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From Beach Bum to Beautiful

A post-beach spa day in Westerly

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Wait wait wait. Wait. Is that the sun? Heck yes it is! And I’ve been bathing in it every single second I can spare since the doldrums of this brutal winter have left the area. Though the rays are something I savor, the beach can wreak havoc on my appearance. After a long day in the humid heat and dipping into the salty waves, my look could use a little TLC. If you’ve ever craved a day of sun followed by an afternoon of beauty to make the most of your beach day weekends, then Uptown Salon and Spa in Westerly has everything you could possibly need.

Nestled into the side of busy route one, Uptown is a sanctuary of every kind of beauty bliss you could look for. Once you walk into the doors, the large size of the space can be surprising. The salon and spa have two whole floors of fun safari-themed details and beautiful dark wood accents that really drive home the feeling of oasis. The bottom floor houses the large salon area as well as the manicure stations and a room dedicated to pedicures. Upstairs you can find an array of spa treatment rooms and two large restrooms with showers, especially provided for those coming from the beach.

I was in for some great treatments that I had selected from Uptown’s beauty bar menu, which offers a variety of blowout and makeup style combos. You can even add on services to your menu choices (I added a manicure and a Weekapaug Pedicure.) After a tour of all the amenities, my stylist Nancy brought me into the salon area where we chatted about what ideas I had about my look for the day. With my curly, fine hair, I opted for the Uptown Girl blowout, which promised me a straight and smooth style with volume.
We started my blowout with a wash using MoroccanOil volumizing shampoo and conditioner, which from the start already felt like it was giving me some much needed lift.

As Nancy says, “85% of bad hair days come from using the wrong kind of shampoo.“ (She’s totally right.) She also applied some root boost and just a bit of oil on the ends of my hair before she expertly dried my hair section by section with a dryer with a nozzle attachment and a large round brush. She also made sure to thoroughly dry the underside of each section while pulling the hair towards the crown of my head to make sure I got adequate volume during the drying process, which resulted in some serious ScarJo-level locks.

After my style was set with some medium hold spray, we were off to the makeup area to chat about my makeup application. I’m pretty much a creature of habit, I religiously wear a black liquid cat eye with mascara and filled in brows, and that’s about it. So, I asked Nancy to help me try out something different. She worked with a combination of glo minerals and La Bella Donna makeup on my skin, both of which are mineral-based and are good for all skin types. Using an eyeshadow pallet that offered a combination of light browns and an interesting smoky navy color, Nancy started the look. She explained every step of the makeup application and showed me with the mirror as she went, in case I wanted to attempt it myself at home, which helped me learn a few new tricks. She showed me how she layered the colors and her method of filling in brows and after a slick of a rosy lip shade that promised to last all day I was done. My new bronzy look conveyed the “just from the beach but better” vibe that I was going for.

My final stop of the day after hair and makeup was for nail treatments. My Weekapaug Pedicure included a foot scrub and treatment followed by a polish. After a delightful soak in the colorful copper tub, I chose the hydrating MoraccanOil scrub followed by a paraffin treatment. After a couple coats of polish by my manicurist, my feet were soft and sandal-ready. My pedicure was followed up with a classic manicure where my nails were salvaged from their usual state of disrepair. My hands were massaged and my cuticles tamed and after some shaping and polish, my nails were looking as good as new. And with that, my bubblegum-colored polish was the cherry atop my extravagant beach day sundae. As my day of beauty can attest to, Uptown offers a wide variety of treatments for any of your beauty and wellness needs. Pre or post-beach, you should definitely stop into this oasis next time you’re in town.

Uptown Salon and Spa

31 Post Road, Westerly
401-596-9100
www.uptownsalonandspa.com

uptown salon and spa, westerly, westerly ri, so rhode island magazine, meghan h follett, spa, beauty bar

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