Beauty & Spas in Aldine

From reflexology to eyelash extensions, licensed massage therapist and aesthetician Emma Thompson does it all. She invites both men and women into the cozy Angelic Touch Spatique for a menu of relaxing and beautifying treatments she performs herself. A lime-green cloth blankets the massage table in an otherwise neutral-toned spa room, where Emma enlists deep-tissue kneads, warm stones, and aromatherapy body scrubs to loosen muscles and joints and obliterate stress. She slims limbs and tummies with 45-minute seaweed body wraps, and gives mugs the fresh and clean aura of a newborn's credit history with signature facials and waxing treatments.

Massage Center is holiday vacation without leaving home.

A lineup of Aquage, Redken, and Pureology products gives the stylists at Up In Tangles an ample palate with which to transform drab tresses into well-coiffed works of art. They paint strands with regular or corrective color to add depth to new cuts and tint eyebrows and lashes to match newly minted hair hues without covering brows with mustache appliqués. Keratin-based straightening systems change up mane texture, along with regular and feather extensions. The stylists can use Jane Iredale mineral makeup or bridal airbrush makeup to put the finishing touches on their masterpiece canvases.

A cast of deft stylists—each well-equipped to handle any and every hair type in Houston—works inside J. Minyon & Company’s self-proclaimed “multicultural” salon, welcoming clients for one-on-one consultations before reshaping coifs into flattering, yet manageable, ’dos. Aside from the basic snips and trims, the team alters hair textures with perms and smoothing treatments by CHI, arranges strands into elegant updos, and enhances sheen, dimension, and taste with color glazing. Pale yellow walls surround chocolate-hued styling chairs and decorative accents, and bottles of Paul Mitchell, Mizani, and Affirm products wait to pounce on stressed hair and unsuspecting combs amid the vibrant red hues of the shampoo area.

At more than 30 locations in the Houston area, clients check in at marble-fronted reception desks to meet with a member of Darque Tan's International Smart Tan Network—staff trained to determine the best path to their bronzing goals. Sessions take place in private rooms that line a column-flanked hallway, where five different levels of UV beds give skin the perfect level of tanning. Mystic Tan and VersaSpa sunless-tanning systems imbue clients with a hydrating, natural-looking glow, which can be customized according to skin tone, desired shade, and spirit animal. A full-time cleaning staff keeps each center in pristine conditions by referencing a 50-point inspection system. Most locations have books, televisions, and kids’ play areas to keep children entertained while adults are bronzing.

True to its name, Belle Visage Laser Medical Spa’s team specializes in laser aesthetics, wielding therapeutic beams to alleviate rosacea, spider veins, and wrinkles. However, in addition to technology, the spa’s treatments also utilize natural remedies. Staff members administer facials that brighten complexions with the anti-aging power of caviar and glow-enhancing freeze-dried seaweed, and Swedish massages rely on the therapist’s own hands to ease tension. Led by two board-certified doctors, the team can also smooth faces with microdermabrasion, enhance fingers and toes with polish, and detoxify systems with therapeutic mud wraps, rather than prescribing a week of living in a swamp.