Kimara Ahnert Makeup & Skincare Studio

Profile

Since 1997, celebrity makeup artist Kimara Ahnert has been prettying the public on TV and in magazines, and making stars shine brighter on special occasions (check out Catherine Zeta-Jones’s wedding photos). Ahnert’s townhouse boutique initially looks like a typical upscale makeup studio: Her namesake products and accessories front the store alongside cash registers, creating easy access for the grab-and-go set. (Files are kept on repeat customers, making it a snap to call up the formula for your last custom-blended foundation.) But just beyond these counters rests elegant Louis XVI furniture and Aubusson rugs, a carpeted staircase, and a book display promoting the How the Rich Get Thin tome. This and other featured books inadvertently point to the bulk of the Francophile cosmetics emporium’s regular patrons: slender socialites and blushless brides. The former visit the private first-floor makeup stations en route to lavish soirees; the latter swing by to run through their nuptial look with the studio’s trained specialists. Working women drop in, too, usually for makeup lessons touting Ahnert’s flawless five-minute face. The second floor houses four quiet treatment rooms for facials (which use Eminence and Epicuren products), waxing, microdermabrasion, and oxygen treatments, as well as self-tanning, mud wraps, massages, and scrubs, making the place a natural choice for bachelorette parties and indulgent girlfriend afternoons. — Chanize Thorpe

Extra

For a nominal amount, clients can donate to Ahnert’s “Lashes for Life” program, which, in conjunction with the Pink Ribbon Foundation, gives chemo patients two sets of replacement eyelashes complete with maintenance instruction and application techniques.

Sales
If you attend spring or fall color makeup application lessons, the fee is redeemable in products.

Bridal
Ahnert’s luxe studio is perennially booked, so it’s best to make appointments three to six months in advance. In-studio trials are $175 with a staff member and $200 with Ahnert. On-location work starts at $350, or $500 for Ahnert; there is a three-person minimum.

Related Stories

Best of New York Awards

• Best Armpit Waxing (2007)
• Best Makeup Job at Home (2004)

Featured In

• Top Five Bikini Waxes (5/18/09)