If you want 75 minutes of undivided attention from your facialist, head to this peachy-clean two-room space in a midrise on the border of the Village and the Flatiron district. Lena Makushina, another former Bliss employee, opened her spa with her sister, Olya, two years ago. Under her careful Russian technique, your face will soon be shiny and happy. Makushina coats my face with an enzyme peel, a foul-smelling gel that's intended to clear my visage of dead skin cells. Next she gives me the Maksim Basic ($120 with enzyme peel), a deep-pore cleansing facial that includes a lymph-draining face massage and a thorough (but surprisingly painless) extraction—all while she pleasantly distracts me with personal chatter. In a beauty binge, I ask to try two of her add-ons; the cool, skin-tone improving thermal mask ($35)—this hard-drying shell takes just ten minutes, but it's probably not for you if you're claustrophobic—followed by another mask of soothing ginkgo biloba ($25), which she says will get rid of extraction-induced redness. I leave looking like a teenager—minus the zits.
80 Fifth Ave between 13th and 14th Sts, suite 1208 (212-414-9434). Subway: L,N,Q,R,W,4,5,6 to 14th St-Union Sq.