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You could spend the cloudless summer afternoon catching up on your laundry or getting your grocery shopping done ahead of the weekend crowd. Or, consider an infinitely more fun possibility: checking trendy, niche beauty treatments off of your beauty bucket list.
In the past few years, express beauty treatment bars have cropped up like Popsicle stands on the Fourth of July. Following the DryBar business model, these boutique shops specialize in one treatment and one treatment only -- and they'll get you in and out in time to leave town or beat rush-hour traffic.
So go ahead, indulge a little. Summer Friday season only comes around once a year.
Photo courtesy The Production Factory
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Create Your Signature Lipstick Shade
Whether you're a lipstick lover or a tinted balm devotee, the Lip Lab at Bite Beauty in SoHo lets you design your own custom lip product. Start your quest for the perfect shade with a one-on-one consultation with a lab artist, who can point you to shades that work with your skin and hair. After testing several combinations of color, you can select a finish (matte, crème, sheer or deluxe) and a scent (cherry, mint, vanilla, citrus, mango, violet or superfruit). If you're feeling flashy, you can also add shimmer in gold, bronze, silver or rose gold.
Don't live in NYC? Provincetown-based Three Custom Color Specialists allows you to create your signature shade online.
Photo courtesy Pinterest
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Get Next-Level Braids
There's no time like summer for a braid crown or other impossibly gorgeous braided hairstyle. Lucky for the not-so-dexterous among us, braid bars are popping up in cities all over the country. For a mere $30, the stylists at Los Angeles-based Nine Zero One Too will whip your hair into braided submission. Add a wash or curls for an extra $10, and suddenly, you'll be rethinking your Netflix and takeout plan.
Photo courtesy Pinterest
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Get the Red Carpet Treatment
One of the perks of being a megawatt star is having professional makeup artists and hair stylists at the ready. If a last-minute summer soiree calls for a look you can't execute (no matter how many YouTube tutorials you painstakingly follow), call in a professional glam team from Priv, Glam Squad or Vensette. Use their app or site to order services like a manicure, blowout, makeup application, massage or even a private yoga session in your home (or office), and they'll be at your house in a matter of hours. Finally, a chance to recreate Blake Lively's signature sun-kissed makeup or Miranda Kerr's Victoria's Secret-level beach waves.
Photo courtesy Pinterest
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Get Perfectly Shaped Eyebrows -- Finally
Blame it on Cara Delevigne: The bold brow trend isn't going anywhere. In fact, studies show that requests for brow transplants have risen by 45 percent since 2010. Get a pro's input at the Benefit BrowBar Lounge, where an expert brow shaper will "brow map" your face to give you the perfect shape to complement your features. Then they'll wax, trim, tweeze or tint to your brow's content. Found at Ulta locations nationwide.
If you want a preview of perfectly-shaped brows on your face, try mapping them now at benefitbrowgenie.com.
Photo courtesy Pinterest
