<em>Black Soap</em> by SuperSmashBroz
The DJ/producer duo SuperSmashBroz hang out by the waterfront. Marika Rosegold Roxbury natives Muyi Fre$co and Noma Nomz live by the mantra “get your vibes right” — and that’s exactly what the DJ/producer duo have accomplished with their latest project, which celebrates the diversity of the city with feel-good rhythms and soulful Caribbean melodies infused with mesmeric Afrobeats. Cameos from other Boston artists are the proverbial cherry on top. supersmashbroz.com.
Nine Zero
While not entirely indie—it's part of the Kimpton hotel group—Nine Zero is a singularly splendid place to lay your head. All rooms boast robes, European linens, and windows that open to let in the fresh air. But if you're lucky enough to book one of the Premier View offerings—or, even better, the Cloud Nine Suite—you'll be treated to some of the best vistas in the city. 90 Tremont St., Boston, MA 2108, ninezero.com.
Bradley & Diegel
What's your dream hair length? Want more layers? Or maybe a cappuccino? The staff at this salon asks all the right questions, ensuring that each client ends up with a gorgeous style to fit her taste, and gets a respite from the bustle of Newbury below. Plus, the well-spaced stations, ahh-inducing massage chairs, and large front windows bathing the place in natural light make the whole experience second to none. 77 Newbury St, Boston, MA 2116, bradleyanddiegel.com.
Gary Croteau, Salon Mario Russo at Fan Pier
If you're looking to keep your root touchups on the QT, Mario Russo's new outpost inside Louis on quiet Fan Pier offers an alternative to gossipy Newbury Street salons. A better reason to go, however, is Gary Croteau: His sure hand with blond tresses ensures full-bodied color from root to tip, plus sun-kissed highlights that look like the byproduct of a Saint-Tropez getaway. 60 Northern Ave., Boston, MA 2210, mariorusso.com.
Caterina Sorrenti, Rina's Studio
The Newbury Street veteran's solo endeavor in Newtonville is a study in making the best of a painful (and often embarrassing) salon service. Caterina Sorrenti keeps Rina's Studio obsessively clean (no double-dipping applicators here). She's thorough, too, though she gets this award because she's a pro at multitasking, able to chat distractingly about real estate, the weather, and whatever else while going to town on your ingrowns. 811 Washington St., Newton, MA 2460, rina-studio.com.
Gentle Giant Moving Company
Anyone who's used inferior movers knows the torture of watching them slowly load a single box onto the truck. You won't need to stifle the urge to grab a handcart and goose the friendly Gentle Giant guys, who gather up as much as they can carry, unload, and literally sprint back for more. And that brawn doesn't come at the cost of finesse: Everything arrives at your new home unscathed. 29 Harding St., Somerville, MA 2116, gentlegiant.com.
JJ Gonson, Cuisine en Locale
So you're a little lazy. Or overworked. Or simply a really, really bad cook. No one has to know—not with Gonson around cover your tracks. Armed with fresh ingredients culled from local growers and farmers' markets, the Cambridge-based chef swoops into homes throughout the Hub, leaving a week's worth of healthy meals in her wake. And she's not afraid to share her tricks, offering kitchen and pantry organization and private gourmet-grocery shopping, too.
AZ Studio
Changing stylists right after you've been butchered presents a classic rebound scenario: No matter how well you're treated, there are nagging trust issues. That is, unless you drag your sorry 'do to AZ Studio, which has both veterans (some have been here 10 years or more) and next-generation snippers adept at soothing frizzed, scraggly, and otherwise badly ruffled feathers. Still feeling a bit heartsick? A shopping spree in the amply stocked salon boutique will make it all better. Derby Street Shoppes, Hingham, MA 2043, azstudio-derby.com.
Shanti
The services brochure is more richly designed than most wedding invitations. The décor is a balance of industrial details, chocolate leather, and walls soaked in cool blue-green. Everything about this six-year-old salon, renovated and renamed last year, suggests a keen attention to how things look—which bodes extremely well for your hair. The pros here will quiz you closely on cut and color, and may keep you in the chair longer than you're used to, but the results are unimpeachable. 50 Water St., Newburyport, MA 1950, .
Emerge Spa and Salon
By now you've seen the articles proclaiming that men are (hold on to your footballs!) concerned with their hygiene and grooming. Yet at most spas, the premises still feel dominated by women, or at least by lots and lots of flowers. Not so at Emerge. Its Men's Club, flush with mahogany paneling and boasting a flat-screen TV, is cordoned off and populated by neatly kempt guys awaiting their facials, massages, waxings, and manicures. The only femininity here comes via the friendly staff. And that's something the male clientele doesn't seem to mind. 275 Newbury St., Boston, MA 2116, emergespasalon.com.
Amy Leydon, Exhale and The Sports Club/LA
A former Emmy-winning television producer, Leydon spices up traditional (but challenging) vinyasa-flow yoga with inspiring music and unexpected sequences to show aspiring yogis how to find their own path to limber inner peace. Free advice: "Remember that yoga is noncompetitive. We live in a culture that makes it hard to let go of egos, but when you're doing precarious positions for the first time, you have to back off and go at your own pace." 28 Arlington St.; 4 Avery St., Boston, MA 02116; 02111, exhalespa.com; thesportsclubla.com.
Tom Reen
Reen, a registered dietitian and certified sports nutritionist and personal trainer, helped launch the life coaching program at the city's leading fitness outpost, the Sports Club/LA. He also tends to a healthy private practice. Free advice: "When life gets stressful, nutrition's usually the first thing to go out the window. Make sure to try new things, and not just new foods, but things that will keep your attitude interested and fresh and happy." The Sports Club/LA, 4 Avery St., Boston, MA 2111, .
Chatham Bars Inn
Had Fitzgerald created Jay Gatsby today, he might have installed his debonair protagonist at the Chatham Bars Inn. The 1914 hotel's foyer alone, with its polished wood floors and stately white columns, is redolent of money and understated class. Still a place where old New England summers, the property now encompasses 25 acres of landscaped grounds, four restaurants, a state-of-the-art spa, 40 guestrooms, and 30 private cottages, a handful of which sit on bluffs overlooking the Atlantic. 297 Shore Road, Chatham, MA 2633, .
Beach Plum Inn
You are not a Kennedy. Your chances of getting asked to the family's up-island compound are, frankly, slim. So what? You can still live like American royalty at the nearby Beach Plum Inn. Its 11 rooms and cottages are flush with shabby-chic furnishings and Egyptian cotton linens. Its BYOB restaurant is lauded for upscale surf and turf. And the view of the surrounding gardens and Menemsha Harbor is, in a word, unrivaled. 50 Beach Plum Ln., Menemsha, MA 2535, .
David Magone
It's annoying when a toned yogi informs you, as you struggle with a simple pose, that soon you'll be balancing on your chin. But under David Magone, that's not only possible, but likely—just look at the limber loyalists in the front row. The 29-year-old has created his own dynamic blend of yoga called PranaVayu, and he gives easy-to-follow instructions that are both practical and inspirational. You'll be all twisted up in no time. Insideyoga.com;yogasquare.com.