Beauty & Spas in Mount Pleasant

Skin Help Studio owner Micki Collett got into the spa industry the hard way. After getting into a serious motorcycle accident, she gradually recovered with the help of physical therapy, yoga, and massage. Inspired by how effectively the massage therapy reduced her scar tissue, she earned a massage license of her own, which she's used to treat professional athletes, heal injuries, and relax stressed-out clients.

Just as a firsthand experience with massage moved her to become a therapist, her own emerging skin concerns inspired her to become an aesthetician. In 2012 she opened Skin Help Studio, where she performs facials with natural, fragrance-free Rhonda Allison products. There she also kneads muscles with eight massage techniques and waxes away hair from the face, legs, and French and Brazilian bikini regions. Ever the traveler—she's lived in Houston and Costa Rica and studied massage in Salt Lake City—Micki attends annual Las Vegas conferences and local industry get-togethers, which help her stay current on advances in the skincare industry and in whatever industry is responsible for making cool booth stuff.

A map can lead to any number of places, but most wouldn't think a glowing complexion would be one of them. By performing in-depth face mapping before all facials, aestheticians at The Skin Cell are able to determine the requirements of every inch of the skin to maximize the treatment's effectiveness and recommend regimens to perform at home. Helmed by skin therapist Cherri Ross Thompson, The Skin Cell's specialists harness Dermalogica products during customized facial treatments that help fight signs of aging, clear acne, or correct frowns that have alarmingly turned upside down. Faces aren't the only areas that find relief, though: the spa's Migun thermal massage bed merges infrared rays, heat therapy, and massage heads made from qi-kindling jade to stimulate blood flow and encourage overall relaxation.

Just as bicycling itself is a solitary sport, the owner of Easy Rider Bikes, Marshall Walls, prefers to be the only one at the shop’s handlebars. “I’m not a control freak, but I have a high standard for work,” he told the Post and Courier in 2007. “Besides, I can do the work of about three people.” Walls’ confidence stems from experience: since 1984, he’s successfully maintained his one-man operation in the same 1,400-square-foot space he bought at the age of 25, when most adults choose to just go into hibernation. After a brief period selling Schwinn and Peugeot bikes, Walls devoted himself to service, and today he keeps wheels spinning smoothly with everything from standard tune-ups to restorations. Still, he keeps the essentials—helmets, seats, pedals, and pumps—in stock, lest bikers attempt to race down an oil-slicked hillside unprepared.

Resident pooch Gizmo, pictures of James Dean and Audrey Hepburn, and the '70s-style wallpaper imply the team at Salon Salon of Charleston knows how to have fun. The complimentary margaritas the first Wednesday of every month solidifies that implication. Whether sculpting hair or coloring tresses, they like to keep visits casual yet lively. By using products such as Paul Mitchell, Pureology, and Aquage, they ensure no one mistakes their joviality for a lack of commitment to the quality of their work. Hair isn't the only thing they have fun with, either; as a full-service salon, they also perform lash extensions, mani-pedis, brow tinting, and facial waxing.

One way to rejuvenate the skin, according to aesthetician Amanda Shannon, is with fire and ice. Of course, when she says fire, she doesn’t mean flames—she uses a warming glycolic peel to deeply purge pores. Her ice is seaweed, a plant that naturally cools the skin and plumps wrinkles. Shannon provides skincare treatments—including the Fire and Ice facial—that are customizable to each client’s skin type. She also specializes in eyebrow and lash tinting as well as waxing, services she’s honed throughout more than 10 years in the industry. Each session takes place amid her mint-green studio, where tranquil music and flickering candlelight leave clients more relaxed than a spaghetti noodle floating in a jacuzzi.

Within the confines of its modern confines with stainless steel accents, Style Me Studio's stylists use Paul Mitchell techniques and products, hairdressers work with customers to create tailored hairdos. In addition to cutting, coloring, and highlighting, stylists can also apply a soothing tea-tree treatment to the scalp or KeraTriplex 2-Step Repair conditioner to tresses to reduce hair breakage and increase shine. Style Me's staffers also partner with a photographer to primp clients before photo shoots.