Bare Necessities: Toronto’s 10 top spots for summertime primping

Bare Necessities: Toronto’s 10 top spots for summertime primping


Toronto Life Stylebook Spring/Summer 2013: Bare Necessities

Hairy legs and sandpapery skin are fine in February, but once the warm weather hits, it’s time to get buff and buffed. Here, our picks for the city’s 10 top spots to pluck, polish and pump up for summer.


1. Muscle Buildup
The Academy of Lions pairs a twee Victorian gym aesthetic—rings, dumbbells, mustachioed musclemen—with an intense CrossFit regimen. The stamina and strength training will make warriors out of weaklings. From $100 per month. 64 Ossington Ave., 416-538-4967.

2. Nail Art
At Wow Wow Nails on Dundas West, Nina Huynh and her team risk their eyesight and sanity to create master­piece manis: feathers with wispy bristles, glitter-dappled animal prints, white lace with microscopic eyelets. Hyunh uses Shellac polish, so the art will last until Labour Day. $30. 802B Dundas St. W., 416-850-2823.

3. Fat Blaster
Barreworks brings out your inner swan with its aerobic ballet class. The cardio regimen includes a blend of barre routines and weighted ball exercises that burn excess fat while sculpting the torso. After a few sessions, you’ll be as lithe and toned as Anna Pavlova. $199 per month. 625 Queen St. W., 416-362-2773.

4. Hair Removal
Legendary stylist Michael Kluthe is best known for taming the hair on your head, but his staff is equally adept with the fur down below. Hyacinth Black and Kim Liem wield their wax more adeptly than anyone else in the city, leaving legs and nether regions smooth and beach-ready. The services are also ridiculously cheap—a Brazilian is $30. 1428 Yonge St., 416-925-6306.

5. Lash Extensions
Face it—there’s no such thing as truly waterproof mascara. Mync Lash Lounge offers a happy solution. The Yorkville salon offers a range of supernaturally sturdy extensions that’ll keep your lashes lush and your face streak-free. From $90. 104 Yorkville Ave., 647-351-8888.

6. Pedicure
Helena Rosenberg at the Hazelton spa is the best pedicurist in town. She works magic with winter-roughened feet, exfoliating them from Hobbity husks to supple silk. As a bonus, the pedicure comes with total spa access—the perfect excuse to swim, scrub and schvitz the day away. $100. 118 Yorkville Ave., 416-963-6307.

7. Bottle Tan
Tangerine tans are a thing of the past at Rosedale’s Gee Beauty, where technicians customize St. Tropez products to create a long-lasting, natural-looking glow that complements your skin tone. Take-home kits are also available for DIY top-ups. $70. 2 Roxborough St. W., 416-486-0080.

8. Running Route
The Beltline runs all the way from Deer Park to the Allen Expressway, but the stretch along the Don River is our favourite. It’s the Platonic ideal of a jogging trail, with leafy canopies, multiple TTC access points and, mercifully, a convenient public bathroom just off the path at the Evergreen Brick Works.

9. Vein Vanquisher
At SpaMedica, Dr. Bill Morton zaps away spider veins—those pesky broken blood vessels that marble your legs like fat on a Wagyu cow—using multiple wavelength lasers and intense pulsed light systems to damage them and sclerosing injections to shrink them. From $280. 66 Avenue Rd., 416-922-2868.

10. Body Buffer
The new Body Blitz Spa on King East offers three house-made body scrubs: one with moisturizing oils, one with exfoliating ocean salts and one with circulation-reviving plant extracts. The full-body Sampler treatment ($90) scours away every inch of dead skin. 497 King St. E., 416-364-0400.