The holidays are the best time of the year — or are they? Self-care during the holidays is often the first thing we let go of. Staying up late, eating yummy rich foods and holiday sweets, and let’s not even mention eggnog! Thankfully, there are Shelter Island businesses that specialize in providing the comfort and care we all need.
Below are a few, in no particular order, from our Island Directory.
Feed Your Skin
At Feed your Skin anyone can enjoy a relaxing and personalized facial. Owner Lisa Shannon will expertly curate a vitamin-based treatment to leave you vitalized with optimum skin health. In each individual session, Lisa will discuss your skincare routine and goals, and help you decide the best treatment for you.
“My treatments are about skin health and getting vitamin A into your skin,” said Shannon said, an expert in micro-current therapy that enriches vitamin A levels. “Vitamin A is very important for viral immunity, it’s important to ingest it and also to apply it topically”.
Typically, clients receive facial treatments monthly, with more frequent visits around the holidays, Shannon said. Feed Your Skin treatments are available for all types of skin conditions and Shannon offers skincare products and gift cards as well.
Feed Your Skin |181 North Ferry Road | 631-749-5727 | feedyourskin.net
NIKKI Salon
Owned and operated by Nikki Iannelli, this new salon offers upscale hair treatments in a spa-like atmosphere.
“Our hair changes with the seasons and this is a great time to get rid of summer hair,” Ianelli says. “A new style will brighten you; it’s important not to hide under a hat.”
She suggests being adventurous during this time and trying new things, like bangs or fringe. NIKKI Salon colorist, Juan Vigoya, can update your color, which will last longer in winter because of less sun and water damage.
NIKKI Salon also offers gift cards and sells organic hair products by MASAMI and professional hair brushes.
NIKKI Salon | 8 Grand Avenue | 631-749-9400 | hours by appointment
better.
Owned and operated by Cassandra Bliss, better. is a holistic healing center that offers bodywork, skincare, and breathwork. Bliss has 25 years of healing experience in massage, biodynamic craniosacral therapy, lymph drainage, and polarity therapy. She blends structural and energetic techniques to shift the nervous system into its most relaxed state. This enhances a feeling of safety that’s particularly important during this period of heightened anxiety.
“Self-care is self-compassion, and through caring for ourselves, we align to more positive emotions and thoughts,” Bliss says. ” And, bonus — it is a response in our nervous system that actually increases the immune response.”
“The more centeredness and peacefulness we can achieve in ourselves, the more love and harmony we bring into the world around us,” she told the Gazette recently. “And that is a miracle!”
At better., Bliss provides custom treatments all year round. She offers gift certificates and in cases of hardship, can be flexible on pricing.
better. | 13 Grand Avenue | 631-749-6089 (call or text) | bettersi.com
Taylor Diepold
Taylor Diepold is a massage therapist, yoga instructor, and all-around fitness coach who can help enhance your life with diet, movement, and breath. Diepold will assist you in figuring out the change you want, and serve as a motivator to keep you on track to meet your goals.
“Important during the holiday time is to create an intentional space of connection and gratitude,” Diepold says. “Reflecting on our own needs and the needs of others. Creating a space that’s comfortable and calming will look different for each individual and it’s important for each of us to reflect on what brings us to a state of calm.”
Taylor Diepold offers nutritional and weight loss coaching, meal prep and planning, grocery shopping assistance, and exercise routines tailored to the results you want. She can provide behavior modification training, de-stress regimes, self-care guidance, and more. Local and distance coaching is available, and preliminary consultations are free.
Taylor Diepold | 845-248-7076 | Taylordiepold.com
Shelter Island Pilates & Barre
“Join us on the journey to your core,” says Suzette Smith, owner, and operator of Shelter Island Pilates & Barre. Whether in her sunny, state-of-the-art studio with full COVID-19 safety precautions in place or in the privacy of your own home, Smith offers personalized private training, along with a schedule of classes. There’s something for everyone who wants to improve their well-being and stay fit during the holidays. She offers private Pilates sessions to “help perfect your mechanics and correct your posture so you can get longer, stronger, and age gracefully.” And, she conducts live online classes and maintains an on-demand library of recorded sessions that you can follow at your own pace.
This holiday, Suzette suggests giving the gift of strength and wellness with a virtual class. Visit vimeo.com/ondemand/shelterislandpilates and select “Gift This” on any of Suzette’s signature videos.
Shelter Island Pilates & Barre | 631-749-5042 | shelterislandpilates.com
Shelter Island Yoga & Fitness
At Moussa Dramé’s Shelter Island Yoga & Fitness, you can schedule private gym time and engage the services of a personal trainer. Full COVID-19 safety precautions are in place in the well-equipped gym inside the Dering Harbor Inn. Trent Firestine is available for private training, and also runs a high-intensity fitness workout. (Other in-person classes include yoga with Melody Guini and spin sessions with Adam Bundy.) To give you a break from the kitchen, and keep you healthy with fresh ingredients, Bouchra Dramé offers Moroccan specialties for takeout from the Juice Bar Café on Saturday evenings. Order by email in advance for pickup at the café.
