If you did not know by now, I’m a major app girl. Every major function of my work and personal life is made easier due to one app or another. And so when two weeks ago I was approached by PRIV to try out and review their new beauty on-demand app ( and get my grooming done at home so I can do more work at the same time?!), to say I was enthusiastic was an understatement.
I know there are a whole bunch of beauty service apps out there now – but I can safely say this is by far the most comprehensive. Here are the services provided by Priv in a nutshell:
Fitness – Personal Training, Yoga & Kickboxing
Massage – All Kinds of Massage including Prenatal Massage
Makeup – Brow Shaping, Makeup Application, Countouring, Airbrushing & Makeup Lessons
Hair Services – Haircuts, Blowouts, Updos, Braids and Dry Styling, Children Haircuts
Spray Tans – Airbrush Tan from the comfort of your home.
Men’s Grooming – Haircuts, Haircut with Upper Body Grooming, Mustache and/or Beard Trim & Style, MENicures
The best thing about Priv is that for most of the services, you can book a group service – so if you ever want to schedule a girl’s night in with some beauty treatments scheduled in, Priv is your go-to app. Sounds exciting yes? I also heard that there are plans to have at-home lash extension services.
So for my review, I decided to go with a spa manipedi. My nail specialist is the lovely Teresa Nguyen who showed up with loads of these Deborah Lipmann polishes (she swears by them) and all the tools needed for a nail service in her wheelie.
My spa manipedi service was $90 flat because all tip and gratuities are included which is another great feature of Priv. All their services range from $50 to $350 all in, and when I consider the time that I save not having to go out, drive, get parking, drive back etc. I think the price point is very reasonable.
And PS : Here’s why you should think twice before going for that $20 nail service at the nail salon.
The Priv app is really simple to use. All you have to do is:
Enter your deets aka Your Name, Address and Credit Card Information.
Pick the service(s) you want.
Schedule A Service. ( Note : Don’t get confused when you see your provider being available only for one time slot. Click on his or her profile and you can see other time slots available.)
You will get an email confirmation from Priv.
On the day of service, there is no need to tip or pay via cash. Everything is done by your service provider via Priv.
Take a photo and/or give feedback about your service provider by the app. Service providers with higher ratings naturally will get booked more/often.
Repeat as needed.
This is a sponsored post courtesy of Priv, but all thoughts and opinions are strictly my own.
What are you waiting for?
Get a $20 credit when you download and use Priv for your next beauty service.
For a lot of Ambitionistas, travel is often a mix of business and pleasure. And so choosing the right kind of hotel that can accommodate your packed and varied itinerary is crucial. And you probably have noticed via my Instagram that I have been traveling quite a bit.
While I’ve been lucky enough that my travels take me to places (read: cities) that I wanted to go to anyway, a great hotel often makes or breaks the stay. So what does an Ambitionista need to pay attention to when choosing a hotel that caters to both work or play?
When Picking a Hotel for Business :
Always consider the location: Where you will be spending the majority of your time? If attending a specific conference for the duration of your trip, it’s best to stay at the hotel where it is being held (or as close to the venue as possible). If however, you have multiple events/meetings to go to throughout your stay, pick a central location that makes it easy to go to different parts of the city much like I did during my latest trip to NYC, where I stayed at the London NYC which is located smack in midtown Manhattan, and enabled me to zip all around the city quickly as needed.
Check out the cafes and restaurants in the hotel before booking if you are going to have lots of coffee, lunch or dinner meetings – Depending on your industry, the image you want to create and your location, staying in a hotel that has both a chic yet laid-back cafe and bar , and a fine dining restaurant is a godsent. In my last New York trip, I was able to pack in 6 meetings in a whole day in style ( I am working in the fashion industry) because I was having the meetings all from my hotel’s cafe. In between meetings, if I needed to freshen up, all I needed to do was go back to my room. So yes, even though my hotel is a little bit more expensive, the time saved (and deals closed) is priceless.
When Planning a (Mostly) Vacation Trip:
Think of what you want to do during your business trip. Are you going to be doing a lot of shopping, sightseeing and exploring, or will you staying in one area? Pre-booking, get your google map out and pin your must visit spots as well as your tentative hotels. In a city like NYC or LA where traffic is heavy at best and hideous at its worse, choosing your hotel’s location is not something you want to leave to chance.
A standard room, a grand suite or something in between? Will you be in a situation where your hotel room also doubles as a pre-event prep and gathering spot or just a place to crash? When I am in town for an event, a larger room is always necessary as I tend to have makeup and hair people, a photographer and a couple of friends in my room all at the same time.
Other questions to consider :
Do you work out or want to work out, and at what kind of hours? Is having an outdoor jogging/walking trail something you really care about? Be honest now.
What is the total cost of stay – look at the add-ons, that $199 per night hotel might seem cheaper, but the $299 hotel might have complimentary wifi, is nearer to my clients ( so I save on taxi fares, time and energy), has wonderful on-site restaurants and cafes I can host meetings in, has an excellent business center, complimentary shuttle to and from the airport and/or parking, daily breakfast and pressing service. If you can do more work and achieve more if staying at a better hotel, I always consider that a priority.
Thank you The London NYC for hosting my stay. All indoor photos are taken at the all-suite The London Hotel, NYC while all outdoor photos are taken right outside the hotel. The opinion and thoughts in this blog post are strictly my own.
Q: Hi Heidi – I was wondering if you can help me out. I have really fine eyelashes and I’m wondering if there is an alternative to putting on globs of mascara every morning? – Lash Challenged.
A: One of the best things about living in 2015, besides having an app for everything are the many options available to us that are lash-challenged. I have had them done a few times previously, but felt brave enough to try them again a few weeks back mostly because a lash extension service GoBlushYourself (GBY) decided to set up shop in my favorite beauty salon in Santa Monica. It helped quite a bit that they had such a cute name for their lash extension service – The Moscow Meow. Yes I’m a cat person.
So my natural lashes usually look like this on most days :
But this is what they look like with lash extensions:
According to Courtney Casgraux, GBY’s founder and all-around lash expert, how thick and long your end result is depends on the condition of your natural set of lashes. Because I had really fine lashes to begin with, she could not put on a whole lot more more as the extensions would weight my own lashes down. Here are a few things to know about lashes before getting them done:
1. Not all lashes are created equal. Lash extensions are usually either synthetic, silk or mink. 100% mink lashes are more expensive/superior because they look and feel more real. You can also curl them at home. The Moscow Meow consists of both silk and mink lashes, so they look great and aren’t as costly, and are $250 for a full set.
2. Lash extensions can last between 2 to 6 weeks. If you are the kind to rub your eyes frequently, or your own eyelashes shed more, you’ll need a refill faster. A Moscow Meow (I will never get tired of saying that) refill costs $150, but normal refill can start from as low as $75.
3. Consider your lifestyle. If you sweat a lot, the sweat and oil from your eyes can make your extensions fall out faster. GBY has an ‘Active Lash’ service where they use a special adhesive that is virtually sweat proof.
4. Determine what kind of look you are going for. How dramatic the end result is depends on your natural set of eyelashes. Lash extensions won’t give me peepers like Kim Kardashian because I don’t have 1/4 the volume of eyelashes she has. If you’re really not sure, go for a half set first and see what that looks like. I also find opting for more volume but sticking to around your natural lash length is optimal for a subtle yet very sexy effect.
Service takes about an hour plus, and for about 3 weeks, I was the owner of a pair of fluttery lashes that were sexy and smudge proof. Meow indeed.
PS: If you want to know more about lash extensions as well as GBY’s other services , do check them out on Yelp.
