Beauty & Spas in New Mexico

To call The Body Shop a mere skin and body care store is to miss half of what makes it special. Late founder Dame Anita Roddick was a pioneer for ethical business practices; upon opening her first store in Brighton, England, in 1976, she developed company values such as "Defend Human Rights" and "Protect The Planet." She somehow balanced principles and profit, partnering in global campaigns with UNICEF, Greenpeace, Amnesty International, and the United Nations, all while ultimately expanding her brand into 2,500 locations in over 60 international markets. After her death in 2007, then-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, “She campaigned for green issues for many years before it became fashionable to do so and inspired millions to the cause by bringing sustainable products to a mass market. . . . She was an inspiration.”

Indeed, the Body Shop exhibits an eco-friendliness and social consciousness that's hard to come by in a company of its size. Its products have been fair-trade since 1987, and its Against Animal Testing movement led to an EU-wide ban of animal testing of cosmetics. The products are made from ingredients harvested from around the world: shea butter from Ghana goes into body scrubs and butters, and Indian artisans craft wooden massagers and tote bags that are screenprinted by hand. But all that isn't to say the company's production practices overshadow its final products. Skincare treatments such as the brand’s iconic body butters, facial products, and gift collections often appear in Allure, Marie Claire, Lucky, Seventeen and other national publications.

Nestled between the Rio Grande and Turtleback Mountain, Riverbend Hot Springs is home to a collection of open-air geothermal pools that draw their high mineral content from the surrounding rock. Five brick-enclosed public pools cascade into one another, ranging in temperature from 100 to 108 degrees. Private pools steam within fenced-in terraces overlooking the river and mountains. They indulge couples and groups with features such as shoulder-massaging waterfalls and decks on which to cool off and count goose bumps.

Janice Stark beamed as she cut the bright-pink ribbon at Salon DeLuxe’s 10-year anniversary party. She had worked tirelessly to get to this important day—honing her skill as a stylist over the course of 46 years, constantly studying up on the latest innovations in the industry, and going to great lengths to ensure first-time guests became regular visitors. When discussing her success with reporters from the Rio Rancho Observer, Janice attributed it to “old-fashioned” customer service, saying, "you need to have people come in and feel comfortable so that when they come back, they feel at home."

Today, Janice’s efforts continue to pay off, and her brightly lit salon bustles with devoted clients and a staff of all-star stylists, massage therapists, and nail technicians. The beauty team performs a sweeping array of aesthetic services while armed with advanced styling tools and products from Redken, Dermalogica, and Brazilian Blowout. In addition to their repertoire of beautifying services, staffers keep daily stress at bay with an array of spa treatments, including massages and lymphatic-drainage therapy. To ensure their clients are as comfortable as possible, they serve complimentary beverages and recite nursery rhymes before tucking guests into massage beds.

Translated to English as “The House of the Moon,” La Hacienda de la Luna takes inspiration from this celestial symbol of femininity to create a space wholly dedicated to creativity, intuition, and healing. Serving as a wellness spa, yoga studio, art gallery, and bed and breakfast, the center strives to help bodies find a balance between their natural masculine and feminine energies through services that range from massage to drawing workshops. Various spa treatments help the body shed toxins both inside and out, whether via infrared sauna sessions or body scrubs blended from mineral sea salts and therapeutic essential oils. Bodies find their center and rediscover the backs of their knees during guided yoga classes, and those searching for artistic inspiration may find it by perusing a number of collections from talented painters and artists who design textiles and glasswork.

Housed inside a 300-year old adobe-style fortress believed to be one of the oldest inns in the nation, La Hacienda de la Luna also hosts a limited number of first-come, first-served rooms for guests, whose balance reset takes more than a few hours. Settled upon land that was once sacred to the Tiguex tribe, its varied history found it offering respite to everyone from missionaries to weary stagecoach travelers, making it well suited to host the rejuvenating activities that fill its 2-foot-thick walls today. Many claim that the spirits of the past still inhabit the serene site, though the faint of heart need not worry as La Hacienda de la Luna's owners describe the energies as "all welcoming."

Body pampers and tones physiques with spa services and fitness training and tends to wee ones with childcare services and sating hungers at an organic café. Aestheticians buff visages with organic, Ecocert-certified Naturopathica products during custom facials and tighten sagging skin until it's smooth enough to host a microscopic roller derby with microdermabrasion, microcurrents, and derma-rollers. Yoga and dance classes invite limbs to bend and shake, working up an appetite sated by the café’s menu, which pleases raw and vegan palates as well as source-conscious carnivores. After a massage or personal-training session, clients pick up eco-friendly fashions at an on-site boutique, where sustainable, fair-trade garments give patrons something to wear to a dinner party at Mother Nature's house.

Dr. Azad and Associates, strive to accommodate families at Familia Dental, with time slots for working parents on evenings and Saturdays and an indoor play area for youngsters at this preventive and cosmetic practice. Its orthodontics, whitening services, and traditional dentistry finesse the smiles of both kids and adults using technology such as a digital x-ray machine, which releases 80% less radiation than its analog counterparts and 90% less radiation than Spiderman’s big toe.