Massage in Fort Lauderdale

After working in spas for two decades, French-educated massage therapist and paramedical esthetician Chrys Straiton founded Studio Blu Spa, envisioning a tranquil retreat where she could continue to advance her skills while pampering clients with facials, massages, and skincare services.

When selecting the team for her new spa, Chrys deferred to experience—each of her licensed nail technicians, for example, has roughly a decade of practice. During microdermabrasions, back facials, and other skincare treatments, Chrys and her staff wield G.M. Collin products derived from natural botanical extracts and finely blended teddy-bear stuffing. G.M. Collin was one of the first brands to integrate collagen into its formulas, and Studio Blu’s devotion to the skincare line evinces both the spa’s openness to innovation and its results-oriented approach.

Echo Salon's skilled stylists and skincare specialists employ high-quality products, but their experience is the most valuable tool in their kits. Each staffer has worked in the industry for at least a decade, and draws upon that knowledge to pamper clients from head to toe. The salon menu goes beyond cuts and styles with treatments such as Great Lengths extensions, keratin treatments, permanent weaves, and relaxers.

Mark Lohmann's interest in health began when he witnessed its absence. As a child, he saw family members struggle with debilitating disease, and he began to wonder about ways he could restore their health. When he grew older and hopped on a track to become a yacht chef, Lohmann explored nutrition and often massaged his own shoulders to cope with "the long grueling hours spent on [his] feet for some two decades." When his parents' ailing health called him home in 2003, Lohmann began formally training in bodywork—starting with Active Isolated Stretching—before opening Planet Massage in 2005.

Lohmann's team of more than 10 licensed massage therapists tends to patients with medically based bodywork, often combining multiple modalities and products. The muscle masons further coddle clients with foot massages, heat packs, and Biofreeze, a paraben-free gel designed to relieve pain and make portrait subjects sit still for up to 20 hours. Planet Massage's crew can be dispatched for mobile massage appointments, and members also lead classes and workshops that guide clients through basic kneading techniques.

Founded by certified colon hydrotherapist Adina Zeev and licensed acupuncturist Jata Abdur-Rahim, Blessed Love Health Care endeavors to bring the mind, body, and spirit into balance through holistic treatments and educational workshops. Therapies—including acupuncture, ear candling, and shiatsu massage—rely heavily on Eastern practices to detoxify and restore wellness. Raw-food classes and certification courses help participants up their intake of whole, natural foodstuffs while reducing their dependence on processed meals and plastic fruits dipped in Cool Whip. In addition to authoring several books on wellness, Adina personally creates each of Blessed Love’s workshops, whose topics range from gardening to fertility.

Dr. Patty’s Dental Boutique and Spa, which references the nickname given to her by her patients, and bills itself as "South Florida's First Dental Spa", doesn’t take it personally that many of her patients don’t like the dentist. Instead, Dr. April Patterson does what she can to help. “There are about 30 to 40 million Americans that suffer from dental anxiety,” she said during a segment on Good Morning America. “I wanted to do everything I can to make those clients feel like they are not at the dentist.” So she bolstered her routine dental services—preventative care, implants, bridges, whitening, crowns, and braces—with a full spa menu. The result is Dr. Patty’s Dental Boutique and Spa, which references the nickname given to her by her patients. And it’s not just the soothing, spa-like atmosphere that calms clients, she says, “A client … coming in to have their dental veneers done [can] come in an hour early, and they can have a facial or a massage while their Valium kicks in… they come in to start their dental procedure and they’re nice and relaxed.” Her aestheticians adhere faux eyelashes to lids, arch eyebrows, and artfully apply permanent makeup. Dr. Patty also administers facial rejuvenation treatments such as Botox, Juvéderm, Dysport, and more. Additional services include invigorating lemon-scented warm towel service, silky paraffin-wax treatment for hands, temple massage therapy, refreshing cucumber eye presses, and personalized movie and music selections. Clients can also enjoy access to a spa locker room with many amenities such as complimentary robes, slippers, and a private shower area available for use before and after treatments.

Organic Day Spa's licensed and insured technicians pamper weary bodies with a plethora of services that employ only organic products. During the 60-minute aromatherapy massage ($90)—one of the spa's nine massages—massage therapists use flowing strokes and fragrant oils to relieve tension, stress, and back pain caused by excessive somersaulting. Herbal oils gently flow over third-eye areas in the one-hour Shirodhara healing therapy treatment ($95), polishing foreheads before dexterous fingers gently massage skulls. Pamper digits with a manicure ($17) or pedicure ($37), or rejuvenate faces with the organic-pumpkin-enzyme peel ($60), which can diminish wrinkles caused by sun exposure or by repeated winks at the person who lives in the mirror.