Clive, IA Spa and Massage

Sun streams through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the B2B Salon’s storefront, flooding sleek black hair stations and hardwood floors with light. Inside, experienced stylists discipline the manes of adults and kids, highlight locks, and create chic updos. Additionally, spa facials and waxing services leave skin smooth and refreshed. After hair appointments, clients can also bring home products from brands such as Rusk, American Crew, and Redken upkeep their new look or make over a favorite teddy bear.

Planet Beach is a futuristic relaxation station where state-of-the-art machines administer all the spa and tanning services. These friendly automatons facilitate everything from hydro-massages and oxygen therapy to spray tanning and luminous facials. Each machine is designed for a specific service, which makes it the ultimate expert and keeps it from developing the ability to cry. Planet Beach operates on a gym-style membership system, meaning that members pay for packages or flat monthly rates. A staff of helpful spa assistants is always on hand to answer questions, help first-timers use the machines, and keep things safe and comfortable. Call ahead to make appointments; services are subject to availability.

Nestled in the heart of Des Moines’ revitalized Ingersoll district, Axis Salon & Day Spa unites a range of beauty specialists under one roof. Within the tranquil facility, the hair salon’s stylists, colorists, and extensions experts brush elbows with massage therapists, aestheticians, and permanent-makeup artists from the day spa, which pampers guests with facials, waxing, and nail services. Axis also schedules free hair-restoration consultations for customers in partnership with the Reese Hair Restoration center, which is home to the only Iowa physician certified by the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery. Further beautifying their patrons, the salon stocks Rusk products so they can achieve lustrous hair or give the cat a mohawk at home.

It took Misty Hansen some time to discover her calling—she spent a number of years working various customer-service jobs—but in 2007 she discovered how to make the most of her innate abilities. During that year, she completed massage school, became a licensed massage therapist, and opened Massages By Misty, named the Best Day Spa, Best Massage Therapist, and Best Business in Norwalk by the Indianola Record Herald in 2012. Since day one, she's been happily busy treating an array of clients, some of them referred by chiropractors. As a survivor of multiple car accidents throughout her life, she knows massage therapy's effectiveness in relieving people of pain and helping them recover from stress and injury.

Massages By Misty's treatment room features a heated massage table draped with luxurious sheets where guests enjoy treatments ranging from ancient Asian ashiatsu massages to rejuvenating body wraps. Misty asks clients to fill out a questionnaire so she can customize each session to focus on problem regions and avoid jacket pockets full of loose change.

At Headley & Crawford Salon & Spa—both a Lanza and Comfort Zone concept spa—an emphasis on personalized care underscores the expansive menu of beauty treatments. Take, for instance, the facials and chemical peels, which begin with a consultation and skin analysis to identify and brainstorm a treatment plan for problems such as blemishes or pores clogged with dead leaves. And the massage treatments are all prefaced by a postural assessment with the therapist to determine which modality is best suited to the client's body or relaxation needs. The meticulous attention to detail extends to the salon side of the business as well, where an emphasis on hygienic practices sees nail technicians sending clients home with single-use files and polishes and stylists sending freshly styled strands home perched atop the same head they came in on.

Licensed massage therapist Ashley Roen draws on a degree from the Body Wisdom Massage Therapy School to send calming ripples across clients’ stiff muscle ponds. To ensure that each treatment is tailored to do the most good, Roen asks that clients vocalize their needs or that muscles simply twitch incessantly in the desired treatment area. She draws on modalities such as long, Swedish flowing strokes or reflexology to ease tension, whereas more deep-tissue techniques access lower-layer connective tissues. Roen’s signature two-person massage is ideal for loving couples or superhero-villain duos who've decided to let bygones be bygones.