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Photo caption:
Core strength
Body Be Well’s Chelsea Streifeneder strikes a Pilates pose
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Pilates studio
Body Be Well Red Hook
This small, trendy studio with a fun, relaxed atmosphere offers private, semiprivate, and group Pilates training at affordable rates. Studio owner Chelsea Streifeneder — a Red Hook native and Bard graduate, who bought the business in 2009 — received her training through the Pilates Sports Center of Los Angeles. Clients rave that Streifeneder — a former dancer — is “supportive, positive, and understanding,” teaching classes that are focused, demanding, and challenging.
• 845-758-0790; www.rhbodybewell.com
trend-setting salon
Salon Arjé Beacon
Trying a bold new hairstyle can often be intimidating, but the experts (known as hair artists) at this cutting-edge salon are trained to adapt today’s trendiest looks to each individual’s personality. Owner Arif Lofgren — who learned his trade at top schools including L’Oreal’s Soho Academy, Redken 5th Avenue, and Paul Mitchell, among others — opened the salon in 2005 to bring NYC style to Beacon. Try a short contemporary cut with contrasting hues, or set up an appointment with extensions specialist Michelle M. for long, elegant locks. Healthy hair treatments, texturizing, straightening, and evening or special event styling services are also available.
• 845-831-4426; www.salonarje.com
salon for weddings
Marion Salonspa Pleasant Valley
Not only does this acclaimed salon and spa provide both trial runs and day-of services for bridal hairstyles and makeup application, they’ll go so far as to offer brides the use of their entire team of professionals. And with the Bridal Spectrum package, lucky ladies receive a signature facial, French mani and pedi, a veil preview, plus the aforementioned services. Grooms can indulge, too, in the spa’s Men’s Package, which includes a one-hour sports massage, facial, and haircut. You’ll be so relaxed you won’t walk down the aisle — you’ll glide.
• 845-635-1626; www.marionsalonspa.com
Bob haircut
Alfie Weil Salon Poughkeepsie
Whether you want classic and blunt-cut, asymmetric and edgy, or layered and flirty, Alfie Weil will wield his fancy $600 Japanese scissors and give you a bob with almost surgical precision. If he were the boasting type (which he isn’t), Weil could brag that he’s just two degrees removed from Vidal Sassoon, who pioneered perfect geometric cuts in London in the ’60s. Thirty years ago, Weil trained with Sassoon’s Brit colleague David Danes, who opened a tony salon on Madison Avenue where the bob was practically an art form. (“Well, hair is a medium,” remarks Weil.) Nowadays, Weil is back in his hometown, expertly shearing heads of both sexes in his own all-white, airy salon. “A simple, clean bob is a timeless classic,” he says. “Although simplicity is actually pretty complex — hair has its quirks, so getting a clean line is not that easy.” Is he a perfectionist? “There’s no perfection in cutting hair,” he replies. “You just have to have patience.”
• 845-471-7543.
Salon that’s Still Rocking
Salon Doriano Fishkill
This category is apropos in more ways than one. Owner Doriano Magliano and his seven stylists have been helping local women (and men) rock their look for upwards of 21 years, providing a full slate of hair, nail, and skin-care services — at reasonable prices — at their centrally located shop in Fishkill. (Along with coffee and tea, the salon offers clients a complimentary glass of wine — a nice touch we overworked magazine editors really appreciate.) After hours, Magliano — along with receptionist Valery Gallo and hair colorist Chad Gannon — rock out as bona fide members of the Valley’s music scene. Magliano and Gallo do double duty as members of the cover band Tremor and the acoustic duo Skin and Bones; Gannon is singer/songwriter/guitarist for the band Amendment.
• 845-897-2300.
Cocktail-inspired skincare
Merriweather’s Margarita Salt Scrub Rhinebeck
No, there’s no actual tequila in this skin-polishing product. The only thing intoxicating about this “margarita” is how soft if makes your skin. Made with sea salt to smooth ya, and scented oils to soothe ya, this sweet-smelling scrub works well on your body’s rough patches — such as heels, knees, and elbows — but is also gentle enough for your back, shoulders, and arms. Plus, salt scrubs are known for battling cellulite. We’ll toast to that!
• 845-876-8222; www.merriweathers.com
Novel skin nourisher
Goat in a Sweater at 1846 House Soaps and Handmade Gallery Pine Bush
We’re not sure what part we like better: the cute name, the novel concept, or the fact that this product really works. The soap consists of cold-process goat’s milk, skin-softening shea butter, and essential oils, all wrapped in soft, hand-dyed wool. This “sweater” acts as an exfoliator, lather enhancer, and soap saver — the wool shrinks as the soap does, too. Scents range from fruity to floral, and each one comes in a variety of vivid colors.
• 845-744-2995; www.1846housesoaps.etsy.com
day spa
River Rock Health Spa Woodstock
Sure, there are lots of super spas around our region where you can head for some top-notch pampering. But a day at River Rock hits all the right notes. It’s spotless, beautifully designed, the staff is always friendly and accommodating (read: not snooty), the products practically burst with freshness, and all the services — from facials to massages — are performed by caring professionals. If you walk around Woodstock long enough, you’ll surely hear somebody talking about the delicious hot rock massage. And the prices for this little piece of heaven? Completely reasonable.
• 845-679-7800; www.riverrock.biz
new workout
TRX Suspension Training at Millbrook Fitness Millbrook
This effective new fitness fad was developed by Navy SEALs to provide a strengthening total-body workout. By using the leverage of one’s own body weight, specific exercises build muscle while increasing flexibility, balance, and core stability. Millbrook Fitness’s TRX classes can be modified for beginners or athletes, with one-on-one or small-group instruction from an experienced personal trainer. The whole workout takes about 25 minutes and consists of about 300 exercises that target specific body parts and muscles. And you don’t have to be a member to participate. The cost of an eight-week TRX session (during which you can attend an unlimited number of classes, which are offered five times a week) is $89 for nonmembers.
• 845-677-0100; www.millbrookfitness.com
READERS’ PICKS: HEALTH & BEAUTY
Beauty Salon
Gallery Salon
Poughkeepsie.
845-485-4000
Health Club
Mike Arteaga’s
Health and Fitness
Highland.
845-691-6161; www.mikearteaga.com
Day Spa Mohonk Mountain House
New Paltz.
845-255-1000; www.mohonk.com/the_spa/spa_overview.cfm
Manicure/Pedicure
Studio 1 Hair Design
New Paltz.
845-255-5505; www.studioonehairdesign.com
Pilates Pilates at the Bungalow
Accord.
845-626-5600; www.pilatesatthebungalow.com
Yoga Center (TIE)
Tadasana Yoga Wappingers Falls.
845-297-2774; www.tadasanany.com
The Yogascape Carmel.
845-225-9642; www.theyogascape.com
full-body workout
Kettlebells at CrossFit Orange Goshen
Don’t feel like lifting bales of hay onto trucks, but want the strength of someone who does? Working out with kettlebells — round, heavy weights with handles, similar to the shape of a large tea kettle — imitates the motions of farmhand work and other heavy-lifting activities that require full body strength. Kettlebell workouts integrate the whole body at once — arms, legs, back, abs — rather than targeting and isolating specific muscle groups. This helps to build endurance, too. Exercises include swinging and lifting or grasping and holding for a length of time, as opposed to the stationary reps one normally does with dumbbells. The trainers at CrossFit Orange, which is affiliated with Bare Fitness health club, can help you learn more about proper technique for a safe, effective workout.
• 845-294-5004; www.barefitness.net
