Finding the Perfect Beach Body Treatment
By Ashraya Gupta

Fire Island’s dress code is pretty simple: flip-flops, bathing suit and an easygoing attitude. Keeping it all together, however, sometimes requires a bit more attention. You need pedicures, waxing and some way of releasing stress. Luckily, the island offers a number of health and beauty treatments, from manicures to massage—just about everything you need to look and feel good on the beach.

Missy’s Nails just opened in Ocean Beach, but Missy has wanted to do something on the island for some time now. As a teenager she worked at Rachel’s Bakery and has loved Ocean Beach ever since. She bought the place last winter and started with manicures, pedicures and waxing, but recently added facials. The pedicures are all named for Fire Island communities: the “Seaview” uses sea kelp and the “Very Berry Cherry Grove” features a cherry and nutmeg blend. Also available for those who like to customize their nails is a machine “ImagiNail” that prints images on nails. It has thousands of clip art to choose from so you’ll be able to sport unique nails on the beach. She is open daily and can be reached at (631) 583-NAIL.

Eternal Escape

But if you want the hair salon experience right now, Eternal the Spa started offering haircuts just this past weekend. Owner Kim Rose Berry, licensed for 30 years, has owned and operated a successful spa of the same name in Babylon Village for the past two years. Her daughter, Taylor, worked on the ferries and drew her to Fire Island. Berry said she realized that “ Fire Island doesn't have a destination spa,” and wanted to “give both year-round residents and summer people a place for relaxation and rejuvenation.” They offer a bevy of beauty treatments: manicures, pedicures, and all types of facials and body treatments. They also have a waxing specialist and massage therapy. Asked to recommend something, Berry couldn’t quite decide and said, “The facials are fabulous, the waxing makes me feel clean, and the body scrubs and wraps make my skin soft.” Eternal also does spa parties and house calls. The Ocean Beach spa can be reached at (631) 583-6590; the Babylon Village spa can be reached at (631) 321-4422.

Healing Energy

Massage and bodywork are available throughout the island. Healing Waters, owned by Lisa Smith-Horowitz, offers a number of massage treatments, but all are focused on the idea of energy healing. With locations in both Ocean Beach and Bay Shore, Healing Waters also does outcalls, so they can serve an extensive clientele. Smith-Horowitz has been offering massage on the beach for 19 years and opened the storefront last summer. She finds the work very rewarding and said the clients are “always so sweet when they get off the table.” One client told her she “doesn’t just massage the body, she massages the soul.” The treatments range from a simple 10 minute stress-buster chair massage to a Dead Sea mud wrap and hour-long massage. For Bay Shore appointments, call (631) 666-5483, for Fire Island call (631) 583-8051.

Sports Enthusiasts

Jim Heller, a retired electrician, decided to learn massage therapy at the age of 50. His wife told him he was good with his hands and he discovered he found the work satisfying. He does mostly medical massage, including deep tissue and stretching. “As people age, after years of being athletic, they hurt,” he said. And they tend to hurt in the same places: the upper back, shoulders and lower back. Heller is also a certified reflexologist, using specific zones in the hands and feet to target pain in other areas of the body. He’s from Westchester and on the island, he’s located in Ocean Beach and does house calls, seeking a “local clientele.” He can be reached at (631) 583-7251 or (914) 588-1866.

Inner Balance

Stephanie Rogers has been teaching yoga and doing bodywork for the last 12 years. She’s lived in Fair Harbor for 30 years and treats clients on her private deck, under the trees. While Rogers does regular massages which “just feel good,” she specializes in pain management, using craniosacral therapy and polarity to alleviate stress and heighten balance. Named for the cranium and the sacrum, the bone at the base of the spine, craniosacral therapy focuses on the central nervous system and helps the body “let go of contracted patterns,” such as chronic pain. Polarity also relies on similar ideas of finding balance, but with even more pronounced spiritual implications. She said the idea is to “let your own healing powers engage.” Rogers also works with pregnant women, offering prenatal massage, and in later stages of pregnancy, sacrum massage to reduce tension on the lower back and hips. After the baby is born, she recommends craniosacral therapy with the mother holding the baby as she is massaged, so the feelings of well-being also impact the baby. But it’s her yoga classes, held seven days a week, that keep Rogers busiest. She also offers private yoga classes and will travel if her schedule permits. But she says she’s “too old to lug around a massage table,” so you’ll have to head to the west end for her bodywork. She can be reached at (631) 583-7802.