Beauty & Spas in Gatineau

• For $35, you get a five-class card (a $75 value). • For $50, you get one month of unlimited yoga or tai-chi classes (a $135 value).

Elite Laser Clinic's licensed laser technicians assuage wrinkles, sunspots, and facial veins with advanced healing treatments. Each non-invasive facial commences with a consultation to determine each client's personal skin concerns, including loss of skin tone, spider veins, or the sudden appearance of temporary bull's-eye tattoos. A skin rejuvenation treatment revives glows by clarifying texture, strengthening elastins, and firming collagen, and spider veins and facial telangiectasias diminish during a laser vein removal free from general anesthesia. For sun damage or liver spots, a pigmentation lesion eradication session restores colour and youthfulness to visages without having to master the stick-shift on manual time machines. Each treatment harnesses the gentle wavelengths emanating from an Apogee Elite laser to remedy skin during sequential, 15- to 30-minute procedures. The pigmentation treatments are not effective for those with dark skin tones.

Spa Médical Medina offers nailcare, waxing, massage, and skincare in a clean and inviting studio space. The staff dotes upon each client with one-on-one attention, regardless of whether they’re administering a french mani-pedi, a customized aromatherapy facial, or a bikini wax. To align inner and outer beauty, therapists also perform relaxation and hot-stone massages.

As a massage therapist, waxing technician, and aesthetician, Daniel Francoeur knows a lot about skincare. But it wasn't until his male clientele grew substantially at his previous spa that he took notice of the demographic’s lack of aesthetic products, let alone services geared toward it. It was with this epiphany that Daniel went on to establish the first Bodé Spa for Men in Ottawa, followed by a med spa–focused location in Toronto in 2012. Since then both spaces have gained praise from a host of media outlets, including Toro Magazine, Spa Life Magazine Escapes, and CTV Morning Live Ottawa, where Daniel explain why male-centric services are necessary. "We produce about 30 to 40 per cent more oil than women do, so we have a lot more issues when it comes to things like [acne],” he said. “We have to be careful even with waxing and manscaping, how our bodies react afterwards."

The only thing gritty and rough at Bodé's Ottawa location are the unfinished concrete walls that wrap around the spacious spa. This coarse, earthy element, complemented by a robust fireplace and metal accents, gives the space a refined yet manly feel as highly trained technicians pamper gentlemen inside private treatment rooms. The hydro room—described by clients as a "rainforest grotto"—fosters relaxation as a registered massage therapist or massage practitioner eases tension and knots from bodies with a custom massage. Masculine tranquility is also found in a tailored foot and hand fixes, full-body hair removal using waxing and sugaring, and specialized skincare treatments, which offer exfoliation via chemical peels.

Metta Massage & Yoga Clinic's team of massage therapists, holistic practitioners, and yoga instructors strives to improve clients’ overall wellness through a combination of engaging classes and therapeutic massage. The expert yogis help students of all levels stretch out points of tension while increasing strength and flexibility within the sunny clinic's vibrant red walls accented by billowy curtains. Each instructor works with clients, customizing therapy sessions to best improve their range of movement, strength, and ability to imitate the shape of various balloon animals. To relieve sore muscles and chronic pain, the massage therapists dissolve aches with multiple modalities of massage such as the expertly placed pressure of deep-tissue massage and Thai Massage Practitioners perform the body-and-mind-soothing strokes of Thai massage.

Vivianna Sigurdson started in the beauty industry more than 30 years ago, and for the last 13 years she has channelled her burgeoning body of knowledge into building a brand. In the spa, aestheticians and registered massage therapists also draw upon a host of other earthy elixirs. Herbal wraps and brown-sugar scrubs nourish weathered bodies, and minerals and essential oils infuse warm soaks during manicures and pedicures. Cushy seating throughout the spa enables patrons to sip a beverage and catch up with their laps before continuing into a hot-stone massage or one of 11 facial treatments.