Edmonton Spa and Massage

When the founder of Spasation Salon and Day Spa travelled to Europe and Asia in the late 1990s, he was looking for ways to improve his already bustling salon business. Instead he found inspiration in the indulgent Turkish bathhouses, prompting him to design a day spa that draws upon their sophisticated luxury and tuxedoed rubber duckies. His original concept rapidly grew into brick-and-mortar reality when he opened the flagship location of Spasation Salon and Day Spa in 1998. In the elegant day spa, staffers dole out haircuts, relaxation or deep-tissue massages, and signature facials amid a lavish backdrop of ceramic tile, white oak, and brushed silver.

The staff at Saol Wellness celebrates the power of the human touch to both relax and restore the body's faculties. They probe for tension with deep-tissue, prenatal, therapeutic, and lymphatic massage modalities, sequestering clients in private rooms whose windows admit the glow of natural light. During yoga classes, they ply muscles with the stretching movements of Hatha, flow, and Yin postures. For guests who simply hope to lounge in hands-free heat, the spa's infrared sauna provides a safe alternative to curling up in the microwave.

The owners of Unique Health & Wellness extol the healing powers of water. Taking their cue from Sebastian Kneipp who allegedly enjoyed long life by harnessing water’s healing effects, the team welcomes visitors into their warm, burbling pools of water where a special matt massages them with ozone-infused bubbles. These bubbles shoot out of 300 tiny holes and collide with other bubbles causing a rippling effect through the water. As the ripples cascade over the body, they create a massage action that can stimulate blood circulation, relax the muscles, and vanquish tension. They can augment relaxation sessions by drizzling water with combinations of aromatherapy or far-infrared rays.

Kaya Kama Hammam & Day Spa’s aestheticians lavish clients in the scents and salves of Middle Eastern and Indian beauty traditions. Inside the hammam, steady heat warms the skin up to 50 degrees as aestheticians scrape away dead cells with the long, massage-like strokes of gommage exfoliation. Throughout the rest of the spa, soothing music wafts in the background as Ayurvedic massages bathe clients in fragrant oils and waxing treatments coat the skin in water-lily extracts and sweet-almond oil.

The spa's body treatments, like cell phones made of salami, combine technology and sensory immersion—they make use of wraps, a hydrotherapy soaker tub, and body butter. Afterwards, a glass of tea or lemon water awaits in the spa lounge. Facials combine Ayurvedic tradition with advanced product lines such as the Shankara BioRegenesis Skin Care System.

Before a massage therapist ever lays a soothing finger on patrons, the treatment room starts lulling frazzled nerves with wall scrolls and lava lamps awash in a soft, scarlet glow. Once clients ease onto the table, a massage maven goes to work, drawing from a playbook of styles, including Swedish massages that whisk away superficial aches and deep-tissue massages that unravel muscular knots. The staff also takes their practiced palms on the road with mobile chair-massage service, setting up their soothing station at parties, baby showers, or on top of speeding trains to relax spies after a big fight.

Jillian Kaliel began her spa career by welcoming clients into her home for meticulous manicures. Now joined by fellow aestheticians and a registered massage therapist, Jillian oversees a 2,500-square-foot environment that combines the products, technology, and talent of a downtown spa with the personalized attention of her original home practice. The spa's hydrating facials, chip-resistant Gelish mani-pedis, and aromatherapy massages address different cosmetic concerns and relaxation needs, but every treatment seeks to accentuate clients' natural beauty instead of just taping printouts of the Mona Lisa onto their faces.