Beauty & Spas in Brooklyn

With vegan products and an all-natural skincare line, the staff at Shades of Red Day Spa hopes to perform the purest iteration of many traditional spa and salon services. Led by 20-year industry veteran and salon owner Karla Greene, the seven salon consultants continually update their education to stay abreast of beauty trends and share their knowledge with clients. Their specialties include hairstyling, cutting, and hair-color corrections for clients after bobbing for apples in a barrel of fruit punch. Before or after their treatments, patrons can relax in the waiting area, where floor-to-ceiling windows surround products in glass cases, dried-flower arrangements reaching toward towering ceilings, and sculptural lamps.

The expert staff at Sacred Hour doesn’t view spa services as treatments, but as rituals. As such, staffers take each facial, massage, and waxing service seriously, applying products imported from Italy amid the flickering glow of candles and the tranquil drips of tabletop fountains.

All members of the business crew support a local charity and pledge to give away 1% of their gross earnings. Sacred Hour also matches every dollar raised with bills that are exfoliated and massaged until wrinkle-free.

As its name implies, BienEstar Massage specializes in therapeutic bodywork. Each of the studio's massage therapists meets or exceeds state licensing requirements, leveraging textbook and hands-on education to mollify aches and pains. The specialists induce relaxation during Swedish massages, and unearth buried pains during deep-tissue sessions or archeological digs. Niche therapies include prenatal massage and Lipomassage. Aside from massage, the center revitalizes complexions and digits with a number of cosmetic and spa treatments for women, men, and displaced merpeople.

Three times a week, Just U Relax's owner and principal massage therapist paid a 90-minute visit to one of her favorite clients, an elderly Italian woman who could barely speak a word of English. One day after a visit, the woman's daughter called and asked the massage therapist if she could come back again right away, saying her mother was not doing well. She arrived and set to work massaging her client's body, much of which had collapsed inward from a previous stroke. But instead of seeing the usual results, such as the woman's hands relaxing for a short time before tightening back into a bound position, the massage therapist saw her client maintain her peaceful composure. Then, this elderly Italian woman who could speak little English, let alone speak at all due to the effects of her stroke and Alzheimer's disease, looked at her massage therapist and said with perfect clarity, "Thank you." The woman's daughter called later, saying her mother died that evening, and that she wanted to say thank you for giving her mother such comfort before she passed. It was that moment that made the massage therapist realize she knew she could help people.

Raised by a cardiologist, the future owner of Just U Relax and her brother made a pact to go to medical school together, but when she found herself disenchanted by clinical environments and desiring a more hands-on approach to patient care, she explored massage therapy. Today, she and her team of licensed massage therapists at Just U Relax assess posture, gait, and occupational stress to customize bodywork for each client. The staff sees to guests' comfort in a variety of ways, including giving visitors warm robes and plush slippers, using massage tables with triple-cotton-padded tops, and playing relaxing music as aromatherapy wafts between rooms. Therapists also offer clients snacks such as fruit smoothies and granola bars. Additionally, each therapist is required to undergo at least three hours of training each month to learn new massage techniques and stay sharp.

The staff of Chi Energy Spa take a holistic approach to nail- and skincare, providing each client with complimentary consultations and showering them with one-on-one attention and personalized advice. During facials, aestheticians cleanse pores of dirt, oil, and all traces of competitive pie-eating, then give clients skin-type specific tips for at-home care. Facial and body waxing services smooth skin and give patrons perfectly arched brows to complement their face shapes. Chi Energy Spa’s nail technicians pamper fingers and toes with softening paraffin dips and colorful layers of OPI and chip-resistant CND Shellac UV3 nail polish. Massage therapists ease muscle tension with relaxation massages, which are followed by an accompanying foot soak to refresh feet sore from always being on-the-go or from walking to work atop hot coals.

As its name implies, Salon 180 isn’t known for playing by the book. From its funky decor—a mélange of vintage accents and asymmetrical shapes—to a staff that prides itself on relentlessly pursuing continuing education, the full-service salon finds plenty of ways to subvert and exceed first-time customers’ expectations.

Though they have years of experience cutting and styling hair, the salon’s team of stylists claims particular expertise in chemical treatments such as corrective color procedures and highlights. In private treatment rooms, massage therapists ease tension with full-body Swedish techniques or targeted sessions that narrow their focus to sore pitching arms or stiff vestigial tails. Just as the stylists and therapists draw on professional products to enhance their treatments, the spa’s skin and body specialists use advanced toners and technologies such as radio frequency and light energy to stimulate collagen production and clear skin of blemishes.