San Gabriel, CA Spa and Massage

Candlelight illuminates a swirling jacuzzi at Spa Pura, a 7,000-square-foot relaxation mecca where clients shed stress as they don a robe and slippers before indulging in one of the spa’s many services. Aestheticians perform a full spectrum of facial treatments that leverage clay masks, SkinCeuticals products, and vitamin infusions to help the skin to regain its glow. Teams of massage therapists welcome clients onto beds and pore over muscles with relaxing strokes, and body scrubbers and waxing technicians exfoliate and smooth frames. Clients hesitant to return to the outside world can bide their time in the spa’s raindrop showers or eucalyptus steam room, which doubles as koala heaven.

Whether clients are dealing with back pain, bad posture, or the aches associated with pregnancy, the massage therapist at PerfecTouch Therapy has a remedy. That's because the therapist's repertoire of muscle-kneading techniques varies greatly, unlike a golden retriever's wardrobe. In addition to standard maneuvers such as Swedish massage, the stress-tamer also offers hot-stone, deep-tissue, and foot-focused treatments.

Along the quaint, well-preserved streets of Kenneth Village, Ariada Salon Spa's vintage exterior conceals a three-floor haven for modern beauty services. Inside, at mirrored stations, stylists specialize in color correction, Brazilian blowouts, waxing, and bridal services, prepping the hair and nails of the betrothed with OPI polishes and Difiaba and Moroccanoil conditioners. An onsite boutique equips clients with Witchy Poo Lotions & Potions and True Apothecary Candles, which can be combined at home to amplify a relaxing bath or invoke the beautifying intervention of Venus.

Inside Ambiance Salon & Day Spa, lavish black leather chairs cocoon forms as stylists flit about crafting new 'dos with products from Goldwell, Joico, and Moroccanoil. Their services include piling hair into dramatic updos, adding color and dimension with highlights, and toning down frizz with Brazilian blowouts.

Past a hallway festooned with white chandeliers, private treatment rooms stand at the ready for the salon's more soothing services. Trigger-point, reflexology, and aromatherapy massages help quiet tightly strung muscles, and ancient cupping techniques boost circulation and decorate the back with handy coasters.

Inside Capelli International Day Spa, faux-finished walls and a red velvet couch swaddle guests in elegance, and a bust of Michelangelo's David offers tips on how to manage curly hair. Stylists work tirelessly with products by Matrix, Redken, and Fenix during hair and skincare services that the salon has been offering for more than 15 years. They also primp hands and feet with mani-pedis and soothe tense muscles with massage therapy. For clients in need of the works, Capelli offers spa packages, which include combinations of treatments performed in the peace and quiet of a giant gift-wrapped box.

Island Tan OC believes everyone looks better with a tan, and it helps clients achieve that sun-kissed glow with traditional horizontal tanning beds, standup booths, and spray tanning. Its gold-level standup booth keeps bodies cool with body fans, which circulate air more efficiently than staffers frantically waving their arms. Bronze-level reclining beds come with client-controlled facial tanners, and Mystic Tan spray booths and custom airbrush bronzing offer UV-free options. After a gilding session, patrons can further adorn their limbs with the shop's supply of bikinis, jewelry, and makeup.