Beauty & Spas in Reading

A licensed massage therapist by the State Medical Board of Ohio since 2008, Craig West soothes sore muscles in people of all ages with therapeutic foot, hand, and body massages. Whether at his office or during mobile pampering services, he practices a variety of kneading techniques such as trigger point, hot stone, and bamboo fusion, aimed at relaxing patients with pains ranging from carpal tunnel to migraine headaches. Along with the regular clientele, Craig calms corporate workers in their offices with chair-massage sessions and performs his therapeutic massaging skills on sore athletes and sorer tennis racquets during Cincinnati bouts of the Association of Tennis Professionals' world tour.

After leaving Cincinnati to study at Harvard Medical School and participate in internships and fellowships at Brown University and New York University, Dr. Shalini Gupta has returned to the place where she grew up, and now offers general and cosmetic dermatology and plastic-surgery services to the community. The goal of her practice, Dermatology Laser and Vein Center, is a simple one: restoring natural beauty. She does this with both surgical and nonsurgical procedures that tighten and restore the skin, contour the body's trouble spots, and rid limbs of unwanted tattoos or popped bubble-gum bubbles.

A A Touch of Heaven Salon Massage & Day Spa stocks a large inventory of well-respected pampering products. Nail technicians employ OPI and Gelish polish, and hairstylists primp tresses with smart Solutions, Redken, Sexy Hair, and KMS products. An assemblage of massage therapists and aestheticians performs indulgent work at the spa too, allying to relax and beautify their clients. They execute 10 varieties of massage, from the gentle, simple Swedish to the choreographed complexity of the four-handed massage—performed by two therapists or one octopus also juggling four tennis balls. They combine treatments of the body's inner tissues with herbal or peppermint-scented wraps to rejuvenate the outer layer.

Outside of the private rooms lies the salon proper, where stylists carefully ply their craft on the hair and nails of their patrons. They imbue locks with new color, wax away unwanted hair, and even provide spray tans to maintain a summery glow throughout winter's tenure.

Though they can both claim illustrious careers in the hairstyling industry, Joey and Nikki followed very different paths to get to where they are today. Joey trained with Aveda in 1989 and then took his scissors on the road, snipping strands in salons from Nashville to LA. Nikki, on the other hand, has spent most of her 35-year career honing her management skills as the owner of a successful Cincinnati salon. In 2007, they joined forces to create Joey & Roman Salon—Roman is Nikki’s last name—a Kérastase Paris salon specializing in cuts, color, and keratin hair-smoothing treatments.

The salon is also home to stylists Chris and Jon, each of whom has spent at least one year training under Joey, learning to execute the latest styles and refining scissor-hand agility by clipping a blizzard of paper snowflakes. Industrial touches permeate the ultramodern space: stylists store their haircare products and equipment in heavy-duty Craftsman tool cabinets and sheets of corrugated tin line the slate-gray walls.

Permanent Perfection Permanent Cosmetics’ licensed beauticians upgrade clients' appearances with classic and uncommon spa services. During therapeutic cupping treatments, staffers create small pockets of suction to gently increase lymphatic flow, reduce toxins, contour bodies, and ameliorate scarring. To mold shapelier frames, technicians swaddle guests with slimming body wraps or melt fat with ultrasound liposuction. In addition to body treatments, the clinic offers teeth-whitening, facials, and permanent-makeup applications. Permanent Perfection's techs can also remove tattoos by using advanced technology or traveling back in time and trapping your past self in a net.

Refined Image of Northern Kentucky's laser tag team is composed of medical technicians overseen by no fewer than five physicians, who set their sights on the eradication of unwanted hair and small veins on the legs and feet. Technicians handle GentleMax laser equipment with precision, delivering a concentrated dose of heat deep into trouble spots, as skin's upper layers stay chill thanks to a cooling burst of cryogen. Though the high-intensity light shows no mercy toward age spots, sun damage, and skin blemishes, it yields only mild discomfort, with pulses that are generally compared to a rubber-band snap.