Est. 2009 · Hudson, New York
A sanctuary for skin, body, and breath. Botanical facials, slow massage, and unhurried hair rituals performed by hands that listen before they begin.
15
Years of slow beauty, one treatment at a time
Our Story
Aurelia began the way most good things do. With one room, one table, and a kettle that never quite stopped whistling. Our founder, Mara Costa, had spent twelve years inside the bright, fast rooms of Manhattan salons before she decided she wanted to work the other way. Slowly. With her hands. With her eyes closed when she needed to.
She found the house on Larkspur Lane in the spring of 2009. The floors creaked in a way she liked. The light came in slanted through old sash windows. She hung a single eucalyptus branch above the door and opened it to whoever walked by.
Fifteen years later, the eucalyptus still hangs. We are six therapists now, plus Mara, who still works the front desk on Thursdays because she likes to. We blend our own oils in small batches in the kitchen out back. We do not chase trends. We make room for the slow return.
Treatments
Every treatment at Aurelia is built around slowness. We book with breathing room between clients so no one feels hurried, including us. Prices are honest, the products are made by people we know, and the time is yours.
Customized to the season and to your skin. We start with a slow warm compress, move through cleansing and exfoliation, and finish with a pressure point massage and a mask blended in our kitchen that morning. Always with our own cold pressed botanicals.
We do not call it deep tissue. We call it slow tissue. The same work, performed without rushing, so the body has time to actually let go. Recommended for shoulders that have been carrying the winter, and for anyone who has forgotten what their feet feel like on the ground.
River stones heated in water scented with cardamom and cedar. Placed along the spine, the palms, and the soles. Used to melt tension before the hands ever touch the skin. A treatment for the days when you have run out of ways to come back to yourself.
A long foot and hand soak in warm water, raw honey, and the oil blend you choose that day. Followed by a neck and scalp massage. Not a quick fix. A real pause. The kind where the room goes quiet around you and you stop counting the things you have to do next.
Cuts, color, and treatments performed by stylists who would rather talk to you about your hair than sell you something. We use plant based color lines whenever we can. We do not double book. Your time in the chair is yours.
Manicures and pedicures without the drill and without the rush. We soak, we shape, we buff, we paint. Your nails leave looking like your nails, only better. We use a non toxic polish line from a small studio in Portland.
Gift certificates are available in any amount and never expire.
Cancellations within 24 hours of your appointment are charged at 50% of the service.
15
Years on Larkspur Lane
6
Therapists, all of them senior
92%
Of our products are blended in house
1
Client per therapist at a time
“We never wanted to be the biggest spa in town. We wanted to be the one people kept coming back to, the year their first child was born, and the year they buried their mother, and every ordinary Tuesday in between.”
— Mara Costa, Founder
The House
The house was built in 1898. We have added very little. The walls are mostly the color they were always meant to be. The light does most of the decorating.
Hands
Every therapist at Aurelia has at least eight years of practice and a way of working that is fully their own. You can ask for any of us by name.
Founder · Skin Therapist
Twelve years in Manhattan salons before she found the house on Larkspur. Still works the front desk on Thursdays.
Senior Massage Therapist
Trained in Thai and Swedish traditions. Believes the best massage happens after the first ten minutes, not before.
Lead Stylist · Color
Apprenticed in London, settled in the Hudson Valley. Plant based color line specialist. Loves a slow fringe.
Kind Words
“I have been going to Aurelia for nine years. Mara is the only person who has ever looked at my skin and told me to use less, not more. She was right. My face has never been happier.”
Eliza Hartwell
Client since 2016
“Booked the slow tissue massage on a whim the week my father passed. Iris did not say much. She did not need to. I left feeling like I had slept for three days, in the best way.”
Daniel Okafor
Client since 2019
“Theo cut my hair the way I asked him to in 2014 and we have barely changed it since. He is the only stylist I have ever trusted to trim my fringe without asking four times.”
Priya Nair
Client since 2014
Journal
Recipes, skin notes, and small observations from the treatment room. We publish when we have something to say, not on a schedule.
March 12, 2025
Most skin does not need another step. It needs fewer steps, performed with more attention. A short field guide to the three things your face actually wants from you this season.
Read note
February 4, 2025
We have been making the same bath oil for ten years. Epsom salts, raw honey, a few drops of cedar and cardamom. Here is the recipe, and a few notes on why we still take this bath every Sunday.
Read note
January 8, 2025
It costs us more. It takes longer. Sometimes a batch goes wrong. We keep doing it because the difference between a real oil and a synthetic one is something your nervous system can feel.
Read noteVisit Us
Send us a note with what you are hoping for and we will write back within a day with available times. If you would rather talk it through, the phone is on between nine and five, Tuesday through Saturday.
Address
18 Larkspur Lane
Hudson, NY 12534
Phone
(518) 555 0142Hours
Tuesday to Friday · 9 to 8
Saturday · 9 to 6 · Sunday · 10 to 4
Monday · Closed
We answer every note personally. No automation.