Fairmount, NY Spa and Massage

Floor-to-ceiling windows spill sunlight across Liz Lanza’s contemporary salon, splashing golden rays over high-vaulted ceilings and the sleek track lighting that takes its place once the sun goes down. The day-spa area provides a tranquil retreat where clients can disappear for a focused energy treatment such as the Amethyst quartz-covered Biomat surface, which emits healing far-infrared rays and negative ions that scare ailments away with pessimistic comments on life. Spa-goers can also slide beneath the white linens of a treatment bed as an aesthetician coaxes radiant skin to the surface with traditional European facials and technologically enhanced treatments including Bio-Ultimate Facelift, a combination of microcurrent’s low level energy and the collagen-stimulating infrared rays of an LED photofacial rejuvenation treatment.

From their perch near Syracuse University, Studio FX’s team of hairstylists, nail artists, and wax technicians have beautified locals for more than 35 years. Their specialty hair services include highlights, hair extensions, updos, and Brazilian blowouts, which leave hair sleeker and more manageable for up to five months. Apart from hair, they paint nails, apply make-up, wax, and lengthen eyelashes with extensions.

Spa on the River's menu of Old World Italian–themed services are inspired by owner Judith Santimaw's world travels, which have included stops in Rome, Milan, Tokyo, and Singapore. Her cross-country and international journeys uncover the latest spa treatments and techniques, ranging from raindrop therapy with essential oils to Roman-style "Sistine Chapel" paraffin treatments that leave hands soft and free from paint chips. Santimaw shares her discoveries not only with her team of aestheticians, stylists, and massage therapists, but also with students at the Phillips Hairstyling Institute, where she earned professional degrees in nail specialty and cosmetology.

Guests can relax into salon stations or pedicure thrones flanked by Romanesque statues as the soothing sound of water comes from a lion-faced fountain inside and the Seneca River outside. Behind them, a full-wall mural depicts a lush garden scene complete with a grandiose fountain. Clients dry newly painted nails by the fireplace or head to the dock behind the spa to give any lingering stress a Viking funeral.

Organic skincare products feature prominently in Fountain of Youth Skin & Nail Spa's assortment of beauty treatments. Nina Butera, a licensed aesthetician and nail technician, leverages organic, medical-grade skincare products to draw out dormant skin tones and treat conditions ranging from rosacea to acne. She also helps her clients ward off unwanted body hair with waxing services, and she slathers digits in Zoya and shellac polishes to protect nails from being chipped by disoriented golfers.