Pine Hills, FL Spa and Massage

The Beauty Spot is not so much a spot as it is an expansive, 4,000-square-foot spa that engulfs clients in treatments for the skin and body. Founder Jenni Cornette helms a team of beauty professionals, drawing on her experience as the spa director at a five-star resort to massage tense muscles and clear skin of barnacles with medical-grade peels.

Beauty is only skin-deep, but that doesn’t seem like such a bad thing after one of The Beauty Spot’s spray tans and manicures leaves you with golden skin and glossy nails. A professional makeup application can put the finishing touches on a look or inspire a shopping spree at the in-spa boutique, which displays handbags, clothing, jewelry, and eco-friendly fashion accessories—many of which support local artists.

At Sanctuary Salon & Day Spa, owner Pareen Merchant leads a team of beauty experts that polishes clients' looks from head to toe. Hair designers create custom cuts and restore damaged hair with conditioning treatments. To remove body hair or prune overgrown Chia pets, the staff employs laser technology and the Middle Eastern art of threading, a signature service that caught the attention of Melissa Mayntz of LoveToKnow.com. Merchant learned the technique from friends and cousins before honing her speed and brow-arching skills at a cosmetology program in India.

Massage therapists soothe weary muscles with a variety of modalities, and aestheticians brighten complexions with clinical skincare treatments, including medical microdermabrasion and Revitalight LED sessions. The salon's nail services earned a spot as a finalist in the Best Manicure and Pedicure category of CityVoter's 2007 and 2008 awards.

Licensed massage therapist Amanda Howard first conceived of Crystal Blue Health Spa for a school project, and she realized her dream with the spa's opening in 2011. In the interim, she crafted a menu of soothing spa services, including massages, body scrubs, and facials. Amanda navigates the treacherous terrain of knotted musculature during Swedish, deep-tissue, hot-stone, and aromatherapy massages, which wheedle backs into relinquishing stockpiled stress, tension, and missing socks hidden beneath shoulder blades. For surface-level pampering, the spa's resident aesthetician treats visages to deep-cleansing facials and exfoliating body scrubs. The hot-chocolate scrub emulates its wintertime namesake with a sweetly scented, warm elixir infused with Giovanni PureOrganic Technology—an essential-oil medley designed to nourish and heal wizened pelts—and the hypoallergenic tropical scrub's jojoba, macadamia, avocado, and sweet-almond oils replenish thirsty pores more effectively than dunking them in a pool of Gatorade.

The Spa's focus on customer satisfaction and relaxation has gained the staff recognition from the press, including a nod in Orlando Weekly's Best of Orlando 2011 list. Its vast menu of spa services runs a soothing gamut from traditional western massage to Dermalogica skincare treatments, as well as extravagant spa packages designed for men and women.

About once a month, or whenever the original cast of Footloose shows up, The Spa cranks up the tunes and opens up its hardwood floors for dancing during happy-hour spa parties. The themed shindigs pair lavish massages or facials with a nightclub ambiance of cocktails and activities such as gambling tables or oxygen bars.

Unlike its boisterous neighbors—Universal Studios and Disney World—Abba Heath Spa's massages, body wraps, and deep-cleansing facials strive to instill both body and mind with a sense of calm. Massage modalities range from the lighter Swedish massage that can help improve circulation with gentle kneads and long strokes, to ashiatsu massages where staffers walk carefully along the client's back to release tension. Before undergoing one of Abba's nine skin treatments, staffers consult with client's to determine which techniques would most complement their skin type before using organic products to revitalize both visages and birthday suits. Abba Health Spa is open seven days a week, and while appointments are greatly appreciated, they do welcome walk-ins.

With more than 20 years of combined experience as a critical-care RN and a chiropractor, Doctor of Chiropractic Roslyn Thompson holds an intimate understanding of how to help the body to heal itself. Using a gentle approach, she sets clients at ease as she seeks out and corrects vertebral subluxations—or misalignments of vertebrae—that interfere with the nervous system's ability to function properly or finish its tell-all memoir. Dr. Thompson also aims to help her patients to deal with a range of conditions, from physical woes such as chronic pain, migraines, and arthritis to less apparent ailments such as memory loss, depression, and anxiety.