By TwoOFour
I have been wanting to share my grooming experiences with the Cvillains for a while. As a newcomer I have spent the past two years trying out every waxer, manicurist, and masseuse in town to nail (no pun intended) down the cream of the crop. Anyone that uses these services know that there can be only one “best” in every town, and these people are hard to book. The costs associated with trying all these providers in order to locate my fave have been a bit pricy and therefore I shall gladly spare you the expense. Please return the favor if you disagree with my choices and/or have additional folks you’d like to tout.
Nails
My favorite manicure and pedicure spot is KNails in the CVS shopping center north of Target on Seminole Trail. The person to ask for is Tina. KNails is a walk-in place that recently expanded and doubled their capacity adding more massage chairs and a private waxing room. Their opening hours are flexible, meaning if you walk in minutes before they close, they will stay open to accommodate you. Their manicures begin at $12, you can zone out or watch either of the two large flat screens as you are groomified. If you can tolerate the elevator music, you may never have to wait, and the service and price are first rate.
Waxing
If you need to violently rip the hairs by their little mean follicles to don a swimsuit or appear in an adult movie any time soon, I can recommend Sarah at Oasis Day Spa on Water St. Downtown. She is the only aesthetician I have encountered in town that will do a true Brazilian wax, not that I speak from experience (over share), according to her; most people in the ‘ville area are undereducated on the extend of this procedure, and informs me that she considers it to be the removal of ever hair you may grow in your pubic area, and I mean EVERY. No landing strip or little hairy hearts or “seat cushion.” She had to share her expertise and educate many a UVA student on this specific “area” around spring break last year.
She is also quite proficient when it comes to brows, and I am a stickler mind you, as over-tweezing/waxing can mean permanent deformity to your arches. She will entertain you with her with and charm and local gossip as the winter growth gets pulled from your shins, and has a sweet demeanor that makes you less anxious about your nakedness and the awkward yoga-like position you execute to obtain smooth hairlessness in your crinkles. Waxing starts at $10 for fingers and toes, (for you werewolves out there) and the infamous Brazilian starts at $55.
Massage
I see my massages as medical procedures combatting severe tension problems, and I have gone to several hundred sessions with different masseuses across the world. If you prefer the “relaxing” kind of treatment, you can get a rub-down anywhere it is advertised in town. But a true Swedish massage should leave you sore like you would be after a massive work out, and subsequently release your build-up tension and toxins; this kind of massage takes a very skilled and strong masseuse. If you want that authentic, near rolfing experience, you have to visit Kimber at Oasis Day Spa at Water Street Downtown. But please plan and book in advance; as she typically is booked two to three weeks out. The deep tissue/Swedish runs $85 for an hour long treatment.
[Credit: jmonte]
Popularity: 18% [?]
Tagged as: Charlottesville, Local Business, Reviews
Subscribers: so sorry for my initial formatting.
TwoOFour, bless your well-groomed heart for this.
Kimber is the best - hands down!
Hairless crinkles? My what a morning.
ooh, wanted to add for hair: Nathan at salon cielo is my fave.
not only does he doe awesome hair, but is extremely personable and entertaining!
just to add to the oasis love - my 2 fav nail people are there- both Brandi (who does my mechanic husband’s manicure once a week and he LOVES it!) and Dee Dee who is just an artist - attention to detail like no other over there at the oasis!!
to add on for hair: virginia at reflections is amazing, both for cuts and color. i’ve gotten my hair done by top salons in nyc and dc, but i’ve never gotten as many compliments as i have since i started going to her.
i second the high praise for virginia. she’s awesome. and has given lots of her time to live arts to make everyone on stage look amazing, too. can’t beat that.
I go to Oasis for my brazilians, but have found them very inconsistent. There are times when I’ve floated out the door giggling and other times when I’ve hobbled home in extreme pain. I’m addicted to them, so I have to go, but the pre-appointment anxiety is high as I wonder what kind of treatment I’m going to get.
AMEN to the comments about Virginia from Reflections. I love her so much that I almost wrote an entire entry about hair stylists this weekend after she cut my hair. I wanted to hug her after she cut my hair. She’s also a very cool chick.
I think she does hair for artists who play the Pavilion as well. Someone told me she did the ladies from the B-52s…that’s A LOT of hair!
Dont do my nails, can’t afford a massage, and I trim my own pubes… but for haircuts I have been loyal to Jodi at Abracadabra on the backside of the glass building for nigh on five years. I have nothing but praise for the whole experience.
For hair, I highly recommend Christopher at III Asthetics (in the Glass building, behind X Lounge). He is great for men and women alike (I know lots of converts to him in the past three years. If you try him, you may convert as well).
Jools - you color your hair? NO WAY! Do you wear a toupee as well?
thaqor, it’s a “hair enhancement,” not a toupee.
and how are those frosted tips working out for you? have you tried that new dandruff shampoo yet?
I 100% believe that Sarah from Oasis is the most powerful social force in Charlottesville. I don’t know anyone who goes to anyone else and we all adore her. Whether it’s eyebrows, legs or the dreaded pre-swimsuit bikini fix-up, she is great at her job and a joy to be around. She’s such a minor celebrity that she was one of the judges at Artini.
As for nails, I won’t get a pedicure anywhere but Oasis and when I bother I usually get the combo flash mani/pedi for $55. They still do a great job despite the time crunch, and then I don’t have to feel too guilty for leaving work to go to the spa. Occasionally I’ll go to the place by Tokyo Rose when I need to get my nails done in a pinch - the moisturizer they use is a bit creepily industrial but they also have a walk in policy and chips have this amazing tendancy to occur right before I have a big meeting so I am greatful for their constant availability and relative closeness to downtown.
Now here’s an offshot topic - has anyone had laser hair removal and is it worth the money? Did you get it done locally/would you recommend anyone? The way some people’s lottery fantasy involves a gucci bag, mine is sadly related to never having to shave again.
Lys, someone close to me got lasered, and she described it as the worst pain of her life, so bad she could not have imagined how bad it is, but still worthwhile. It looks great, I’ve got to hand it to her. But it seems every few months she’s like, “So I just got back from getting a wax, and…” So basically, there’s the surgery to get rid of what’s on the legs, then there’s still the other. In my opinion, the couple thousand dollars and multiple sessions of unimaginable pain, right THERE of all places, is actually not worth it.
Oh yeah, did I mention multiple sessions? She procured some black-market medical numbing before she went at one point…
Whatever. That’s just cause girls are total wimps. And have cooties.
Go get a wax job and tell me that again. Men might be strong, but they are pansies when it comes to pain.
Okay, is HTML now off limits? My attempt to quote didn’t work.
My attempt to quote didn’t work.
<blockquote> doesn’t work. I’ve been using <i> to set quoted text apart. Works pretty well.
My attempt to quote didn’t work.
How ’bout the simple (less-than-sign q greater-than-sign)rather than block quote instruction? Lets see..
Nope.
Interesting that when I cut and paste your italicized text it come out non-italicized…
You have to type <i>this</i> to get this.
yeah, girls are total wimps Tim, especially when giving birth.
I love Robbie at Avanti for color. She’s actually an instructor for Matrix and does lots of national shows.
And if you want to save the cost of waxing, and enjoy the fun (ha!) of ripping out your own hair for a one time only cost, try an epilator. They are about as painful as waxing, lead to the same more sparse regrowth and eventual easier hair remover over time. Plus, as I said, the lovely masochistic fun of doing it all on your own. I’m shy. No one is going to pull fuzz from my ladybits, but me.
ThatGrrl, I was waiting for someone to say it first! All it takes is a huge glass of red wine and a thousand-dollar-plus investment over 10 years. Once you pay $50 enough times, you want to say, “Alright, woman, give me that popsicle stick and back off.” DIY, bitches.
Reggie at Bristles is the shiiiiiiiiiit. I’ve dubbed him the “Bangmaster”. Cuz he cuts bangs so good. Derr.
Eek! Embarrassed. No boys allowed in this thread anymore. Maybe Stanley, he was a feminist back in the Manning family Super Bowl thread.
I’ve got one of those epiladies, I use it on hair that is too embarrassingly located for a waxer to see….I’d much prefer to have the waxer tell me ..nooo your not hairy, lady, you should have seen the girl with hair on her [insert embarrasing location]…and I snicker
What’s going on in here….laydeez?
I have an Emjoi epilator, I believe. Not to be confused with “enjoy.” ‘Cause it’s totally not enjoyable.
this thread needs a password. or a warning. or a– blanket? it needs something.
god, my eyes.
Hi, Stanley! *waving* Help yourself to the red wine. And an aspirin.
poor parlie. This thread burned his eyes.
Stanley, share your aspirin with parlie.
I KNEW IT! It took 9 comments for the childbirth comment to be made. Not that I disagree, I just felt like testing the response. But girls do still have cooties. In related news, perhaps we need to start a manscaping thread?
Would you like to start it?
Proposed title: “Pubes on Rubes on the Internet Tubes.”
I’m going to sit in the waiting room while you all chat on that one!
I was at a bar the other night where there was a manscaping poll taken. Someone was convinced it was common.
That same bar has a bartender who fancied herself a diehard Democrat while lamenting the fact that the Charlottesville for Obama group was having a primary results watching party at the bar. She told one of the other guys to set the TVs to Fox News because the group would like that. It took a lot of effort not to shake her.
I was at a bar the other night where there was a manscaping poll taken. Someone was convinced it was common.
So, I take it that the poll proved manscaping wasn’t common (at least in your sample)? What were the results? And how was manscaping defined? ‘Cause I can’t imagine a lot of guys around here get waxed on a regular basis, but I certainly believe that most trim, here or there.
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