Sitting Pretty in South Pas

Puff Beauty Studio is a delightful place to visit in its own right, and its location in South Pasadena's Mission West district provides the perfect excuse to make a day of it and enjoy everything this charming neighborhood has to offer. Proprietor Aimee is perky and warm, and the beauty store and skin care studio's aesthetic is girly in the best possible way. The store stocks an assortment of hard-to-find boutique beauty brands and also specializes in makeup application and facial treatments.

We were treated to an Organic Facial by aesthetician Emily. Because she also works at a medical dermatology center, Emily brings an in-depth knowledge to her work at Puff, even though the vibe and products used there are very different. For our facial, she mainly used products from the Aqua Dessa line, which are formulated from totally pure ingredients. Each product had an instantly recognizable and delicious scent. She began with a refreshing cranberry cleanser, followed by a gentle, enzyme-based pineapple exfoliant and a velvety chocolate antioxidant masque that had us fighting the temptation to stick out our tongue and lick it right off. Our favorite part was the extended face, shoulder, neck, décolleté and arm massage with the wonderfully herbal/spicy-scented black currant and grapeseed oil moisturizer. Emily finished us off with an SPF moisturizer, brown sugar lip balm, and an oxygenating eye treatment by Philip Thomas Roth, which is a more medical-grade line than Aqua Dessa.

We emerged from Puff feeling pretty as could be and craving something chocolatey thanks to that antioxidant masque. Good thing Buster's Ice Cream Stop was just across the street…

Review originally published 10/25/2007.