The models, moms and well-groomed men who make up the loyal client list at Lace Nail Lab, which opened in 2004 on West Avenue in South Beach have proven that few can resist the lure of trimmed cuticles and a shiny polish — especially while sitting on a white leather Mies van der Rohe Barcelona chair. At manicure and pedicure at this playfully modernist salon, accented by hints of pink and silver, is a high-style beauty indulgence defined by friendly service in an environment that is chic and feminine without being frilly. Owner Anna Elizabeth took that same brand of accessible glamour to a second location just a few blocks south, this time opening up Lace Beauty Lab in Miami Beach’s South of Fifth neighborhood. Teaming up once again with Miami-based designers Doug and Gene Meyer, she has created another beauty destination where atmosphere is part and parcel of beauty service.
"I want to make women feel beautiful inside and out from the moment they walk in," says Elizabeth. "This space [Lace Beauty Lab] is designed with that in mind."
In the nearly three years that it took to complete the second location, which opened last fall, the Meyer brothers and Elizabeth worked through 20 versions of the design. The end result — which at about 1,100 square feet is nearly 150 square feet larger than Lace's first incarnation — is a fanciful escape that maintains the same style of sophisticated whimsy, but with a slightly adjusted color palette and some clever and modernized tributes to the past.
"It's a little Tangier in 1960 meets Bloomies of the '70s meets Miami Beach of 1961," Doug Meyer explains. Never wanting to follow an aesthetic or a period too literally, Meyer marries surprising elements such as Moroccan stars outfitted with ornaments in deep purples and magentas in the mani/pedi room with a disco ball hanging near the entrance and retail space. Cabinetry inspired by Dorothy Draper is paired with crown moldings reminiscent of an English Regency ballroom. "We wanted it to be unexpected but at the same time, like it had been there forever," Doug Meyer muses.
Unlike its sister location, Lace Beauty Lab not only offers additional services such as hair and make-up, but its design also introduces a new spectrum of colors including greens, turquoises and blues, homage to the nearby beach. Every detail was thoughtfully customized for look and function. The front desk — one of Elizabeth's favorite elements — is a playful interpretation of a ’60s piece that can move and act as a bar for parties and events. In the mani/pedi room, reflective silver wallpaper, from Flavor Paper in New Orleans, not only adds a splash of glitz and shimmer, it also adds the illusion of more space, as do the Venetian mirrors that hang throughout.
Farther back into Lace Beauty Lab, the space is divided into additional areas with specific purposes and unique looks. The hair and make-up space is clad in a customized pink-foil wallpaper that has been silk-screened with a lace design on it. The treatment room (for facials, etc.) is a more subdued white-and-black alcove embellished with an elegant limited-edition wallpaper from Wook Kim.
Of course, there are signature design elements that are shared between the original Lace and the new location, most notably: patrons still relax on the famous Barcelona chairs for manis and pedis. And while some things are just too perfect to change, such as the chairs, any excuse to change your nail polish (feeling a little Wicked or perhaps more Mademoiselle today?) is sufficient enough to pay a visit to one or another of these beauty-full destinations.
