Mauldin, SC Spa and Massage

For more than 20 years, licensed massage therapist Carol Williams has combined her healing touch with her knowledge of human anatomy to design therapeutic, personalized massage treatments. In the Carolina Plastic Surgery Medical Spa's tranquil facility, where she has worked since 1993, Williams eases aches and pains with hot-stone massage, reflexology, deep-tissue massage, and stress-reduction-massage techniques. Carol also assembles natural skincare and massage products, such as Celtic Sea bath salts and body butters, into gift packs or potato toppers.

At Athens Salon & Day Spa, master aesthetician Nazy and master cosmetologist Mary boast nearly 60 years of combined experience in the arts of client pampering and beautification. Nazy immigrated to the United States from the Middle East in 1989, bringing along her knowledge of khite, or threading, which extracts hair with cotton thread while stimulating blood flow to the skin. During facials and skin treatments, Nazy spritzes dermises with organic Éminence skincare products designed to prevent skin irritation without the harsh chemicals or lumberjack beards found in other brands. Mary’s mastery of retexturing hair and her soft perm technique pump limp strands full of robust volume, simplifying styling regimens with wash-and-wear maintenance.

Body Horizons' staff has mastered more than a dozen massage modalities that draw from both Eastern and Western approaches to bodywork. By performing everything from basic Swedish massages to qi-gong and seated Thai massage, the staff can relieve the chronic bodily pain of sore muscles. Because the center also offers mobile massage service, the staff can deliver relaxation and reinvigoration at special events, fundraisers, and other offsite locations.

Sharlee’s Salon & Spa’s staff draws on an impressive pool of experience to pamper skin, hair, and weary muscles; among the standouts, Sharlan Oakley recently loaned her skills to the hit television show Split Ends, and fellow stylist Gayla Oakley once ran a salon of her own. While guests help themselves to complimentary snacks and beverages, Sharlan, Gayla, and the rest of the styling team devise ways to treat tangled strands with professional Goldwell, Fudge for Hair, and Schwarzkopf products.

Across the salon floor, spa technicians brush nails with chip-resistant Shellac polish, lavish skin with facials, and extend lashes to facilitate more dramatic winking. In private treatment rooms that seem a world away from the lively bustle of the salon floor, massage therapists employ Swedish or deep-tissue strokes and hot stones to alleviate soreness and stress from commuting to work via swinging ropes.

Bright-red salon chairs greet visitors to Studio Seventy-Two Salon, welcoming them to take a seat with their bright-silver arms. Above them, ruby-colored pendant lights hang from the ceiling, shedding light on staffers who create chic dos all day. At these stations, stylists use professional products to deep-condition hair, snip personalized cuts, add in highlights, or change up clients' existing hair colors to match the hair of their stunt doubles.

Carl Cortes—who grew up in Hawaii and studied and practiced massage therapy for more than two decades in North Carolina—has literally spanned oceans to bring patients his healing touch. Cortes doles out massage and bodywork sessions in secluded rooms, where clients can unwind to faint background music and rest on a cozy massage table. He strives to mend rigid muscles throughout the body, from back pain acquired from tossing and turning at night to neck strain acquired from preferring a front-row seat at the movie theater. In addition to alleviating many chronic ailments with the power of massage, Cortes also practices alternative holistic therapies, such as The LifeLine Technique, which focuses on using the subconscious mind to heal the body.