Saskatoon Spa and Massage

Spa Academy's director of education, Veronica Lynne-Swirsky, taps into more than two decades of experience as she leads a team of professional educators in training a new generation of aestheticians. In their sleek salon and spa, instructors and students work side by side. Teachers might give clients mani-pedis or full sets of acrylic nails as their students apply makeup, wax away unwanted body hair, or revitalize skin with facials. And even though their services are discounted, students focus on lavishing clients with a quality that rivals what's offered by their already-certified counterparts or by those newfangled robo-aestheticians.

The cheerful barks of Chia, a jet-black pup, greet visitors to Sunday Morning Organic SalonSpa, a clean-air salon that stocks its shelves with organic hair-colour products and herbal-based polishes and creams. Candice, a stylist and spa tech with nearly two decades of experience, outfits her clients with hairstyles that flatter the face and colour that adds richness to locks without harmful ammonia. Spa tech Rikki-Lee performs organic spray-tans and herbal facial treatments. The spa's additional services include colon hydrotherapy and mani-pedis such as the Journey manicure, which takes place atop a cross-country train.

Practitioners from RV Mobile Massage and Spa Therapies perform treatments that date back 4,000 years, but they deliver those treatments using a modern invention—the automobile. Patrons relax at home or continue pretending their head isn't stuck between bannisters as a talented massage therapist travels to their location to ease muscle tension and stress. Alternatively, patrons can travel to the company's studio for treatments. There, massage therapists wield oils and heat smooth stones, which hold warmth and allow it to seep slowly into taut muscles.

Highly trained massage therapists, aestheticians, and manicurists have spent 20 years cultivating an oasis where guests bask in tranquility. By curating a spectrum of services that range from hair styling to permanent makeup, the treatment menu combines salon, day spa, and med spa treatments to assemble a comprehensive catalogue. Clients can customize service packages according to their own desires and the wishes whispered by their pores. Pre-designed packages bundle services for individuals, couples, and mother-daughter duos.

Brandi Heuchert, a self-described “prairie girl,” merges her small-town Saskatchewan upbringing with seven years of experience in her trade. Brandi's interest in holistic and western medical practices led her to the Western College of Remedial Massage Therapy, from which she received her registered massage therapist designation. Recently relocated to Saskatoon’s Fitness Focus gym, Brandi specializes in an array of massage modalities, such as relaxation, therapeutic, and Thai massage, as well as hot-stone therapy and cranial-sacral therapy. Brandi accepts both daytime and evening appointments Tuesday–Saturday.

It's shaped like a cupcake, smells like strawberry shortcake, and even has a dusting of sugar. But you can't eat it, because it's a soap. Cleansing confections such as these are available at Elemental Spa's beauty emporium, where hundreds of bath and body products tempt clients as they arrive for beautifying spa services. The spa's team of experienced aestheticians deliver manicures and pedicures with China Glaze colours, and experienced massage therapists enact tension-erasing massages. Spa denizens can recline in mocha-coloured treatment rooms to be pampered before relaxing in the steam shower with a rainwater head or in the adjoining candlelit jacuzzi. Outside, a colour-changing bubble wall and speakers emanating the sound of whales meditating lead clients to the expansive beauty boutique, where fizzing bath bombs, shea-butter-enriched soaps, and hydrating lotions take on more than 120 scents.