River Forest, IL Spa and Massage

The aestheticians and stylists at Modern Wave Salon help initiate relaxation and restore natural beauty with an array of hair, spa, and beauty treatments. Modern Wave Salon's staff, which has served Bridgeport for more than 26 years, pairs treatments with ongoing consultations, tips on contemporary styles, and legal advice. The salon's services range from full formal up-dos to hydrating facials replete with seaweed masks and a massage of the face, neck, and shoulders. Beauty buffs wax arms, backs, and bikini lines, and help prep guests for weddings with bridal makeup applications or for upscale barn raisings with classic french manicures. Inside the studio, hanging lights cast a warm glow onto exposed-brick walls.

Cathy Cano wants The Skin Division to set a new standard. Dedicated to her clients' concerns both big and small, Cano keeps weekend hours and offers complimentary consultations to ensure questions are answered. Her services are designed to address any complexion need, from exfoliating microdermabrasions and chemical peels to laser resurfacing that finally erases marker mustaches. She performs more lasting procedures as well, including laser hair-removal treatments and permanent-makeup applications.

Headmasters Spa's staff of expert aestheticians spruces up anatomies with age-defying facials, chic haircuts, and soothing massages. The spa mavens smooth skin with exfoliating scrubs and de-fur bodies or beach-bound teddy bears with professional waxing on more than 15 areas. Ten massage modalities such as lymphatic, reflexology, and sports soothe human dorsal sides, and mani-pedis draw from a rainbow of colors to add pop to digital tips. Beautifiers also pull from a grab bag of body wraps to sculpt sleek physiques and employ microdermabrasion to clear pores and polish facial tattoos.

At Halsted Tan and Spa, Smart Tan–certified staff members help each client navigate high-powered tanning equipment and choose the option that best suits their golden goal. They steer traditional tanners towards lie-down or standup high-pressure beds, such as the SolarForce 648, where side tanners and shoulder tanners help bronze every curve, and built-in stereos flood ears with relaxing music or recordings of George Hamilton reading Goodnight Moon¬. For a sunless glow, airbrush artists tint skin with a custom paraben-free spray tan, while the VersaSpa booth gilds bodies in a four-pass process that includes a blow-dry and the option to add a pretreatment prep spray and tan-extending moisturizer.

To further beautify bodies, technicians dress up fingertips with artificial nails or long-lasting no-chip polish. They also offer teeth whitening, custom facials, and full-body-waxing services, and loosen tight muscles using massage therapeutic-kneading techniques borrowed from the best bread bakers in Thailand, China, and Japan.

Monika Porter, owner of Wax On Wax Off, taps into an arsenal of cosmetic products sourced from the ocean to enlist Mother Nature in fights for personal beauty. She keeps an ear to the stylish ground to stay up-to-date on treatments such as Japanese and Brazilian straightening. Products such as honey-sugar wax, which lifts unwanted hair, beautify with natural ingredients instead of chemical products or weekends spent helping a sorcerer move furniture.

The staff at Mediterranean Day Spa knows that true beauty comes from this inside, a notion they honor by providing therapeutic services to local military veterans and their families via Operation Oasis. Within the spa’s luxurious confines, both service members and civilians let their eyes drink in the soothing sights of nature-inspired artwork on natural walls before selecting from the spa’s eclectic service menu. Plush, leather pedicure chairs foster an array of invigorating foot treatments while private treatment rooms host massages, wraps, waxing, and body scrubs that reflect the tradition of Turkish hammams.