Lents, OR Spa and Massage

Instead of letting fear take root as her body became entangled with cancer, Pat Johnson commissioned the team of healers and practitioners she met along her recovery journey to breathe life into a holistic spa and wellness center where she hopes "to help people find the best within themselves." To that end, naturopathic physician Dr. Vida Talebi dispenses advice on overcoming fatigue, hormonal imbalances, and obesity, and chiropractor Dr. Stefan Herold addresses the chronic pain that results from giving piggyback rides to lazy shadows. Since wellness isn't just about avoiding physical pain, the center also holds daily yoga classes that foster inner peace. Natural therapies dominate the center's spa treatments, which include facials that extract epidermal soil with handmade Éminence organic skincare products, crafted from fresh herbs and fruits.

While protecting the beauty of their clients, Spa Willamina also protects their skin and the environment by using pure, plant-based, natural products. Willow Light, the owner, puts her 20 years of healing experience to work in the spa, which features towering plants, an exposed-brick fireplace, and hardwood floors that can be pried up and thrown into the fireplace if necessary. Willow’s staff is a small army of aestheticians and massage therapists who have skills as diverse as certified diet counseling and herbalism. Inside various tranquil spaces—including a shower room, foot-soaking room, and nap room—they work to exfoliate body surfaces, knead out tension, and remove unwanted hair with soft strip and Cirepil Blue hard wax.

Bohemian Massage & Bodywork's featured massage therapist, Valerie Kelly, honed her craft at chiropractic offices, spas, and sports-treatment facilities for years. This diversity has helped Valerie develop a signature massage style that fuses therapeutic care with spa-like pampering. Her roster includes clinical treatments, such as therapeutic massages to help rehabilitate after auto accidents and sports-related barroom brawls. She can also perform lavish seaweed wraps and sugar and salt body scrubs. As a trained doula, she has the know-how to help ease pregnancy woes with labor and birth massages or memorialize the experience with plaster belly casts of expectant mothers.

Despite her success as a salon owner and television makeup artist, Jennifer Stoloff left her native South Africa in 1982 for the States. Fortunately, the aesthetician’s talents weren’t just revered on the opposite side of the globe; she picked up right where she left off with the creation of her own skincare line and Jennifer’s Spa, located inside the Bob Shop Salon. Today, Jennifer offers clients a multitude of facials packed with soothing ingredients, such as goji berry, pomegranate, and red, green, and white teas. She has even devised a few specialty treatments, including a postsurgery service that soothes swelling and redness. Beyond pampering complexions, Jennifer also waxes limbs and bikini lines and sells her full line of original products, including scrubs, healing masks, and acne medications.

A wildly successful alternative to traditional day spas—its more than 300 locations blanket 36 states and half a dozen countries—Planet Beach Contempo Spa is a futuristic relaxation station where state-of-the-art machines administer all the spa and tanning services. These friendly automatons sometimes replace familiar treatments, as in the Luminous facial, a light-based service that delivers blemish-busting results similar to those of a conventional facial. But other equipment maps out new spa territory entirely: the Hydro-Derma Fusion chamber moisturizes the whole body with nutrient-rich steam in order to offset the effects of a dry climate or a rear-end collision with a salt truck. Other machines whiten teeth, spray tan skin, and massage muscles. Helpful assistants are always on hand to demonstrate how to use the equipment without activating its ability to cry.