Salons in Kansas City

At Island Tan’s three locations, clients can achieve an all-over bronze through the sunless medium of their choice. The staffers at all three spaces aid customers in choosing one of five levels of UV-tanning beds—including high-pressure and standup beds—and the accompanying lotions best suited to their skin types. Some locations boast UV-free tanning options in Mystic Tan booths or airbrush spray-tanning stations that darken hides with Norvell solutions. They also book red-light therapy sessions, which are designed to fade stretch marks and reduce fine lines formed from trying to win staring contests with the sun.

Licensed cosmetologist Melanie Milburn has two great loves in her life— her family and hairstyling. Drawing on a styling education received on Fifth Avenue in New York City, Milburn cultivates face-flattering manes with high-end products by brands such as L’Oréal, Redken, and Pureology. Clients can also solicit Melanie for color highlights or waxing services, or request her offsite cutting services for weddings or especially taxing flight delays.

The treatment menu at Sun Spa enables clients to select their preferred method of tanning from a roster that includes six levels of UV tanning beds and the UV-free VersaSpa system. Inside each of the five locations, Sun Spa's bronzing booths remain available 24 hours a day, presenting patrons with the opportunity to work around unorthodox schedules or warm up after bone-chilling nightmares. A selection of lotions by Australian Gold augments the effects of light-powered tanning excursions, and a storefront display of swimwear and handmade jewelry complement newly golden glows.

The style stalwarts at Supercuts have trimmed, toned, and honed the domes of hair-bearing hominids for decades. Walk-ins and waltz-ins are always welcome seven days a week at any of Supercuts' convenient locations. The experienced stylists can accommodate cuts ranging from quick, careful mop maintenance to a more buzzworthy beehive for hypnotizing local grizzlies. Each scissor-handed specialist will draw from a vat of experience, leveraging quality hair products from Paul Mitchell and others to infuse your filaments with a winsome glow and creative coiffure. Feel free to stockpile up to three Groupons to ensure a series of sure-fire cuts before snow-spooked wallets retreat into prolonged hibernation.

Hair Conditioner: Ticket to a Molecular Makeover

Your hair’s sure to feel silkier once your stylist conditions it—learn why with Groupon’s close-up look at conditioner.

Although human hair may look smooth, each strand's outer layer—the cuticle—is actually quite rough. Under dry conditions, the tiny scales that cover its surface become raised and brittle, causing hairs to tangle and lose their shine. Conditioner aims to correct this problem by bonding a particular class of molecules, called cationic surfactants, to the cuticle. This is possible because keratin, the protein that makes up most of the hair shaft, bristles with negative ions, which attract the positively charged surfactants, coating each thread in a thin film that weighs it down and reduces frizz. (The negative charge of keratin is also what causes static whenever positive ions are stripped from the hair—the static that makes it possible to stick a balloon to the wall or to power a miner's headlamp.)

The other ingredients in conditioner don't always need ions to do their jobs well. Humectants suck in water from the surrounding air, thereby moisturizing the hair, and oils simply penetrate the cuticle. Glossers coat the hair with light-reflecting polymers, increasing shine, whereas other ingredients raise the acidity level of the conditioner, which helps protect the hair's protein structure.

Dedicated to rejuvenating weary bodies, massage artist Pam hones her skills within a private room at Beauty Quest Salon & Spa. Pam soothes bodies aching from commuting to work by catapult via all manners of massage modalities, from full-body Swedish and deep-tissue massages to reflexology treatments. She also helps patrons deal with recurring maladies during pain-management sessions, and her energy- balancing treatments restore equilibrium to clients’ inner batteries.