Young Life in an Old Town: Dollin’ It Up Opens on S. Columbus

Parents who are looking for the ultimate in over the top birthday fun for their daughters who love pink will no longer have to drive to the suburbs.

Dollin’ It Up, a spa for girls ages 3 to 14, has been open in Lorton since 2010, and has opened a second location in Old Town. Situated across the street from the near the bustling intersection of Columbus and King streets, it’s hard to miss the bright pink and green lettering on the storefront. Dollin’ It Up offers little girl versions of spa manicures, pedicures, facials and hair services as well as birthday party packages. If you have a little girl who is constantly rifling though you makeup bag or asking you to paint her nails, this is a sweet little special occasion destination.

Dollin’ It Up offers a variety of birthday packages for groups of six to 15 girls. Examples include Princess Party, Tea Party, American Girl Party and Pajama Party. When I visited the spa with my five year old this weekend, they were already set up for a party that afternoon and I was able to snap a few pictures of the beautifully arranged party area.

As you enter the spa, the brightly colored front room is filled with manicure and pedicure stations, with a back room dedicated to birthday parties, facials and makeup application. The party room was arranged with a table and chairs in the middle of the room, a tempting pink and green candy table in the back, and fun stations around the perimeter. Fun stations included jewelry making, cupcake decorating, and ice cream sundae making. The magic was truly in the details as all of the decorations – from the paper flowers to the plates, napkins, and tulle on the chairs – coordinated beautifully with the spa décor.

I treated my daughter to a manicure and pedicure and she begged and pleaded for a makeup application as well. While I try to hold the line about things like this most of the time (my five year old is certainly not skipping off to preschool wearing eyeliner) I gave permission for a little eye shadow and lip gloss “just this once” and she was thrilled.

Sophia beamed from ear to ear while she had her nails (light purple) and toes (bright green) done, with polka dots added to both. She loved getting to wear a robe over her clothing and little flip-flops for the pedicure. Because my mother raised me with a healthy dose of feminist ideology, I made sure to talk to my five year old about inner beauty while we ate lunch after our spa outing. I’m not sure how much she really understood since she was pretty focused on keeping her lip gloss intact while she negotiated her yogurt and crackers.