“Even as a very young girl, I had a love for makeup,” recalls Kimara Ahnert. Now a renowned cosmetic artist, she strives to offer women services in a warm, intimate setting. Her namesake makeup and skin care studio (right) feels like “an elegant yet comfortable home,” all carpeted floors, paneled walls and gilded furniture. Within the light-filled premises, staffers custom-blend proprietary foundations, eye shadows and blushes, creating a product line that’s unique to each individual. Makeup applications can be enhanced with services such as LightStim, which uses multiple wavelengths of light to reduce fine lines and stimulate collagen and elastin production.

» Kimara Ahnert New York, 1113 Madison Ave., 212.452.4252

Youth-restoring enzyme While touring a Norwegian salmon hatchery, skin care guru Patricia Pao noticed that the workers’ hands, immersed in water all day, looked much younger than their faces. Intense research led her to a magic enzyme released by baby salmon, which is now the active anti-aging ingredient in Pao’s products, Restøresea™ Revitalizing Eye Cream (top left) and Rejuvenating Day Cream. Bergdorf Goodman, 754 Fifth Ave., 212.753.7300

Oil-absorbing leaf Made of gold-flecked abaca leaf, Tatcha ABURATORIGAMI Japanese Blotting Papers (bottom left) lift excess oil without disturbing makeup. Barneys New York, 660 Madison Ave., 212.826.8900

The venerable Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa has recently opened a branch in the Theater District’s Chatwal hotel—perfectly situated for some pre- or post-matinee pampering. After donning a plush terry robe in a private dressing room, visitors can swim in a saltwater pool, relax under a massage therapist’s stress-melting touch, and/or experience an epidermis-enhancing treatment. The newest is the Oxygen Infusion Facial, a 70-minute service that includes a hand massage, collagen and eye serums, an antibacterial infrared wand, much swaddling in warm towels and, as a finale, a cool spray of pure oxygen onto the face that energizes the whole body.

» Red Door Spa at The Chatwal, 130 W. 44th St., 212.764.5900