Beauty & Spas in Halifax

When Rosanne Balsom started emOcean, it was little more than a murky saltwater pool. Today, that crystal-clear swimming hole is the focal point among myriad spa and health services, ranging from massage and cosmetics to physiotherapy and podiatry. Adjacent to glass-fronted infrared saunas, aromatherapy steam showers reinvigorate the senses with warm mist, revitalizing scents, and the lilting giggles of complimentary fairies. Whether feeding guests or powdering recently exfoliated cheeks, the spa’s team keeps an eye on sustainability, using organic cotton robes, locally sourced Laughing Whale Coffee, and soy-based body scrubs.

Robert's Hair Studio’s master stylist Robert Samson—a champion of eco-friendly, holistic beauty practices—has been honing his passion for colourful, unique hairstyles since he opened his first salon in Newfoundland in 2003. Since relocating his practice to Lower Sackville, Robert and his affable crew of coiffeurs work to gussy up locks with a variety of salon services customized according to each patron’s personal features, style, and legible thought bubbles. The staff lathers tresses in the sulfate-free suds of Pureology products and highlight strands with L'Oréal Professionnel’s ammonia-free INOA colour. Within the studio’s deep-purple walls, hair hewers station themselves at quirky dressers and embellish men’s heads with cap highlights or flatten ladies' curls with X-Tenso hair-straightening treatments that enable smooth ascents for fairytale princes.

The CAS Spa & Salon combines professional product lines with the efforts of a dedicated team that includes a registered nurse, a registered massage therapist, and a hair stylist with more than 35 years in the field. Its comprehensive menu of services trims and polishes clients from head to toe, with options including haircuts and color, facials, Botox and Juvederm treatments, mani-pedis, and waxing services using both hard and soft formulas. For more permanent hair removal, a registered nurse performs follicle-zapping treatments with a medical-grade laser that produce perpetually smooth results. The CAS elevates its treatments with professional potions, such as hair products from Redken and nail polishes from SpaRitual and Zoya. The facility also infuses epidermises with formulas from its proprietary skincare line, which, like making a baby crawl laps around the backyard, aims to induce a youthful glow.

Crystal Saulnier](http://gr.pn/GHvbcV) can trace her passion for entrepreneurship back to childhood, when she played store and set up imaginary businesses with her friends. Now that she’s moved past games, she operates SunMe Swimsuit Spa, a retail-spa hybrid. There, she and her staff ready clients for vacation—or make them look like they’ve just returned from an exotic locale. Airbrush artists spray on a custom bronze tan that accentuates each body’s curves or camouflages its suctioned tentacles, and nail technicians polish finger- and toenails after softening skin with warm hand and foot soaks.

After treatments, clients can flip through the racks at SunMe Swimsuit Spa’s swimwear boutique, where fitting experts help customers sizes 6–24 pick out an ensemble for a staycation that includes running through a neighbour’s sprinkler.

"From fingers to toes, the polish, it goes," reads the home page of Cutiecalls' website. It's apt phrasing for the salon, where nails reign supreme and polishes are selected for both their cosmetic beauty and lasting strength. Take, for example, CND's Shellac—the UV-cured lacquer yields a glass-like finish that resists chipping for up to 14 days. Alternatively, LCN gel nails come in classic white and pink colours or bearing sparkles and nail art. In addition to enhancing nails, the salon's beauty pros groom brows and make the journey to bridal parties and nail-biting overtime hockey games—polish and files in hand—to perform on-site manicures and pedicures.