Inside the Decidedly Non-Zen World of the First Kiehl's Spa

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• The view from the corner
• The windows wrap around 64th Street.
• When you walk into the concierge area, you're greeted by a wall of merchandise in very un-spa-like colors.
• Look at that face. Don't you just want to trust this guy with all your apothecary needs?
• The space is long and narrow, railroad-style.
• The men's chairs are by motorcycle designer Paul Cox.
• A closer look at the mural in the men's grooming section
• You can see Lexington Avenue from the men's grooming area, but you can't hear it.
• The Rainforest Room. David LaChapelle took that photo of his farm in Maui.
• A high-tech dermatological gizmo in the middle of the jungle
• It's like a spice rack for facialists!
• Two of the three rooms come equipped with showers.
• The Adventure Room. Note the Mojave Desert on the wall.
• All of the rooms have chandeliers and tin ceilings. That's Mount Everest in the background.
• The third and smallest room pays homage to Kiehl's history.
• Antique chairs in the lounge

When Kiehl's decided to open a spa on 64th and Lexington, they had two big challenges ahead of them. There was the location, which didn't exactly reflect their East Village roots. And then there was the noise level. The corner of 64th and Lex comes with great views, but along with all that people-watching comes a little too much traffic-listening. To get past the first issue, the Kiehl's team (and their architects, Allen + Killcoyne) decked out the two-story space in vibrant colors, adding old-fashioned New York accents like tin ceilings and reclaimed wood floors. To get past the second, they installed soundproof windows. The result is a warm, friendly space that's relaxing without feeling like a hermit's cave.

Customers can enter through the brand-new Kiehl's store on Lexington or through the concierge entrance on 64th. The spa occupies a long, narrow space on the second floor, where the three treatment rooms sit off a central hallway. All three have iPod docks so that customers can listen to their own music, racks of herbs that the facialists can use to make bespoke infusions, and up-to-date machinery for micro-dermabrasion and micro current stimulation.

Art-wise, the space is a jumble of different styles and aesthetics. The Adventure Room and the Rainforest room are both dominated by giant photo prints, while the smaller Apothecary Room showcases a mural by the artist Curtis Jenkins painted directly onto the exposed-brick wall. Down the hall, the men's grooming station has a vintage tough-guy theme: The barber chairs are bedecked with skulls by motorcycle designer Paul Cox from a sketch by Jenkins, while another skeleton-themed mural takes up the back wall.

Services, all of which come with custom massages and aromatherapy, range in prince from $15 for a mustache trim to $330 for the "Ultimate Kiehl's Body Restoration," which takes two and a half hours. A classic facial will run you $145. Call 1-888-SPA-1851 for an appointment, but first, flip your calendar to September: Aside from a few random spaces, they're already booked up for the whole summer.
· Kiehl's Will Open Its First-Ever Spa on the Upper East Side [Racked NY]
· Lexington Avenue Could Get Its Own Kiehl's Next Year [Racked NY]
· Kiehl's [Official Site]