Amesbury, MA Spa and Massage

At G. Skin Therapy, licensed clinical aesthetician and professional television makeup artist Glenda Engelbach uses advanced technology and clinical-grade products to beautify skin. After receiving a degree from the Catherine Hinds Institute of Esthetics, Engelbach went on to complete post-graduate certification at the renowned International Dermal Institute. She is also certified in a number of innovative facial techniques, such as dermaplaning, and in the use of therapeutic and organic lines that include PCA Skin and Dr. Hauschka Skin Care. This combination of expertise in high-quality methods and products helped her earn recognition on Applaud Women magazine's 2011 Readers' Choice awards in the Best Facial category.

Engelbach employs the Trios intense-pulsed-light system to rejuvenate skin, remove hair, and clear complexions of acne. She also addresses skin concerns such as rosacea, age spots, and wrinkles, as well as sun damage caused by literally living under a magnifying glass.

Though massage can pamper and relax, Helena Hughes knows it can also heal. The owner and massage therapist at Pax Massage has believed in the power of touch ever since it brought peace to her terminally ill grandmother and her grieving mother. Massage provided her grandmother an hour to herself every week and raised her spirits. For her mother, “it was more of an emotional thing, of someone taking care of her for that hour.” After her grandmother passed way, Hughes returned to her job in PR but couldn’t muster much enthusiasm. “I kept going back to [the fact] that my grandmother and mother were able to get through this time with the help of a healing touch.” So, with the encouragement of her husband, Hughes decided to switch careers.

While her spa was being built, she took night-school classes in massage therapy and energy work. Now, she specializes in helping clients “who are going through a significant loss,” just as another therapist once helped her own family. Hughes observes that when people go through loss, they accrue tension in their neck and shoulders, which can lead to injuries and discomfort. “What I preach to all my clients is that it’s a choice to be in good health and to feel well, and I think that massage is very powerful in doing that [for them],” she says. Hughes joins nine other massage therapists and an aesthetician to offer healing massages and skincare services with Biotone products. Clients can request male or female massage therapists.

Licensed massage therapist Victoria Wintersteen breaks down knots and tension with a full menu of massage techniques. Before kneading and mollifying muscles and clearing minds of stressful launch codes, Victoria consults with clients and helps them select from such modalities as deep tissue, Swedish, and reflexology. Victoria customizes strokes to accommodate individual body types as she glides her soothing strokes through high-quality lotions and massage oils, leaving backs more relaxed than a weeping willow in a hot tub.

For $30, today's Groupon gets you a revitalizing facial or deluxe mani-pedi at the new Spa de Mar (a $100 value), located at 50 Ferncroft Rd. in Danvers. Though Spa de Mar's in a perfect location for northern sububanites, city dwellers will need to take a calming drive through the pastoral Massachusetts countryside (well worth it for this deal). If you've got friends in the area, alert them via skywriting, air horn, or carrier pigeon that today's deal gets them a whopping 70% off a relaxing spa treatment. After all, a mani-pedi is even better when you make a girls' outing of it.

Whichever massage you choose, you can flop onto the table assured that Spirit's licensed massage therapist will treat your pain like an uncompromising karate master treats conveniently placed wooden boards: by gently applying lotions and veneers and lovingly buffing out the knots. Swedish massage uses a light to medium touch to scootch tension from your muscles and restore proper lymphatic flow throughout your body. Deep-tissue technique uses acute pressure on specific trigger points to release tautness and dig out embedded lugnuts. The fragrant oils of a pre/postnatal massage soothe the aches and pains of a baby-hefting body, while aromatherapy calls to action the piquant elements of nature—thyme, eucalyptus, frankincense, and chowder—to balm both mind and body.

Although Maria Lekkakos still possesses the beauty that helped her earn the Miss Massachusetts USA title in 2004, she's far from intimidating—Stuff Magazine calls her "chatty" and "down-to-earth." The outgoing celebrity aesthetician spends her days running a salon and spa that features an ambitious lineup of services. Voted Best Facial of 2010 by Northshore magazine, each facial treatment comes with a skin consultation from a knowledgeable aesthetician, a blend of marine botanicals from Thalgo, and a chorus of "oohs" from wrinkly Ronald Reagan masks. Maria's ability to return skin to glowing youthfulness has drawn attention from Boston Common Magazine_ and a large celebrity clientele that includes Salma Hayek, Leslie Bibb, Rosario Dawson, Brooke Shields and Maria Bello.