Menlo Park, CA Spa and Massage

Owner Teri Lynne Crandall combines her decades of industry experience with the skills of aestheticians Dayna Raeside and Kaitlin McCoy and certified massage therapists Cody Lam, Indra Castillo, and Stephanie Pedro to help clients to pamper and beautify their bodies. With its Asian–inspired art, Serenity Day Spa provides a relaxing atmosphere where guests can enjoy services ranging from deep pore-cleansing facials to reflexology massages to permanent makeup applications. The spa's exclusive selection of products, including those from Jan Marini Skin Research, Pevonia Botanica, and Image Skincare, leaves faces immaculate enough to infiltrate even the highest-security porcelain-doll factories.

Licensed aesthetician and Bay Area–native Barbara Zaller didn’t always know massage therapy was her calling. After beginning her career as a dental assistant, then taking time off to raise her son, Barbara entered the professional fray once more. From her outpost at Michele’s Hair Care, Barbara pampers clients with facials, [customized [peels](http://bit.ly/PPpoEY), professional teeth whitening, massage therapy, and skin therapy. She swathes faces in luxe products from brands such as Dermalogica and DermaQuest, which she uses to treat acne, rosacea, and damaged skin. Her dexterous fingers ease stress from muscles during Swedish, shiatsu, deep-tissue, and sports [massage](http://bit.ly/NPolRA). She performs specific body work on areas more annoying than a little sister’s obsession with megaphones and complimenting people's work ethics.

Shamrock Day Spa renders a range of spa services including massage, facials, and waxing. Professional massage therapists can conduct shiatsu, deep-tissue, and Swedish massages to work out muscle aches and pains. They can also elicit an overpowering wave of relaxation with a hot-stone treatment or an aromatherapy treatment designed to smell like hot stones. Their facials clear dirt from the skin with whitening, acne-fighting, or hydrating effects; waxing services strip hair from the arms, legs, and face with minimal discomfort.

For more than nine years, certified massage therapist Michelle has trained her hands to seek out soreness and tension buried deep within clients’ musculature. She uses carefully practiced techniques, such as the luxuriating strokes of Swedish massage, the circulation-stimulating manipulations of lymphatic-drainage massage, and the closed-fist raps that bring unclaimed wishes within your grasp. Add-ons such as heated river rocks, skin-nourishing salt glows, and foot soaks enhance her massage sessions, delivered as clients stretch out under a plush comforter in a room imbued with the warm, soft glow of a jar of fireflies.

The stylists at Natural Look Salon & Spa go beyond making clients look good—they help clients create a style all their own. And if their work isn't good enough, the stylists will redo it for free or refund clients' money. Before each service, stylists consult extensively with their clients to learn about their individual beauty desires and daily style habits. Stylists then craft custom, fashion-forward cuts by calling on their considerable training and on skills picked up at ongoing education programs in the salon and around the country. To help maintain the new 'do, guests can sign up to get periodic reminders about when to schedule follow-up appointments and avoid an awkward length in between pixie and Rapunzel. The strand-focused salon also acknowledges that image isn't all about hair—much like Mr. Clean's online dating profile, the salon's in-house aestheticians, waxing experts, and a sports-and-medical-massage specialist focus on the rest of the body.

In the luxurious, softly lit rooms of Water Lounge Spa, a staff of certified massage therapists and aestheticians pampers and soothes customers with massages, facials, and skincare services. Aches and pains recede as experienced hands administer neuromuscular therapy or massages accented with hot stones, focused on deep-seated knots, or tailored especially for expectant mothers. Relaxation deepens as clients soak in private hot tub rooms with steam, which soothes skin and lungs while fogging up overworked eyeballs to give them a break. Aestheticians also tend to hair during waxing, tweezing, threading, and tinting appointments.