It should come as no surprise that in a fast-paced place like New York City, everything from food to fashion is available in convenient on-the-go forms, including luxury beauty treatments. Don’t stress over scheduling ever again: here are the best places to experience a lunchtime facial in New York.
Orient Retreat
Spa
Since 1988, Queens’ Orient Retreat has been helping Flushing feel and look its best. In keeping with its tagline “Spa, Wellness, Lifestyle,” the spa offers head-to-toe treatments, including the natural, collagen-stimulating, wrinkle-reducing Wonder Neck Lift. Make luxury a lifestyle, and shave years off your appearance in just 30 minutes.
It should come as no surprise that one of the city’s most stylish spas can be found in trendy Williamsburg. Visit Skin by Molly for the spa’s LED light therapy treatment, which packs a scalp rub, mask, and collagen-boosting LED into a convenient half-hour session. Plan in advance—treatments at this Brooklyn-based business are available by appointment only.
Ever wish you could make a mid-day pit stop at the bar? Thanks to Butterfly Studio Salon, now you can. At The Peel Bar by BeautyRx, on-the-go beauty buffs can have their skin cleansed and toned before having a gentle glycolic acid peel applied— and be out the door in just 15 minutes.
Solve all your skin issues at The MJ Treatment, the Bronx’s “treatment without a prescription.” Providing several treatments clocking in at just 30 minutes, including the Signature Facelift and Perfection Lift, the spa specializes in on-the-go indulgence. Be sure to experience MJ’s Mini Facial, which features a customized mask, steaming, facial massage, and more in a convenient half-hour of skin-saving bliss.
With its Lunchtime Lift treatment, the Lower East Side’s Ling Skin Care corners the market on fast facials and treatments. Here, busy beauty enthusiasts can indulge in an Instant Lift, Micro-Diamond Peel, or YouthLite Photo Rejuvenation, all in 30 minutes or less.
Rave write-ups in Time Out New York and New York Post may bring clients to Season Spa, but it’s the spot’s stellar value that keeps them coming back for more. The Mini and Basic Couple packages at this Chinatown hot spot include massages and facials well worth taking a long lunch for. Only have an hour to spare? The spa’s 40-minute Mini Facial features cleansing, exfoliating, and a choice of massage or extractions-and-mask combo.
Want an irresistible reflection? Visit Silver Mirror Facial Bar, a new facial bar just a stone’s throw from Manhattan’s Central Park. Providing an array of 30-minute skin-specific treatments, offerings here cater to individual skincare concerns such as the Mom-To-Be, Party-Prep, and Just-For-Men facials.
The Alchemist's Kitchen, New York | Courtesy of Alchemists Kitchen
Get ahead of the next big beauty trend at The Cryosphere, a forward-thinking treatment salon bringing the cool factor to Manhattan’s East Village—literally. Here, 15-minute Cryo Facials feature cold air blasts designed to tighten pores, smooth lines and wrinkles, and stimulate blood circulation. Boasting instantly noticeable effects, this freezing facial sends customers off feeling fresh and youthful, if not a little chilly.
You’re familiar with the Power Breakfast, but have you heard of Power Beauty? High-end salon Julien Farel has revolutionized on-the-go opulence with its Power Beauty menu, which allows clients to experience multiple salon treatments simultaneously. One such treatment is the Express Facial, a 25-minute experience featuring enzyme exfoliation, customized moisturization, a sculpting massage, and much more.
Developed by the International Dermal Institute, Dermalogica is a globally recognized skincare brand prioritizing “skin health fitness” over flash. Lucky New Yorkers can visit the beauty brand’s flagship salon in Soho, where 20-minute skin fixes targeting breakouts, blackheads, and aging skin help to eliminate skin issues—and that pesky mid-day slump.
Body Factory Skin Care specializes in time(and skin)-saving spa treatments. The factory’s menu of MicroZone Treatments breaks down the traditional facial to target customers’ most pressing skin issues. Here, flash exfoliation, moisture boosts, deep cleansing, and more can be experienced in convenient 20-minute sessions.
A spa, luxury chain, and makeup and skincare boutique, Blue Mercury knows how to multitask. The spot’s half-hour Fast Blast treatment includes a cleansing, glycolic peel, and vitamin oxygen blast, leaving plenty of time to stock up on skincare staples from La Mer and Mario Badescu.
Beauty meets wellness at FaceLove, a holistic haven combining facial massage, acupressure, and exercise to reveal best skin and self. Here, facials promise to soften your mood, restore chi, and clear your mind (and pores!) while opening your heart. Experience FaceLove’s healing effects in one of the spa’s expedient 30–45 minute sessions.
Time Out Magazine, Huffington Post, Haute Living, and more endorse Skin Spa’s treatments as an unbeatable beauty weapon. Boasting a 50-minute customized facial, the spa—with locations throughout NYC—certainly packs a punch to deal with oily, dehydrated, aging, or combination skin.
Bringing the best of Asia’s beauty industry to New York City (as well as to London, California, and beyond), Skin Laundry specializes in laser and light skin therapy. The spa’s 15-minute facial boasts “no downtime, just results” and sends off customers with deep-cleaned pores, a brighter complexion, and a new approach to beauty routines.
At Skin Laundry’s super-sized Flatiron location, enjoy the spa’s revolutionary laser and light treatments and stock up on the brand’s eponymous skincare products—toners, sheet masks, and silver ion-infused pillow cases—to support the facial’s effects long after the 15-minute session has ended.
