Albany, NY Spa and Massage

Within Sixsixty Salon, trained massage therapist Kimberly Joy Carey aims to relax clients and encourage holistic wellbeing with massage therapy. To do this, she customizes each session using Swedish techniques, stones cooled or heated in water, and trigger-point modalities. Each technique is designed to increase blood circulation, ease tension, and soothe achy muscles after sleepwalking into a staircase warehouse. Kimberly is also trained in the advanced technique of raindrop therapy, which brings harmony to the body by incorporating essential oil aromatherapy with a combination of Swedish massage and traditional Tibetan and Native American techniques.

Bethlehem Massage's practitioners blend western massage techniques with eastern practices to promote balance and harmony in their clients. First visits typically begin with a consultation, during which a licensed therapist takes the time to understand individuals' medical histories and motivations for visiting. They draw from a buffet of services such as Swedish massage and hyper-specific doctor's-orders massage, before lavishing clients with focused bodywork that rewards the muscles for automatically flexing when photographed by traffic cameras. The facility's in-house acupuncturist also stands ready to target afflictions with a 4,000-year-old Chinese practice.

Like any good teacher, style director and salon owner Shelley Hutchinson believes you are never done learning. Her 14 years as a cosmetologist have led her to oversee a staff of hairstylists, aestheticians, and massage therapists, all of whom continue to hone their skills through educational seminars. As they absorb new techniques, they graduate on a track from apprentice to senior stylist, having chosen a major in either scissor biology or beehive keeping. Shelley herself attends international trade shows to keep up with the world's aesthetic tastes, adapting her knowledge of cuts and colors to make the most of the salon's partnership with Goldwell.

Inside Shelley's beautification venue, sunlight illuminates fixtures inspired by the natural world. Potted trees, floral arrangements, and bamboo window shades complement the earth-toned walls of private spa and public styling areas. The services also draw from nature: guests can warm their feet during the Tranquil Earth pedicure featuring hot rocks, or they can nourish their features with an enzyme peel's pineapple and papaya extracts.

Since 2004, Gina Camaj's hairstyling skills have landed her hair and makeup gigs at weddings, photo shoots, and television programs. At Gina Camaj Salon and Spa, she and her team of fellow stylists use a full line of Paul Mitchell products for haircare appointments that range from trims and highlights to keratin treatments and eyelash extensions. While Gina oversees salon operations, the salon's co-owner, Karli Richardson, supervises the facility's spa. There, licensed aestheticians and massage therapists administer beautifying and relaxing treatments such as body scrubs, myofascial massages, and weight-loss mud wraps, which slim physiques more effectively than daily alligator-wrestling contests.

Presumably tired of standing, sore of foot and back, Dustin Campbell first found his way into a massage chair at a concert. Fifteen minutes later, he knew he wanted to be a massage therapist. With barely a backward glance, he plunged into a 1,020-hour massage-therapy certification program that covered four modalities, basic sciences, medical skills, and business practices. He came out the other end Dustin Campbell, Licensed Massage Therapist, and started his own business, The Bears Massage. Today, he continues to explore and study the world of natural healing as he plies his trade on Albany's sore backs.

At New Attitudes Salon, talented stylists and aestheticians pamper clients with a spectrum of hair, skin, and body treatments. To keep hairdos in line and up to date, a CHI master educator can glide her scissors through locks or apply a flattering, ammonia-free color. Facials employ potent ingredients such as volcanic ash and glycolic acid to tighten pores and even out tone, and body scrubs refresh below-chin skin with mixtures of sea salt and organic essential oils. Treatment rooms fill with therapeutic scents of vanilla, lavender, and peppermint during spa appointments, ensuring clients leave with minds as calm as the audience at a snail race.