Best Costume Store 2013 | Easley's Fun Shop | Shopping & Services | Phoenix
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Best Costume Store

Easley's Fun Shop

From Halloween to Easter, it seems we never run out of reasons to play dress-up. But when the seasonal pop-up shops are gone and all you can find online are sexy substitutes, there's one place in town that keeps the role-play rolling. Easley's Fun Shop has been bringing the fun to Phoenix for more than 60 years, starting as a magic store, expanding with gag gifts and novelty items, and ultimately filling its floor space with one of the largest selections of costumes in town. Easley's is a hard-to-miss yellow warehouse wonderland offering costumes for sale and for rent, for kids and adults, for dogs, and, well, you get the picture. Whether you're just looking for the final touches of a wig and makeup or the full get-up to buy or rent, Easley's is the easy answer to all your costume needs.

Best Nail Art Salon

Terés

Let's get real. You're never going to get through your list of Pinterest to-dos. Nobody has the time to stencil cat patterns on her walls, make a lampshade from old dishtowels, and paint intricate patterns on her fingernails. And that's a-okay. Because nobody in town does nail art better than Scottsdale nail bar Terés. Whether you want each nail to resemble a tiny watermelon slice or a reverse glitter fade is more your style, the nail techs at this salon pride themselves on creativity. Heck, they even post their coolest hand creations on Instagram to inspire — and maybe show off a little, too. And don't worry about keeping track of your favorite colors and combos. The salon keeps track of all the manis you've had, from single-tint plain-Jane projects to arty gel works, on a bar tab-style card that ensures you'll never have to worry over remembering the colorful name of your favorite shade.

Best Beauty School Drop-In

Aveda Institute Phoenix

Ask any beauty parlor frequenter what her upkeep budget is, and it's likely she'll tell you that keeping up appearances can cost a pretty penny. That is, if she's willing to spill her secrets and doesn't give you the old "I just get plenty of rest and drink lots of water" routine. We call B.S. Chances are good that, unless her bank account is bottomless, she knows where to get a smokin' deal on nail treatments and haircuts. Such is the allure of one of the Valley's newest beauty schools, Aveda Institute Phoenix. Sure, the reason you get great deals on treatments like the Yume Japanese Hair Spa Experience (which includes a deep-conditioning hair treatment, scalp massage, and facial starting at $40) is because students are performing them. But they're fully supervised by trained staffers who make sure everything goes as smoothly as you'll feel after one of Aveda's waxing treatments, which cost anywhere from $12 to $45-plus. Also on the menu are gel manis for $25 (including removal of your old gel), makeup lessons for $35, and the divine sounding Rosemary Mint Awakening Body Wrap at $35.

Best Spa

The Spa at Camelback Inn

Between Camelback and Mummy mountains is our favorite retreat. The Spa at Camelback Inn is the perfect place to spend a day unwinding solo. It's quiet. It's tucked away. There's no traffic. No TV. No phone. You'll just hear the sounds of flowing water and gentle, gentle music in the background. With the purchase of a one-hour service (which could be a massage, facial, or body treatment), you'll receive a one-day spa pass that grants access to pools, saunas, private cabanas (you can reserve one), and fitness facilities. Our advice? Block out a whole day to spend at the supremely relaxing facilities, and walk the tranquil grounds of its resort once your time's up.

Best Vintage Boutique

Vintage by Misty

Misty Guerriero is a daring dresser. Pattern, color, texture, and shape are all to be played with. And if you take a trip to her Phoenix storefront, that's all you'll want to do. Guerriero dares her shoppers to push their style boundaries. Try a bold print. Give a powerful silhouette a shot. Put 'em together and you'll have something aligned with her globetrotting fashion sense; she likes to call it gypset style, a movement associated with boldly dressed world roamers (Gypsy plus jet-set equals gypset). If the head-to-toe anything isn't for you, don't fret. Guerriero has an unparalleled eye for color and pattern, and she'll share her tips and tricks for wearing her worldly goods well.

Best Pet Groomer

Wag 'N Wash

Does Fluffy need a scrub? Scared to cut her nails? Don't feel like expressing your best friend's anal glands (yeah, we didn't think so)? Then load her in the car and take her over to Wag 'N Wash, where the friendly staff will gladly give her a spray-down and tune-up. The Melrose district dog groomer offers a full-service pet spa as well as a do-it-yourself option. Prices range from about $13 to $36 depending on the size of your pet and the service you want. Hint: A full-grown husky with all that hair will be more than a 20-pound Boston terrier. While you're there, grab some of the fresh-baked doggy treats and a new play toy. Your dog will be in heaven — and smell good, too — when you get home.

Best Place for Your Kid to Learn How to be a Vet

Arizona Animal Welfare League & SPCA

The recently refurbished AAWL is a terrific place to adopt a cat or dog — and we're equally fond of their educational programs. If you have a scout troop, you can arrange for a tour of the exotic animal room (complete with resident hedgehog — they won't let you pet her, but still, cool, huh?) and if you have a free week in the summer, for a fee (warning: it's not the cheapest summer camp in town) Junior can even learn how to be a vet. Well, not quite — but close.

Kids 12 and up will dissect a cow eyeball, give a kitten an examination, watch operations and observe a few things we are too squeamish to describe here, but which are sure to thrill your not-easily-grossed-out kid. Ours emerged ready to apply to medical school. Just try to end the week without adopting (yet another) puppy. We dare you.

Best Place to Buy a Dangerous Animal

Reptile Mogul Exotics

Ever seen a yellow anaconda? How about a green anaconda? What about a false water cobra? The water cobra is six feet long, can flatten its neck to look similar to the Indian cobra (the snakes that dance in baskets to flute music), is slightly venomous, and is for sale in Tempe at Reptile Mogul Exotics. Owner Jared Ohsman has 20 years' experience handling reptiles and other animals normally reserved for nightmares and that scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Reptile Mogul Exotics has plenty of pythons, boas, lizards, scorpions, and tarantulas as well as docile reptiles like chameleons, geckos, and turtles for sale. For those of us who enjoy the idea of falling asleep next to an animal that could potentially escape from its cage and attack us, Reptile Mogul Exotics is where we shop to keep on our toes.

Best Place to Buy High-End Antiques

Sweet Salvage

While the Melrose Curve is a reputable source of repurposed relics and midcentury marvels, there's one Seventh Avenue store in particular that has people literally lining up out the door. Every Third Thursday through Sunday of each month, Sweet Salvage opens its warehouse (now with A/C) to a swarm of trendy thrifters and antique addicts looking for the good stuff. The store's sweet selection of vintage treasures and industrial gems is always tied together by a monthly theme ("summer loving," "salvage secrets," and "let them eat cake," to name a few) and compiled by a team of experienced dealers, handpicked by Sweet Salvage's chief junk queens, Kim Rawlins and Katie Hibbs. From antique signs and kitchenware to vintage soda crates and card catalogs, Sweet Salvage's diverse selection of distressed goods goes quickly in the height of the industrial home trend, which is why we recommend showing up early to this three-day-only sale or, better yet, purchasing a preview ticket so you can beeline it to your favorite flea market finds in the morning.

Best Place to Relive Your Childhood

Arizona Collectors Marketplace

Children of the '80s are guaranteed to dig the Arizona Collectors Marketplace. Ditto for anyone who grew up playing with Stretch Armstrong, the Six Million Dollar Man, or the original 12-inch G.I. Joe dolls. That's because toys, games, comic books, and other remnants of the era occupy practically every inch of this 7,000-square-foot bazaar of brightly colored plastic. Childhood memories of watching cartoons show like Thundercats and M.A.S.K. while playing with the respective action figures are certain to surface once you step inside.

More than 15 vendors operate tiny bodegas and closet-size stalls throughout the marketplace, some specifically focused on a particular fandom or franchise. To wit: Grey Rogers' shop G.I. Joe vs. Transformers contains stuff from Hasbro's two biggest product lines, while Game Over Games offers stacks of cartridges for classic consoles (ranging from the Atari 2600 and NES to the Nintendo 64) as well as vintage versions of the systems. Other shops have a bit of everything, like Phoenix Comics and Toys' impressive selection of bagged and boarded back issues, a surfeit of Marvel Universe figures, and even original stills from Star Trek: The Animated Series.

There's also a bit of a museum feel to the marketplace, as multiple floor-to-ceiling glass cases contain such relics as Dukes of Hazzard lunchboxes, Evel Knievel race cars, or Shogun Warriors imported from Japan. Everything's for sale, including the items on the extra tables setup for the twice-weekly swap meet on Saturday afternoons and Wednesday evenings by other local dealers and geeks hawking their wares. Just don't exhaust all of your allowance, okay?

Best Of Phoenix®

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