New wellness spa opens in Garden City 

Thomas D’Angelo’s pharmaceutical empire just got bigger with the addition of his Garden City Wellness Spa, where, with business partners Joseph LiPera and Alfred Corrado, the trio have added facials, laser treatments, heat sculpting, halo therapy, dermal fillers, IV hydration therapy and the like to their repertoire.

“We slowly started going into areas that don’t require insurance approval that people are happier to pay for,” says D’Angelo, who also owns Franklin Square Pharmacy, Americare Compounding and Americare Home Infusions, both in Garden City, and Gelo's Point Pharmacy in Point Lookout, with LiPera and Corrado. “People want to get nice skin. It’s an industry that’s growing.”

Since opening in September, registered nurse Melanie D’Angelo says the most popular treatments so far have been facials, including the plasma rich platelets (a microneedling technique often referred to as the “vampire facial”); the diamond glow (exfoliates the skin while infusing serum into it), and oxygeneo facials. 

Frequent client Toniann Wallace, 25, of Lynbrook, says she's had several treatments done at the new spa, including the balance oxygeneo facial in an effort to tame her milia (or, small pimplelike bumps). "I wanted to get rid of that," she says. "It feels hot and tingly," she says of the facial, but was relaxing enough that she was able to squeeze in some shut-eye. Wallace says she also got a yam and pumpkin enzyme chemical peel. "That was a little spicy. I definitely couldn’t fall asleep during that one," she says.

Of the more trendy offerings, the medspa has a lineup of 20-plus IV hydration cocktails. “Whenever you feel like you need an extra boost,” Melanie says. “That’s what they’re kind of here for.”

The top drip is the Meyers concoction, packed with vitamin C, B12, b-complex and magnesium, meant to help de-stress, among other aids.

Therese Savarese, 74, of Malverne tried her first IV hydration treatment at the spa this month after hearing about its "health benefits," she says. "How could vitamins possibly hurt you? They can only help me."

Her husband Robert, 72, got the Myers IV treatment, too, reasoning that there was "nothing to lose. It's like taking a vitamin out of a jar. You don’t know if it’s going to work, but you stick with it." 

For those looking for a noninvasive detox, consider the salt cave sauna, located in a private room where up to four people can relax for 30 to 45 minutes.

Get a facial for $100-plus; IV drips for $100-plus; reserve time in the sauna for $45-plus. Garden City Wellness Spa is at 317 C Nassau Blvd. in Garden City. It’s open Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. More info: 516-440-4800; gcwellnessspa.com