Orinda, CA Beauty and Salons

For nearly 20 years, the tan technicians at Soleil Tanning Salons have transformed pasty soul sacks into bronze living statues using UV and UV-free tanning techniques. Before tan sessions, friendly staffers educate patrons on how to get the most out of tans by using tanning lotions designed to stimulate melanin and extend the life of darker dermises. Soleil Tanning Salons are equipped with standing and horizontal tanning beds as well as UV-free MagicTan booths. The automated process typically takes 60 seconds and gives skin a golden glow thanks to micromists of custom tanner. No matter what bronzing method is chosen, tanners can rest easy knowing they will avoid burns associated with sunbathing atop radioactive beach towels.

It looks so simple: a length of twisted cotton glides across the face, grazing the upper lip, eyebrows, and hairline. This is threading, an ancient hair-removal art with roots in India and the Middle East. Masters of this art, M&M Thread Salon’s staff members quickly ensnare bristles in their threads, creating lines as sharp and clean as the battle ax that chops soap into bar form. The treatment is particularly beneficial for people with sensitive skin, as it uproots hair without chemicals or harmful products. The salon also performs waxing and facials.

The nail technicians of Solano Nails Spa grant hands and feet the royal treatment with a menu of both traditional and deluxe manicures and pedicures. For an extra dose of relaxation and beautician, their digit-dignifying services sometimes include additional treatments, such as massages, exfoliating scrubs, and skin-smoothing masks. Their shellac manicures keep nails chip-free for up to several weeks, just long enough to convince fingers that time has stopped indefinitely.

The Nail Shop on Solano Avenue’s team of technicians wields a decade of experience to cosset nails and de-fuzz skin in an immaculate spa setting. Hands luxuriate in hot-towel wraps and lotion massages as filed fingernails revel beneath daubs of bright polish, including chip-resistant Shellac and gel formulas. Lemon-scented sea salts, invigorating pumice treatments, and hot-stone massages whisk away dull skin, tension, and stuck-on bowling shoes from frazzled feet. And, within a discreet private room, aestheticians depilate unwanted fuzz from faces and bodies with layers of powerful wax. Guests sip gratis glasses of water, tea, or coffee as they let newly polished digits surf complimentary wireless Internet, flip through current magazines, and practice tap-dance routines for miniature Broadway revues.

Spray Tan California's airbrush artists, Regina Milliot and Meg Secrist, are preservationists at heart. Both women spent hours in the sun during their salad days, a practice they realized was harming their skin when it began to discolor and grow parched in spite of oils and raspberry vinaigrettes. They turned to spray tanning to protect their health, intent on maintaining their signature "savage" tans. Today, the two technicians envelop clients in a fine mist of eco-friendly DHA (an FDA-cleared compound that helps the top layer of skin develop a darker hue) and organic aloe, organic essential oils, and hyaluronic acid to keep skin soft and youthful. Their handiwork has perfected the complexions of the Golden State Warriors cheerleaders, and can be procured at their studio or called out to locations throughout the Bay Area and Sacramento.

Kylie Dayton‘s career as an aesthetician has taken her into some ritzy rooms. After her stint as the skincare expert at a cosmetic surgeon's office, she worked at Bliss Spa and the Four Seasons San Francisco. Today, Dayton brings her dermatological skill sets to her very own spa. She administers facials—including her signature 30-minute Basic Bonsai—and also paints skin with light- and medium-depth PCA peels. Like a Carmen Miranda hat, Dayton's peels are perfect for special occasions and often contain fruit, including papaya and pomegranate. As a certified PCA Skin expert, Dayton is well-versed in the Jessner peel, and she stocks the line's daily-use items for purchase. Dayton, who has honed her skin-treatment skills over the last nine years, feels strongly that daily maintenance makes a huge difference. To this end, she makes sure that clients leaving her crystal-chandelier-lit spa take skincare wisdom home along with their newly glowing complexions.