Navigating NYC's On-Demand Beauty Apps: What to Use and When

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Going to your neighborhood nail salon and your trusted hair stylist for the past several years is a fine beauty routine and all, but not quite in tune with the times we live in—that is, the future. In the same way you've ditched that pile of takeout menus for Seamless and prefer to open Uber or Lyft instead of hailing a cab, it's time you do the same with your manicures , blowouts, and even spa services like facials.

Below, we've outlined eleven companies operating in New York City who want to help you alleviate your beauty woes, divided by whether they book you a salon appointment or come to your desired location, and then organized alphabetically. Want to get an eyebrow wax near the office on your lunch break, or have a masseuse on the way by the time you get home tonight? Then you need to see this.

Want to Leave the House?

BEAUTIFIED

What you can book: Blowouts, Brazilian waxes, brow maintenance, facials, haircuts, makeup application, massages, nails.

How you can book: You can have your list of salons for a particular service sorted by proximity to your current location, the soonest one available, or budget. You can also filter to find an appointment by a desired time, like after work (you can book for the same day or the next) or by a particular price point.

Sample pricing: Blowouts start at $34 at places like the Meatpacking District's Keratinbar or Soho's Haute Air and go up to $76 at Frederic Fekkai Fifth Avenue. For manicures, the East Village's Blush Nail Lounge has an $11 appointment, or you could splurge on a $30 service at Soho Sanctuary.

Special extras: The Hannah Bronfman-backed app can save your beauty preferences (so your manicurist will know you prefer a round nail shape before you even get there, or you'd rather work with a female masseuse at the spa) and set reminders to book a service by a set time interval—useful for, say, haircuts. You can also book workout classes at CityRow, Flex Studios, The Movement, and Peloton.

BEAUTYBOOKED

Services offered: Bikini waxing, blowouts, brow maintenance, facials, hair cuts and color, makeup application, massages, nails, tanning.

How you can book: First, choose your neighborhood, and then choose your service. From here, you can pick a salon and go to the "book" tab to see what times are available for each type of appointment (same-day only); or you could select "Any Day Any Time" at the top of the screen, select a preferred date and time, and see what's available in and around that neighborhood. With this method, you can see how much the service costs before clicking into a salon's page. Other useful tabs on a salon's page give the user a general overview of the place, a map, and access to other BeautyBooked clients's reviews of it.

Sample pricing: A blowout at Tribeca's Bdry is $40; a manicure at Dashing Diva in Park Slope is $18; a 30-minute massage at Midtown East's YeloSpa is $72.

Special extras: Beauty Booked is one of the booking apps out there that offers an unlimited blowout package, and they'll roll out similar ones for manicures and spray tans in the future. Fans of Allure will like that salons that the magazine have reviewed bear their seal of approval. Also, though the majority of services offered through BeautyBooked are in-salon, there's a limited number of at-home options, too.

STYLESEAT

Services offered: Blowouts, facials, hair, makeup application, massages, nails, waxing.

How you can book: After you select your service, a list of stylists pops up that's generally sorted by your current location. You can then filter to find an appointment by a preferred date/time (from immediately to infinity), price range ($ to $$$$), and location (in case you're looking for an appointment near the office while you're at home).

Sample pricing: Balayage highlights by Akilah Abrams at Christo Fifth Avenue start at $160; a blowout by Mike Fernandez at Salon Ruggeri is $50.

Special extras: Styleseat, which puts an emphasis on the stylist you're working with, offers both in-salon and at-home appointments (there's a lot of independent/freelance stylists listed here). It also has some of the most extensive options for hair available—users can book appointments for cuts, color, updos, braids, general "styling," and even weaves and extensions. Guys aren't left out of the equation, either: There's a "barber" option for dudes.

VIVE

Services offered: Vive deals exclusively in blowouts—specifically, monthly unlimited blowouts for $99.

How you can book: Appointments can be made for as soon as 30 minutes from now to as far out as a week in advance for any of their member salons in Manhattan.

Sample pricing: Did you miss the above? It's $99 per month, whether you're getting a single blowout or a single blowout per day.

Special extras: The service isn't available widely just yet—click on their link above to add your email address to their wait list.

Prefer At-Home Treatments?

BELLA

Services offered: Gel manicures, hair, makeup.

How you can book: First, fill out your hair and makeup preferences and add a credit card in your profile. Then, select your service and enter your desired address, date, time, and any special instructions. Once you submit your request, Bella will get in contact with you to confirm who will be heading over and when.

Sample pricing: Flat pricing for every Bella-approved styling makes this super simple. Blowouts and gel manicures are $100, and makeup application is $125. Combination packages of these services start at $325.

Special extras: If you do, in fact, feel like leaving the house, Bella can recommend and book a salon appointment based on your preferred location.

CITYMANI

Services offered: As its name might suggest, CityMani is all about painting your digits.

How you can book: Just select how many people the manicure service is for, and available dates and times (someone can show up as late as 11pm) within the week will automatically pop up. After that, let them know your desired location.

Sample pricing: A single traditional manicure is $34 (CityMani doesn't have gel or shellac available).

Special extras: CityMani likes to party. Book an on-demand manicure for yourself, a small or large group of friends, or even a corporate gathering.

GLAMSQUAD

Services offered: Hair styling and makeup application.

How you can book: Select hair, makeup, or both; enter your desired date, time, and address; and confirm an appointment from there.

Sample pricing: Blowouts are $50, braids are $75, and updos are $85; makeup application is $75 (add lash application for another $20); and a combo blowout/makeup application is $125.

Special extras: Before your stylist arrives, browse through GlamSquad's lookbook to get some inspiration.

PRIV

Services offered: Blowouts, haircuts, massages, makeup application, manicures, men's grooming, tanning.

How you can book: After you select your service, a list of stylists pops up in order of time available. You can click into each to see his/her summary, rating from other Priv users, as well as a portfolio of previous work.

Sample pricing: A gel manicure is $50; brow shaping is $40; a haircut with a blowout is $75; a 60-minute table massage is $150. Tax and tip are included in the price of all services.

Special extras: You can get your fitness delivered, too—trainers that specialize in a multitude of activities (yoga, Pilates, kickboxing, bootcamp) are available starting at $80 for an individual session.

STYLISTED

Services offered: Hair styling, makeup and lash application.

How you can book: Select whether you're getting hair, makeup, or both, and then enter a desired date and time (between 5am and 9pm). A list of stylists available on or around that time will pop up with price range indicators between $ and $$$$. From here, you can see what each stylist charges for each service, or sort by ratings and price.

Sample pricing: A stylist denoted with "$$" charges $80 for a blowout, $120 for basic makeup application, and $30 for lash application.

Special extras: This stylist-focused app offers in-depth bios and reviews of every professional listed, helping you pick the best person for your needs. There's also a heavy focus on special events, like wedding makeup for a bride and her party.

VENSETTE

Services offered: Hair services and makeup application.

How you can book: The Lauren Remington Platt-backed service is all about immediacy—a stylist will show up within 45 minutes of your request. You start out by picking the hair and/or makeup look you're going for (like the "Siren" blowout or "Grace Kelly" makeup—you can specify further details about your look in a comments section before booking), then add in your location.

Sample pricing: Service prices is flat, regardless of who shows up to your home or office. Hair styling is $100, makeup application is $150; combining the two is $200, and a VIP version of that (for wedding/red carpet appearances) is $300. These fees may vary slightly depending on where your service is taking place.

Special extras: This high-level service uses quality makeup and hair tools to ensure your best look.

ZEEL

Services offered: Zeel is a one-stop-shop for booking massages.

How you can book: Select the style of massage you'd like—like Swedish or deep tissue—the gender of your massage therapist, and the duration of the service. They'll ask some details about your location, like how many flights of stairs to your walk-up apartment or whether they should be expecting pets, before you select a date and time (they can arrive in as little as an hour if need be).

Sample pricing: A 60-minute massage to a walk-up apartment in the East Village on a weekday evening with three days' notice costs about $120, with tax and an 18% tip included.

Special extras: Sessions for couples, or back-to-back sessions for, say, you and your roommate, are also available. They also have an monthly membership package—the Massage Zeelot—that includes a monthly massage, discounts on extra services, and your very own table.