Beauty & Spas in Minden

Wendy worked at a spray-tanning salon in California before her husband's Air Force career brought them to Louisiana. Rather than spend time working for someone else, she decided to open her own mobile spray tanning business—Sun on the Run. Armed with South Seas' dye-free and chemical-free products in tow, she brings tanning solution to Barksdale Air Force Base, Bossier City, and Shreveport. Once she sets up shop, she takes protective measures to prevent overspray in client's homes, crafts custom tans for each individual, and tops off the skin with optional bronzers and shimmer drops. While tans set, Wendy will touch them up if they have any unsightly smudges or secret messages.

By the age of 5, Leigh Schroer had already developed an interest in hair that later grew into a passion for styling. After attending beauty school, Leigh gained invaluable industry knowledge and learned every possible synonym for "hair" while working as a stylist in area salons. Leigh built Oasis Salon and Spa of Bossier from the ground up in June of 2010 and now oversees the 3,000-square-foot facility and a team of skilled staffers, who she credits for her success. Inside the salon and spa's earth-toned interior, stylists and aestheticians perform haircuts, pedicures, waxing, and other services. As stylists straighten out tresses or soothe skin, they wield brand-name products from lines such as Redken, Image Skincare, and Kenra Professional. Leigh specifically chose to build Oasis Salon and Spa of Bossier somewhere off the beaten path so guests could enjoy a peaceful retreat without hearing cars constantly rushing by or people shouting at each other about stock-car-racing results.

Celebrity Nails & Spa's expert beauticians primp nails and spruce unruly head nests with pampering salon services. Opt for the first option for a complete finger renovation that gussies up backup toes via an acrylic-nail application. During the 40-minute procedure, a skilled technician applies acrylic material to nail surfaces before affixing shiny new finger helmets firmly in place, capable of resisting breakage and shielding fingertips from nail-nibbling fathers-in-law.

At a time when most kids are just excited to be playing outside, Sarah LeMoine was already thinking about her career. "By the time I was 10 years old, I told my mom I wanted to do hair," she remembers. By then she was no stranger to the necessity of salons; her mom got her hair done every eight weeks with the same stylist. "It was like a religion for her," LeMoine jokes.

At The Parlor Too, antique-style furniture allows clients to sit and relax in the reception area, which has the feel of a comfy front porch. LeMoine presides over a station generously stocked with Joico hair products and Wella color. Though she specializes in hair coloring, her true love is boosting her clients' confidence with tailored cuts that can give them a new lease on life or at least an excuse to update their driver's license photo. "It amazes me how much hair can change someone's personality and make them a better person," she says.

A Louisiana native, Cindy Kirkes at Massage For Stress Day Spa and Salon draws on more than 10 years of spa industry experience to beautify her clients. She specializes in treatments such as microdermabrasion, which can help repair and enhance a client’s personal appearance, much like spray-painting poems onto a building. Cindy constantly works to improve her skills by continuing to take advanced skincare classes.

South Beach Tanz is a full-service bronzery equipped with a full lineup of modern beds and Australian Gold’s airbrush tanning system. The jolly, knowledge-laden staff focus on making the tanning experience as enjoyable as possible for each customer, and for the skin that keeps each customer shaped like a human. Spend a month ripening beneath the golden glances of the level one, level two, or level three tanning beds. Or, a trained airbrusher can help you ripen by spraying your dermis with an organic, aloe-based solution, creating a fresh-off-the-beach glow without letting the sun know where you’ve been hiding.

Supervised by a staff physician, Pretty Medical Spa's team of experienced aestheticians renovates weathered facades with top-notch products and a devotion to pore-sized details. During MegaPeel microdermabrasion, a delicate pen-sized wand frolics about skinscapes while spraying tiny crystals and suctioning away expired cells. Upgrading facial texture from “tree bark” to “Marvin Gaye,” the noninvasive procedure also minimizes the appearance of scars and fine lines and unveils a healthy, youthful glow.