Virginia Highland

Sugarcoat gets bonus points for their interiors, which are high-ceilinged and airy, with color-coordinated polish walls and poppy glass bulbs hung sculpturally from the ceiling. We also love their intense commitment to keeping everything clean—each new client gets a kit of nail files buffers, toe separators, and pumice stones to keep, as those products are never used on two different clients. They also have specially designed porcelain sinks with fresh running water, so bacteria from soaking tubs is never recirculated from one client to the next, and you never have to worry about the ick-factor that comes with regular soaking tubs. You can also find them in Buckhead and Vinings.

Cacao founder Kristen Hard is a bit of a local hero—she opened her shop after taking a sabbatical from her law studies to travel (including working as a chef on a yacht). Hard is one of the only “bean-to-bar” producers in the region, which means she sources the beans herself, the roasts and shells them in-house. The result is ridiculously complex chocolate that you can really only get in Atlanta. (There are also locations in Buckhead and Inman Park).

What began as co-founders Joshua Morgan and Brad Scoggins’s at-home experimentation with botanicals is now a full-blown line of organic, non-toxic products, which you can find at the Atlanta-based Little Barn Apothecary shop (as well as online). From their Charcoal + Aloe face cleanser to their hair texturizer to their body oils, each product is as uncomplicated as it is potent and effective.