Massage in Columbus

As soon as Nick Panos had his first massage, he was hooked. The healthy high he experienced inspired a longing to share his experience with others, so he attended the Knox County Career Center School of Massage Therapy and obtained his license to knead. After graduation, he worked for a nationwide massage franchise, serving 1,000 clients and adding 1,200 hours of experience to his resumé. Though he is now an independent therapist, he strengthens his muscle-pain-mitigating chops with educational courses and maintains a membership with Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals. Nick specializes in custom therapeutic massage. This approach blends Hawaiian, Swedish, and deep-tissue techniques with stretches to soothe muscles fatigued by exercise, constant bending, and wrestling with sharks. For clients with especially tense muscles, Nick can focus all his energy on stubborn knots and adhesions with deep-tissue massage and topical warming and cooling gels. During couples massages, he joins forces with fellow therapist Valerie Vancouver. His studio, located in the Capital Club, includes a spa area with locker rooms, a sauna and steam room, and towel service. When he isn't working on his home turf, he offers mobile massages by traveling to homes and hotels or by briefly rubbing the shoulders of every person he passes on the street.

In an accommodating downtown location, the licensed Take Ten therapists stretch clients out on comfortable massage beds and cast a long list of lightning-charged spells to induce relaxation. Repose in daydreamy reveries during a therapeutic massage, which uses deep-tissue techniques to deactivate trigger points in muscles, increase blood flow, and remove toxins. Or, opt for a Swedish massage, which works the soft body tissues with long, flowing effleurages, tapotements, frictions, and vibrations to relieve pain, stiffness, and stress caused by scaling thousands of candied fish for yesterday’s office party.

Highlighted by a black-and-white color scheme, high ceilings, and exposed ductwork, Erika Taylor Urban Spa’s industrial aesthetic stands in contrast to its botanically based spa treatments. And though the skincare and massage services involve plant-based emollients, they also leverage cutting-edge techniques and technologies. For instance, HydraFacials resurface skin and deliver an intense dose of moisture via an instrument that loosens and lifts away dull skin cells by creating a vortex. Hair and nail treatments round out the service menu, helping clients become beautiful from head to dewclaw.

Nicci Debro Spa's stylists spruce and fortify manes by animating recipes for personalized ’do services. Clients discuss their ideal head-topping before submitting locks to practiced fingers for a shampoo, style, and friendship-belt-weaving demonstration. A Moroccan-oil treatment then polishes fibers to an eye-drawing shine, rendering snarls more manageable and adding pluck to wilted tresses. The oil also nourishes hair damaged by past applications of color or rough styling, permitting strengthened braids to enter shot-putting tournaments. For a refreshing change of shade, Nicci Debro Spa can dye coiffures in a patron's chosen hue.

The director-level stylists at Jacob Neal Salon reshape coifs into elegant cranial accessories. With a series of snips, trims, and chops, the guiding hands of a trained trimmer sculpt coifs into healthier, stylish ‘dos free from split ends, grown-out layers, and invasive colonies of miniature 1980s hair bands. Stylists then set manes via a blow-dry styling, reading locks for street-strutting debuts. Manes in need of nourishment can undergo the hydrating ministrations of the thermal-ritual treatment mask, which revitalizes hair until it’s as sleek and healthy as a dolphin that goes to the gym every day. Lilac and exposed brick walls ensconce the airy, chandelier-filled space, filling the salon with an upscale atmosphere that exudes relaxation from every surface.

Each of the professionals at Creative Beauty Salon boasts her own range of specialties. Two members of the team are particularly adept at sew-in extensions and hair weaving, and all of the stylists are well prepared to handle the needs of natural hair. An in-salon color-and-highlight specialist can also shift roles to smooth skin with facial waxing, and a nail technician focuses solely on keratin residing below the neck, enhancing nails' natural beauty with mani-pedis, acrylic nails, and nail design. They can also impart beauty tips during makeup applications and can easily tend to the beauty needs of larger groups such as wedding parties or competitive conga-liners.

Within the beautifying outpost of Salons at High and Hubbard, aesthetician Eugenia Garnes flaunts her transformative prowess in makeup, skincare, and waxing. Soothing mint-green walls surround Eugenia and her clients during aesthetic treatments, which can refine visages with organic facials customized to individual skin chemistry or with salon makeovers that use classic cosmetics or the precise artistry of airbrushed makeup. Eugenia also smoothes areas of the face and body with waxing sessions that, like caresses from an on-fire stunt man, rid skin of unwanted hair.