 
What good are the holidays, except to make you fat and break out thanks to quality time with mom? Happily, you can blow your facialist budget on a shrink if you pick up MD Skincare's Alpha-Beta Peel Home Facial System, formulated by dermatologist Dr. Dennis Gross. The pack comes in two jars, each filled with Stridex-like pads (use the one soaked with antioxidants, alpha- and beta-hydroxy acids first, then the neutralizer) that will have the post-teen in you feeling nostalgic. While it's not entirely as strong as a facialist-administered pore cleanse, it's cheaper and you can do the whole thing while watching Sanford & Son on Nick at Nite. $60 for a 30-day course, available at www.mdskincare.com |
 |
|
|
 
Yes, we just featured another Versace product, but we swear on a stack of bibles—Allure, that is—that the Intensive Revitalizing Eye Zone Mask works. It's weird to use—a gelatinous paisley-shaped thingy saturated with a Job's Tears and Tartaric acid-laced serum goes under each eye for ten minutes. But when your time is up, you will think your under-eye area has been bleached more stringently than Donatella's locks. We've tried every eye repair product on the market (no exaggeration) and have yet to find anything even half as effective at de-shadowing, de-puffing and de-crepeing the under-eye territory in such a short time—high price tag be damned. Get that woman a refill. On us. $200, available by calling Neiman Marcus, 1-888-888-4757. |
 |
 |
That holiday lard ass won't disappear on its own, but since you're too hung over to hit the gym, slather on this troix-in-one cellulite kit from French botanical line, Darphin. First, spray Body Profile Complex, which uses caffeine and Ginko Biloba to break up fat cells, on your "affected area." Next, drain with lemongrass-infused Body Profile Oil. Last, Body Profile Slimming Gel goes to work on "orange peel skin," as the French so delicately call it, with Vitamin B5. $115, $68 and $68, respectively, at Bergdorf Goodman, 212-753-7300. |
 |
|
 |
|
|
 |
| |
|
It wasn't the gushy reviews of owner Sam Cagnina's aggressive deep tissue massage technique or the glowing look on the faces of clients departing its idyllic, blond wood environs that got us excited for our rubdown at Sam C's Spa in the Flatiron district. It was a little item in New York magazine alleging that Sam and his partner, chiropractor Steven Margolin, were in a three-way relationship with Sam C's receptionist, and one of them was the father of her child. Not that we were expecting a key party in the sauna, but a pro-wife-swapping establishment (or even a real life version of My Two Dads) should at least impart some frisson to one's afternoon.
Of course Cagnina's been a pro for years and takes his career far too seriously to promote any monkey business on the premises, so we were out of luck there. The treatment menu does include a hot tub treatment, but instead of bobbing for apples with topless glamour models, a licensed therapist takes on your neck and shoulders while you soak in lavender and ylang-ylang-infused salt water ($60 for 30 minutes) and listen to Tibetan-flavored New Age strains. Acupuncture, mud wraps, chiropractic services, waxing and reflexology are also on offer, but the main draw is the massage. The rubdown combines deep tissue, Thai and Shiatsu techniques, so expect a lot of oil, very vigorous surface rubbing (if you like Swedish, kick it up to 11 and you'd be about there), some pressure point release and limb stretching to boot ($100-120 for 60 minutes, $145-165 for 90). Sam C warns that since the massage is therapeutic in nature, temporary soreness can ensue, but imagine how much worse you would be after a bout of naked Twister?
Sam C's Spa: 166 5th Avenue, 2nd floor, New York, NY, 10010, 212-675-9355
|
|
|
|
 |
|
