protect my fresh skin from the San Diego afternoon.

Things to keep in mind when getting a facial at Sugar and Spice... 

The music selection is a more modern take on soothing music. It's very cool. You will adore it if you get bored by the slow flutes of calm music. You probably won't like it if you prefer traditional relaxing music, so just ask your esthetician to play your preference if you are not a fan. They have an Ipod full of "facial" music.

Also, Deven will work with your preference of speaking quantity. She will begin by asking about any issues or concerns you may have and then keeps her talking to a minimum unless you ask her a question which she will smoothly answer without interrupting the gentle experience. I am a HUGE fan of this communication style during a facial - or massage for that matter. Nothing worse than an esthetician that talks too much or who stops or makes you uncomfortable when you ask questions.

Summary: Sugar & Spice gets 5 stars out of 5 from Fashionably San Diego.

Supercuts Has High End Stylists

Short hair grows fast! About a month and a half after my hair makeover it started looking pretty ridiculous. So I decided to do another hair experiment. I met a young woman who worked at Supercuts who was said to be fabulous by friends. It got me thinking... could I get an inexpensive haircut with high quality results?

Turns out, yes. With the economy on the rocks high priced salons lost a lot of business leaving awesome hairstylists looking for more lucrative gigs.

"As far as Supercuts goes, when the economy began diminishing, we became busier than ever, due to affordability and convenience. Stylists from various high end salons are continually applying to our company [because] we never go through the usual feast or famine, as many other salons do." says Elise Kosich, hair stylist at the Murphy Canyon Rd location.

Elise has been doing hair for six year, two and a half of those years were at the Paul Mitchell Salon where she received most of her training. Now at Supercuts she is wowing her clientele while making a consistent living. When I met with her I desperately needed the back of my hair chopped precisely while leaving my hair to grow more in front (I have zero tolerance for hair in my face). She kept to my instructions while offering her opinion without the fear I often see on other hairstylists. The combination of what I wanted and what she suggested was fabulous. I was truly impressed and now have a new favorite salon - Supercuts.

To make an appointment with Elise at the Supercuts in Murphy Canyon Rd, call 858-571-8996.