New Spa Opens in Bedford Village

After a double-whammy of storms and power outages in the past few months, who couldn't use a little R&R? Bedford Village residents don't have far to go now that Vrai Nord has moved into town.

Owner Gail Urbach had been looking for a space here for a few years, after locals who knew her from her seasonal business in Martha's Vineyard suggested she open up shop in Bedford.

When the Bedford Village Frame Shop vacated the storefront to move across the street, Urbach, a licensed esthetician, made her plans. The renovated space bathed in soft lights and calming neutrals now offers skincare products, cosmetics and a spa room where she performs treatments like chemical peels and LED light therapy.

"I'm a product junkie," said Urbach, a Waccabuc native who now lives in Pawling. "There's a lot of stuff on the market and it's hard to differentiate what works and what doesn't."

It was her love of beauty products and experimentation that led her to change careers from managing a real estate investment trust to completing advanced training at the International Dermal Institute in New York.

Skincare doesn't have to be complicated, she said.

"I try to teach people that there are four basic essentials to skincare: Cleansing, exfoliation, moisturizing and protection—and 90 percent of that can be done at home," said Urbach, her own 51-year-old skin glowing and practically wrinkle-free.

She said "you can't do enough for your skin as you get older," but there was plenty to do without "going under the knife." Urbach recommends monthly chemical peels, which she said are not as harsh as microderm abrasions and LED light therapy, which treats blemishes, acne and roseacea.

The spa store carries Dermologica and PCASkin, among other skin care products, some of which have been endorsed by the American Cancer Society as beneficial for chemotherapy patients. Cosmetic offerings include the Youngblood Mineral line, sold only at Henri Bendel's she said, noting that the make-up was paraben free and "not found at Sephora."

She also stocks candles and lotions and accessories like handbags and makeup kits.

And the meaning of Vrai Nord?

"It means 'true north' in French," said Urbach. "It represents achieving the optimum balance in life."