Pearl City, HI Spa and Massage

It’s not just the soft glow of candlelight, the array of floral sprays, or even the pampering spa treatments that keep clients coming back to Laka Skin Care & Spa. They come for the salon’s holistic treatments, backed by the science of Nobel Prize–winning research. The salon’s staff is trained in everything from facial reflexology to the salon’s three signature facials—all of which use 24-karat gold to brighten and cleanse skin.

What really sets the spa’s treatments apart are the optional add-ons. The house brand of aromatherapy, 21 Drops, infuses facials and massages with healing essential oils to entertain noses. Heated amethyst mats detoxify both body and mind while clients relax on them.

Situated inside the Outrigger Luana Waikiki Hotel, the sleek contemporary interior of Ville De Coco envelops visitors in a tranquil environment while staff members administer customized pampering services. You can get a traditional Hawaiian Lomi Lomi massage in a private room, or climb into a pillow-lined pedicure chair to soak your feet in warm tubs filled with aromatic salts.

Steamy saunas and cool pools share space with an in-house salon, massage parlor, and nail studio at Herbal Spa Sauna & Salon, which has separate facilites for men and women. The journey through saunas and baths is ordered strategically for optimal effect, beginning with a hot-tub dip to calm muscles and relax minds. After a sojourn in the steam sauna opens pores and releases tension, the dry sauna heats cores with controlled 210-degree coals to ease muscles and a bath cools down bodies before limber limbs meditate in a jade room. A Himalayan salt sauna uses heat to release the minerals found in salt to benefit respiratory systems, reduce stress, and improve skin health.

Over at the salon, aestheticians work out any lingering stresses with body scrubs, massages, and pedicures that outfit toes with bright colors before their next trip into pitch-black shoe caves. Staffers stock locker rooms with complimentary robes, ice water, and shower products to ensure pleasant transitions to and from the tranquil retreat.

Paradise Massages & Spa’s therapists combine tailored massage strokes with essential oils that evoke the relaxing scents of the tropics. During lomilomi massages inspired by Hawaii’s own holistic healing traditions, they use their hands, forearms, and elbows to rhythmically soothe muscles. Another island-inspired treatment, the hot-lava massage, employs heated stones to stimulate circulation and ease the daily stresses of living inside an active volcano. The staff’s expertise extends beyond sore backs and shoulders; their customized facials, for example, open pores with a blast of soothing steam before moisturizing skin with a healing mask and relaxing frown lines with a facial massage.

Gentle music breezes past the salmon walls at Sophisticated Facial & Nail Spa, where black, leather massage chairs rest on natural-wood floors. Nail technicians with a keen eye for artistry paint fingernails with such specialty designs as zebra print, flowers, butterflies, and near-perfect replicas of toenails. Dermalogica products nourish visages during a half-dozen different 90-minute facials, which range from an oil-and-acne treatment that uses high-frequency currents to kill bacteria to an anti-aging facial powered by hydroxyl-acid exfoliation. Private treatment rooms also host waxing procedures that leave skin smooth and hairless for longer than razors, tweezers, or stern lectures do.

Pure Elements Salon & Spa uses all-natural Aveda products on clients from head to toe. The company also follows through with Aveda's green mission to beautify without harming the earth. The skilled staff members peruse Aveda's robust selection of eco-consciously harvested serums, shampoos, and lotions as they prepare for a range of spa services that includes hair, skin, massage, makeup, and nail treatments for both men and women. Nail technicians exfoliate feet with an all-natural sea-salt scrub before polishing toes. Massage therapists use natural elements during the hydra-stone massage, which, as its name suggests, incorporates both water and hot stones to make muscles as loose as a procrastination club’s meeting times. Aestheticians slough dulling dead skin cells from the face with microdermabrasion, facials, and glycolic peels. Clients can mix and match a combination of Pure Elements’ services to build extra-long spa packages or bridal packages to spiff up ladies on their big days.