Sunday, December 30, 2007

Spa + Vintage Shops Downtown

I got brand new eyebrows! lol

Nad got me a gift cert for a Brow Lift and Eyespa at Wink Beauty Lounge for Xmas and I went in today to redeem it. Of course, I cannot not do a review on it so here it is!
It's definitely in a spot I never even knew existed -- above True Value Vintage (j'adore) on Robson. Wink has two rooms. The first room houses their front desk and their (very very tiny) store filled with products that aren't really commercially known from lip glosses, to these neat eye massagers that look like they're from the future, nail polish, facial products, fake bake products, serums that make your eyebrows grow faster, and of course, extravagant eyelashes imported from Korea. The second room (which isn't connected to the first room) is where they do their magic.
So I arrived somewhat on time (OK... I was like 7 min late) - Vivian, the owner, was sitting at the "front desk", helping a customer pick out fake eyelashes in the little display. She smiled at me and introduced herself and gave me a form to fill out. Then she led me to the next room which was dimly lit and had two bucket-type chairs on the left side of the room with cute red patterned foot rests for pedicures. On the other side was the bed-type thingy... (gosh what are those called anyway?) which was very comfortable. The music was really soft and soothing too. In the beginning when she examined my eyebrows and told me what she was going to do to them, it felt like I was at a dentist's office with the bright light over my face. But after the consultation, she put it away so I could relax. First, she slathered some lavender-scented oils on my brows and waxed the top of my brow and then plucked the rest. Luckily, my eyebrows are pretty used to being plucked at (since Grade 7!) so this hardly hurt at all. Then I got a facial! My first facial! She first opened up my pores with a warm towel on my face -- felt sooo good. Then she put a bunch of things on my face from this line from Paris.. I forgot what it was called (D'coleur?) but it smelled great and felt soothing. I didn't know what half of them were, but I knew there was a gentle scrub, cleanser, toners, and moisturizer in the mix. For the last step, I had to leave the product on my face for around 10 minutes and she covered my eyes with what seemed like a gel pack. Then I got an arm massage with these orange/vanilla oils! Very surprised 'cause I thought she was gonna leave me alone in the room until the product was ready to take off. It wasn't until then that I was fully relaxed and it was such a shame 'cause it was almost over! So she rubbed in the last bit of the product and placed a hot towel over my face (I also loooved this and wanted her to keep it on forever).
Wink Beauty Lounge seems quite busy -- there was a guy ready for his appointment right after mine and she couldn't fit me in on the 31st 'cause she was fully booked.
Would I go there again? Maybe for another "brow lift" if I don't upkeep my eyebrows in the future. I would like to try the eyelash extensions they're known for but those are like $150 and only last 4 months + it costs another $50 or so to take them off! lol or maybe I'll just stick to fake lashes.

Service: 8.9/10 Vivian and her coworker were very nice
Ambiance: 8/10 If they fix the straw mat blinds in the 2nd room to gauzy white ones, it'd make it better.. but it's pretty cute
Overall: 8.5/10

Then afterwards, I went to check out True Value Vintage downstairs. I love that store - if you dig, they have some great stuff but they aren't necessities. The employees remind me of American Apparel's employees -- they look cold and a bit snobby (in the non-rich sense), but if you talk to them, they're actually very helpful, polite and friendly. Anyway, I found another pair of jeans (on sale) -- same brand as the ones I wear all the time (Just USA) and same fit (skinnies) -- just a different wash. I also got this black satin look-alike bubble sleeved top that was only $14 w/ 25% off. Anyway, they have some beautiful brocade dresses (perfect amount of vintage) that I'd love to own but have no occasion to wear.

I also stopped by this hidden upstairs vintage store on Granville (across from Urban Outfitters). I don't know what it's called but I love the inside -- great displays and the employees are always very very friendly.
I loved soo many pieces of jewelry on that table... but the ones I liked were over $50.
Loved this bracelet but it was $60 -- had such great detail and I loved the colours.
I know.. my hands look like a Granny's hand already :(

Here's the view from my dad's secretary's office:
The crappiest view -- I should take a picture from Don's window... now that is gorgeous.
This is the hole I work in. I'm taking a picture from the reflection in the glass.
Well, you can't really see anything in this picture... the walls aren't that boring - my station has a bunch of Snoopy stuff on it ('cause the secretary loves Snoopy).. but see the cleared desk beside me? That was FULL of files when I got there in the morning!
Tomorrow, I'm going to Aveda on Robson for a 1 hour makeup session (free! Courtesy of LOULOU Magazine). Yay.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

ooooooooh nice review. wink i thought was pretty good in that it really managed to become a separate place than the rest of the building which is so so so ..different. glad u enjoyed!! massages are wonderful ^_^ wen i bought the thing the woman showed me the other room which i thought was really nice and ambient and well lit (in that the lighting was appropriate)

...im kind of in a haze.. ... going to crush tm for NYE.. fuck..so expensive...so annoyed ARGH.

Nat said...

..oops. i was on dims' gmail account which appanretly translates to blogger commenting.....................................