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Wilshire Beauty Updating a Classic

5401 Wilshire Blvd Los Angeles (323) 937-2001

Before the Sephoras of today, there was Wilshire Beauty. 

This enduring example of L.A.’s bygone Art Deco Streamline Moderne architecture was originally unveiled as a laboratory for Rita Hayworth’s colorist and Bette Davis’ makeup artist to experiment with the prodigious appetites of glamorous Hollywood.  Today, the impressive apothecary cum salon housed in the 1920’s bastion of classic glamour, offers up a staggering bazaar of the world’s finest selection of beauty products.  It retains, even after a recent extensive renovation, the charm and intimacy of its earlier years.

Whether you’re foraging for Kerastase, Aveda, Guinot or Cellex-C, or in search of that rare exotic fragrance from Voluspa, Trap or Archipelago candles to light up the night, Wilshire Beauty has it all under one roof.  And, as a bonus, you may also find many rare and specialty product lines like Jack Black’s ‘Liquid Magnetism’ fragrances which are still crawling their way into your nearest tightly regimented chain store.

While a Beauty Salon tends to the coifs of its loyal patrons on the ground level, a Day Spa upstairs is staffed by trained and certified estheticians and cosmetologists to provide an array of treatments including facials, Microdermabrasion, body detox and hydration treatments.  The effervescent Tira, who takes a healing approach to the treatments, administers an Enzyme Facial that is ideal for troubled skin.  The myriad benefits of this particular facial include dissolving impurities and deep cleansing pores, soothing redness and irritation, and reducing acne blemishes. 

After a thorough cleansing and steam-catalyzed enzyme mask, the essential extractions take place.  But aided by Tira’s gentle yet effective technique and the engrossing conversation, the process is virtually pain-free.  A skin calming serum is then applied to the visage with a clarifying mask upon it to form a bond and drive the nutrients deeper into the skin.  As the face rejuvenates, Tira administers a stress-dissolving neck and shoulder massage and completes the perfect facial.

Having occupied the corner of Wilshire and Cloverdale for decades now, Wilshire Beauty should not come as such discovery to the denizens of the city.  Sadly the nature of Los Angeles where new treatments and spas are constantly being churned out necessitates rediscovering Wilshire Beauty.  The good news is that being a no-fuss, all-in-one Mecca for the beauty-seeker, this landmark is bound to outlast the many trendsetters that come up as bright as the sun and then vanish behind a cloud of smog.

-GD