Review: WeYogis

This month, we’ve taken you on a tour of our favorite places in Dallas that will help you jumpstart your best year yet. From surfboard cardio to fresh-pressed juice, DFW Beauty Guide hopes to have reinvigorated your approach to health and happiness in 2015. Our last stop this month is WeYogis, one of the best yoga studios Dallas has to offer.

Courtesy WeYogis

WeYogis is a great place to start for yoga novices. With a contemporary approach and non-intimidating environment, WeYogis feels modern and inclusive upon first arriving. WeYogis has two studios, a bevy of skilled instructors, and a whole list of classes to choose from. It’s safe to say that any and everyone who’d like to like to participate at WeYogis can find a class to fit their age range, yoga experience level, and busy schedule. Yoga for kids? Check. Prenatal yoga? You bet. And speaking of moms and kids, one of the greatest aspects of this studio, and what largely sets it apart from others in our area, is that it offers childcare while parents are in class.

Courtesy WeYogis

If you’re a yoga skeptic, I’ll tell you that I used to be one of them, but the class I took at WeYogis was a different experience – no chanting, no aggressive, synchronized breathing that always tempts me to laugh. The Yogis Power Hour was fast paced and engaged every muscle in my body. Even though I wasn’t running or lifting weights, when the class was over, I felt that I was sweaty and sore enough to have come from an intense gym session, which I liked. Another thing I liked about this studio was the infared heat. This specialized heating system does not make it “hot yoga” per se, but keeps the studios comfortably warm so you can stretch further, faster.

So by all means, if you’re looking to mix up your workout routine, take yoga at WeYogis. Practicing yoga is said to enhance your overall wellness, increase longevity, and (best of all) help manage stress. Added benefits include flexibility, Zen, and yoga pants. Check out the convenient location, class schedule, and class descriptions at www.weyogis.com.

Written for DFW Beauty Guide

New in Dallas: Snap Kitchen

Photo Courtesy of Snap Kitchen

Thanks to Snap Kitchen, fast food is no longer synonymous with greasy burgers and chemical-ridden milkshakes. In April 2010, restaurant veterans Matt Reinhart and Andrea Hinsdale founded Snap Kitchen to meet the food needs of their families. The mission of Snap Kitchen is to provide healthy, flavorful, and convenient take-away food that is handmade daily. At Snap, you’ll find a carefully curated wall of food items – everything from a glazed salmon fillet, to green juice, to a pre-workout granola bar. What you won’t find? Pre-packaged, processed, and globe-trotted foods.

Snap Kitchen is the perfect solution for people with busy schedules who don’t have the time to cook a well-rounded dinner. All packaged meals are portion controlled, which not only aids many in maintaining a diet, but also helps to cut down on large amounts of food waste. Snap is an easy go-to for those who have restrictive food allergies. 98% of the menu items are gluten free, and each package is carefully labeled to indicate the items that are dairy-free, vegan, paleo, etc. Other aspects of Snap that we love include their preference for local ingredients, recyclable packaging, efforts towards sustainability, and the fact that at the end of the day they donate their leftover food to homeless shelters.

When I went to Snap Kitchen last month, I visited with Snap Kitchen Dallas’ registered dietitian, Daniel Magoon. Each city with a Snap Kitchen – Austin, Houston, and Dallas – employs a highly trained dietitian to help customers design eating plans and meet their health goals. Dallas’ registered dietitian has a background in the psychology behind food – i.e. understanding and changing the way a child feels about broccoli. Daniel’s health mantra is “healthy not skinny,” which we at DFW Beauty Guide couldn’t agree with more.

To get healthy in the New Year, Daniel’s first bit of advice is to understand that diets don’t work. Getting healthy is about committing to a lifestyle change. Daniel suggests prioritizing hydration, being mindful of the food you are ingesting, and listening to internal hunger cues. In terms of beauty, and the health of your hair, skin, and nails, Daniel has a few suggestions for working from the inside out. Foods that are good for your skin include turmeric, walnuts, cucumber, tomatoes and olive oil. Walnuts increase skin elasticity, cucumbers are hydrating and reduce inflammation, tomatoes act as natural sunscreen, and olive oil balances out oil production.

Our top 5 food picks at Snap Kitchen include:

Easy Greens Juice – Packed full of fruits and vegetables that are great for your skin, and a little more sip-able than the Super Greens juice

Energy Boost Juice – A tropical combo of papaya, watermelon, lime, mint and coconut water

Snap War Bar – Made with nuts, quinoa, dates, and seeds, this is the perfect pre-workout energy bar

Turkey Chili – If you’re dairy free, dress this chili up with a fried egg on top, it’s a great lunch go-to

Ginger Glazed Scottish Salmon – A clean, filling, and tasty fish fillet that’s ideal for dinner

Visit Snap Kitchen online to learn about curbside meal pickup, home delivery, juice programs, the Snap Commit eating plan, or to get a nutritional health assessment from Snap’s local registered dietitian. Also – head to Daniel Magoon’s Instagram, @dmagoo, to get a first hand look at his “Snap-hacks.” These are creative adjustments to pre-existing Snap meals to insure you are never bored of your go-to dish. One of his most popular hacks? Add a shot of Snap Black Coffee to the Chai Cashew “Milkshake” and pour it over ice, for a refreshing, caffeinated, and dairy-free coffee drink.

Written for DFW Beauty Guide

New in Dallas: City Surf Fitness

Courtesy City Surf

Bored of cycling but enjoy the group fitness environment? Check out City Surf Fitness in uptown Dallas for an intense, hour-long workout that is the first of its kind. City Surf is an innovative, surf-inspired fitness boutique, founded in the spirit of the surfer dude. City Surf offers a handful of classes, from Beach Body Bootcamp to Big Kahuna, all of which recreate the kind of workout you’d get while actually surfing.

Courtesy City Surf

While you won’t be in the water during class, you will be atop a surfboard 80 – 85% of the time. The City Surf studio in Dallas is home to 10 surfboards, each secured to two exercise balls with cords. When you’re on the board, it naturally shifts around on the exercise balls underneath to mimic the movement of the board while riding waves. As if the surfboard didn’t transport you to the beach fast enough, a video loop of crashing waves is projected on the walls of the space during class for a completely immersive experience.

Courtesy City Surf

At City Surf, most people have little to no surfing experience. Not surprisingly, you can expect to be doing surf-inspired actions during class, such as paddling, pop-ups, and carving. Each of the six classes are different programs but work on the same principles. Regardless of the class you choose, it will include cardio elements and strength training. With regular City Surf training, people see increased flexibility, endurance, and agility. Overall, class at City Surf is fun, relaxed, and enjoyable, but physically challenging.

Courtesy City Surf

Currently, there only 10 boards available per class at City Surf. It is suggested that beginners should start out with a class either taught by Mitchell or Katherine, but that being said, all classes are beginner friendly. Be sure to reserve your board in advance online to get the class and time that you want. You can either purchase one class for $15 or a pack of 10 classes for $130. So what are you waiting for? Get your board and paddle out to the only place in Dallas where the surf’s up!

Courtesy City Surf

Written for DFW Beauty Guide

Service Review: Blownaway App

This weekend, to prepare for a black-tie event, I tried out Dallas’ latest on demand beauty service, Blownaway. Blownaway was launched just this July, and is the love child of instant gratification and the Drybar/Blushington experience. Using mobile technology similar to transportation game-changer Uber, Blownaway instantly delivers blowouts, updos, professionally done makeup, and spray tans straight to your door.

Scheduling an appointment is easy. Download the Blownaway app from iTunes, and from there, you can shuffle through several blowout, makeup, and spray tan looks. A blowout and makeup can be done in the same sitting, each service taking only 45 minutes. It is suggested that the spray tan be completed separately, not only because it requires a different stylist, but because it should be finished two days before an event so the color has time to mellow out.

Things you should know before scheduling your first appointment? Blownaway asks that you book at least two hours in advance, and have your hair freshly washed before the stylist arrives if you are scheduling a blowdry. Also, for girls who are sensitive to certain product ingredients, or simply want to stick with an eco-friendly beauty product regimen, this request can be entered into the “notes” section upon mobile scheduling so your stylist can prepare accordingly.

For my Blownaway appointment, I booked two days in advance, and the same stylist was scheduled to do both my hair and makeup. Immediately after booking, I got a confirmation text with the stylist’s name, and 10 minutes before the appointment, the stylist confirmed once more. The entire booking experience was professional and painless.

Bianca, my Blownaway stylist, was incredibly prompt and upbeat. Most stylists come from a Drybar background, and become certified Blownaway stylists after background checks, an intense interview process, and comprehensive training. Bianca listened to all of my needs and suggestions regarding hair and makeup, and was both confident and easygoing.

One huge perk about Bianca’s blowout was that she knew exactly how to manage my thick, coarse hair. With her own hair as thick and long as a Disney princess’, she used the perfect technique and products on my hair to make the blowout last for over three days. Her number one tip for creating the perfect blowout at home is to rough-dry the hair 85% before going back through with a round brush. This allows you to save both time and energy.

Blownaway is quickly becoming every Dallas girl’s beauty go-to, whether it is to prep for a major business meeting, a wedding, or date night. A Blownaway tip from us to you?  Great discount rates are available for party and group orders, meaning that Blownaway is an ideal and fun solution for bachelorette parties, or just a glam evening in with girlfriends. While services for one are best booked on your mobile phone, book services for a party online.

Pricing:

Blowouts start at $65

Makeup starts at $70

Spray tans start at $65

Written for DFW Beauty Guide

New in Dallas: Grange Hall Restaurant

In November, I saw that my favorite, inaccessibly expensive shopping locale in Dallas, Grange Hall, opened a restaurant attached to their store. Grange Hall is a final destination for all things glamorously melancholic. Think skulls, dried roses, colorful taxidermy, and diamonds. In the store, they offer a curated selection of brands in a expertly designed space. The unnamed restaurant addition is no different: the menu entries are few, and the display is beautiful.

Grange Hall suggests you make reservations by calling 214.443.5175. However, I went with a friend on a Friday afternoon within their first week of opening, and we were able to squeeze in at the bar without waiting. Expect: an immersive environment, excellent people watching, and a hefty bill.

Not surprising, but my favorite part of the Grange Hall restaurant experience was the table setting. The mixture of modern graphics, neutral colors, and snippets of 18th-century paintings is spot-on in my book. (NOTE: The sections of paintings shown on the menu and on the bill folder are both of Madame de Pompadour. Pompadour was known as the Queen of the Rococo, and was King Louis XV’s mistress and cultural advisor. I’m reaching out to Grange Hall to ask why they chose her image twice.)

For lunch I ordered the “Snob Sandwich” ($26) – which was filling and rich. In surveying the dishes coming out of the kitchen, it was apparent that the Grange Hall restaurant is all about food presentation … and caviar.

After lunch, my friend and I split the madeleine cookies, which came out fresh baked, powdered in sugar, and served with honey. We also ordered a pot of Mariage Frères jasmine tea ($15). Had the “Book of Teas” not seduced me, I don’t think I would have gone through with such a steeply-priced pot of tea. Grange Hall sells this premier brand of French tea in their adjoining store as well, should you become smitten with a certain flavor in the restaurant.

While the experience was certainly one to remember, the price alone will unfortunately make the Grange Hall restaurant impossible to visit on a regular basis. Ideally, the restaurant would eventually offer $15 sandwiches to those of us who don’t drive Bentleys. So for now, save Grange Hall for (very) special occasions. Dude, no way is right.

To round out your Grange Hall experience, be sure to check out their collection of shop-able oddities, jewelry, and apothecary offerings while waiting for a table or after lunch. Some of my favorite things from the Grange Hall store last week included taxidermy bird vignettes and sampling the incredible perfume line, Les Parfums Historique.

Dallas Beauty: Piermarini Launches Liquid Lipstick

I can’t think of anything more daunting then heading to Northpark Mall during the holiday rush to pick up a few makeup products. While Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and MAC alone have all of the shades and miracle-working products we could ever imagine, no one wants to risk crowd-induced anxiety just to visit the makeup counter. But alas, Piermarini Boutique, located in Snider Plaza, has answered our prayers.

Piermarini, a men’s and women’s clothing boutique, was opened in 2010. Just this last summer, the store launched its very own beauty line with over 30 cosmetic and skincare products. As a whole, Piermarini Beauty items are simple, classic, and sophisticated – just like the clothing. The products are made in the USA, never tested on animals, and are brimming with vitamins, minerals, and SPF. Piermarini Beauty does not aim to cover up its wearers with heavy, transformative pigments, but enhances natural beauty with sheer textures, and soft tones. Key natural ingredients in the line include water lily extract, avocado oil, aloe, jojoba, vitamin c, and vitamin k. All products – makeup included – are designed with hydration in mind to keep skin looking youthful and moisturized.

Don’t know which products to try first? Top sellers include the Vitamin C Serum, Liquid Eye Shadow, and Lip Liner. The Vitamin C Serum can be used morning and night, and helps to wake up the natural collagen in your skin. The result is overall brightness, wrinkle reduction, and evened-out skin tone. Piermarini’s Liquid Eye Shadow provides sheer, lightweight, natural-looking color and comes in several shades. Unlike powdered eye shadow, this shadow will not cake or crease and keeps eyelids hydrated. The Lip Liner comes in thee shades and is a makeup bag essential. The texture is gel like, which makes it go on and stay on. Keep your lips hydrated by using the liner alone, or layering it with lip balm or lipstick.

As for a holiday 2014 must-have, try out Piermarini’s Liquid Lipstick. This product just hit the shelves last week, and comes in 5 different shades ranging from bright coral to dark red. My favorite color at the moment is “Be Right There,” (second from the right) which is a perfect pink. If you haven’t tried a liquid lipstick, expect the glossy, flexible texture of a lip gloss, and the vibrant pigment of a lipstick. This Liquid Lipstick has serious staying power, and the color is brighter than it looks in the tube once applied. Apply a little for a subtle, lip staining effect, or brush on a full layer or two for a high-shine lipstick effect.

All Piermarini Beauty products can be purchased in the store at 6827 Snider Plaza, Dallas, TX 75205, or online (except the Liquid Lipstick) at www.piermariniboutique.com.

New in Dallas: Athleta Oak Lawn

Athleta Dallas

3848 Oak Lawn Ave

Dallas, TX 75219

Last night marked the opening of the second Athleta store within Dallas proper. Located on Oak Lawn, nestled between Uptown and Highland Park, Athleta offers cute activewear you won’t be embarrassed to be publicly seen in. Athleta is part of the Gap company consortium, which includes all divisions of Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy, just to name a few. Athleta has become the fastest growing brand of the heavyweight group, after the past few seasons have seen a dip in jean sales, and a meteoric rise in active wear, i.e. sneakers, yoga pants, and comfy tees.

Unlike Gap Body products, Athleta clothing is performance driven – using specific fabrics and patterns to help runners, dancers, yogis, and everyone in between, to reach their athletic potential. If you’re a Lululemon fan, keep in mind that Athleta prices run 15% cheaper than their Canadian counterpart. While it’s no secret that activewear has become widely popular, like all trends, it’s not for everyone. However, even if you refuse to wear baggy gray track pants (just because Karl Lagerfeld says so), at Athleta, cashmere loungewear and surprisingly stylish body-con dresses are also at your fingertips.

Some Athleta finds that are gracing our holiday wish list:

Cashmere:

Turtleneck Sweater: http://athleta.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=1021941&vid=1&pid=243327012

Sweater Dress: http://athleta.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=1021941&vid=1&pid=243060022

Dresses:

Long Sleeve Tulip Dress: http://athleta.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=1017327&vid=1&pid=138092022

Illusion Dress: http://athleta.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=1017326&vid=1&pid=138799002

Bottoms:

Power Lift Tight: http://athleta.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=46713&vid=1&pid=243099002

Straight Up Pant: http://athleta.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=46695&vid=1&pid=919179012

City Jogger Pant: http://athleta.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=1008552&vid=1&pid=138467012

Tops:

Shanti Jaspe Tank: http://athleta.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=46713&vid=1&pid=243099002

Fineform Bra by Moving Comfort:http://athleta.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=46694&vid=1&pid=138665002

Running Wild Half Zip: http://athleta.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=1008552&vid=1&pid=138805062