A Day Trip to New York City

There are so many things to do in New York City that you may not think it’s the best for a day trip. I disagree – it just means you have more ideas for future visits. Your day trip to New York City can focus on one neighborhood or area, activities around a certain theme, or just random things you’ve wanted to cross off your list.

For this visit, the themes of the day ended up being makeup and custom items, even though I didn’t plan it that way. I had a few stops planned, including making custom lipsticks, visiting the Glossier Showroom, and creating a custom Magnum ice cream bar. The rest of the day’s activities revolved around those plans and were decided on the spot.

If you can only manage a day trip to New York City, check out this loose itinerary for a makeup-filled, bespoke guide to Chelsea and Soho.

10 am: Brunch in Chelsea

We arrived on 34th Street outside the Fashion Institute of Technology in Chelsea. The first thing we did was find brunch closeby at the Australian cafe, Citizens.

11:30 am: Chelsea Market and the High Line

After brunch, we wandered further into Chelsea, stopping at whichever places caught our interest. We browsed Chelsea Market, which despite my being to NYC many times, I had never visited.

As we we walked further south, we passed a store and did a double take when we saw a man laying on what looked like a massage table in the big storefront window. It turned out to be Samsung 837, a “technology playground” where visitors can experiment with all different kinds of gadgets. My friend and I tried out the free, walk-in virtual reality experience.

Brick building with green design elements on a city street with multiple yellow taxis driving by. — Chelsea Market

We then decided to walk along the High Line, an elevated linear park and green space, where you get a beautiful view of the city below.

Woman standing on an elevated walkway looking out onto a New York City street — The High Line

2 pm: Custom ice cream bars at Magnum

Hand holding a chocolate covered ice cream bar with colorful toppings against a gold background

At the pop-up Magnum store in Chelsea, customers could create a custom ice cream bar. You get your choice of vanilla or chocolate ice cream, dark or milk chocolate, and three toppings. The toppings aren’t the usual sprinkles and chocolate chips. I went with dried flower petals, shredded coconut, and orange chocolate candies while my friend opted for chili chocolate flakes, orange sorbet shavings, yogurt pearls, and freeze dried raspberries. As strange as those sound, it turned out to be pretty amazing. The Magnum store is now closed at this location, but hopefully it pops up somewhere else in the future.

3 pm: Glossier Showroom

The next stop was the Glossier Showroom in SoHo, so we ordered a Lyft to get us there. The showroom lets you try out products in person or order online and pick up in person. After our first round of playing with makeup, we left to make sure we didn’t miss our appointment at the Lip Lab.

4 pm: Custom lipsticks at Lip Lab

The brand Bite Beauty no longer exists, but I always loved their products and wanted to make custom lipsticks at one of their Lip Lab locations. When you arrive for your appointment, you have the option of one or two lipsticks, butter balms, or one of each. We went with two lipsticks, which allows you to choose from 200 pigments. The Lip Lab Artist mixed a few different pigments and let us try them on to find exactly what we were looking for. Once I found my two shades, a purple mauve and a blue-red, I chose finishes (matte, satin, sheer, or balm) and essential oil scents (vanilla, pomegranate, mango, or mint). Then, once you name your items, they engrave it on the tube.

Creating custom lipsticks was a fun experience, but what’s also great about it is that you can use your shade names to repurchase when you run out.