Cheektowaga, NY Spa and Massage

Licensed therapist Shannon Booth draws inspiration from homeopathic modalities to help bodies naturally heal from injuries and aches. Shannon tailors each massage to clients' requests, modifying pressure and targeting specific areas to eradicate pent-up tension and rivalries between kneecaps. The therapeutic kneading is designed to naturally vanquish a wide array of ailments, such as chronic pain, headaches, and muscles spasms. Inside Shannon's private massage room, tranquil music and aromatherapy scents cultivate a deeply relaxing ambiance as guests rest atop a heated table, which infuses warmth into sore musculature and helps method actors prepare for upcoming roles as flapjacks.

At White Lotus Therapeutic Massage, licensed massage therapist Alexander Huber Sciolino draws from different modalities to customize each treatment to his clients' liking. With help from fellow therapist Kelly Zywiczynski Giles, Alexander works with clients on either table or chair to address issues such as anxiety, chronic pain, or sports injuries acquired vicariously through the TV.

Clients dictate the particulars of each session, deciding whether the massage therapist uses scented oils, puts on music, and sings the high or low harmony to "Amazing Grace." Therapists follow proper draping protocols to put clients at ease as they apply light pressure, deep strokes, and hot stones to ailing muscles.

Pink walls, tiaras, and rows of frilly white dresses just waiting to be worn. It’s a dream come true for some children, but it wasn’t always the dream of Little Diva’s Day Spa owner Debi Lamparelli, a beauty-industry veteran who credits her niece with the idea for the kids-focused salon in an article from WNY Woman. Soon, though, she found herself as enthralled by the idea as her pintsize patrons, telling WNY reporter Ashley Johnson, “I love children and would love to celebrate a special time in their lives. I love dressing girls up and making them feel like divas.”

The love of dress up is apparent from the moment customers enter the pink-striped salon, where rows of girls aged 2–13 can be found relaxing against candy-colored overstuffed pillows as aestheticians trim and paint nails and accentuate already rosy cheeks with gentle swipes of a makeup brush. Debi and her staff take the idea of royal treatment literally, providing snowy-white princess gowns and sparkling tiaras that their pintsize customers may don to emulate their favorite Disney character or eccentric mayor. The salon also hosts spa–themed birthday parties for up to 12 girls, pampering party guests with age-appropriate indulgences such as facials, pedicures, cupcakes, and sliced cucumbers for each set of eyes.

Green Spa Holistic Bodywork's staff puts equal emphasis on traditional Western spa treatments and more alternative, holistic services that blend energy work with massage. The spa services include six massage modalities including shiatsu, Swedish, and Thai massage styles. Other body treatments employ herbal mud and organic sugar scrubs to tone, detoxify, and candy skin. Registered nurse Joei Marie Lucey helms the holistic branch of services, using medical know-how alongside her belief that "the body can heal itself," she says. In addition to energy therapies and nutritional counseling, the nurse can recommend organic beauty products and organic Vemma supplements to clients for what she calls "beauty from the inside."