Somerset, NJ Spa and Massage

Sweet & Sassy's orange-and-purple beauty parlors create a safe space for tweens to indulge in imaginative play and pampering. Young visitors try on identities through themes such as Pop Star and Enchanted Princess, which rule birthday parties and mini spa services for skin, hair, and nails. Sparkles and the color pink appear with expected frequency, covering a fleet of rental limos and studding ingredients at Creation Stations, where guests concoct bath and body products or strawberry-scented doppelgangers. In addition to supplying keepsake trinkets with most services, the parlors stock their gift shops with bright fuchsia and lime-green versions of classic spa accessories, including plush robes and slippers. Sweet & Sassy also hosts workshops created specifically for Girl Scouts, Adventure Princesses, and sports teams that teach manners as well as business skills.

Above a silver front desk, a neon sign glows in Indigo Salon's namesake color, casting its gleam onto wire racks stocked with Bumble and bumble styling products. Black leather salon chairs set the stage for hair makeovers enhanced with smoothing keratin treatments, highlights, or other services.

Owner Ronnie Keller has made Bridgewater Commons Mall his second home. Early in the morning, he saunters past storefronts, stopping at the threshold of Splash Salon & Spa, flanked by two tall, obelisk-shaped lanterns that serve to welcome both patrons and fashion-forward moths. Past the reception desk, where water cascades down glass panes, Ronnie settles in for the day, overseeing a team of beautification experts as they perform a slate of pampering services. Funky aluminum mirrors reflect hairstylists' newly forged masterpieces as nail technicians soften skin with sea-salt scrubs and paraffin waxes before camouflaging fingers in a choice of polish. Eight styles of massage revive tired bodies, and facials, waxing, and cosmetic services keep visitors looking radiant and magic mirrors from making meaningless small talk. Posttreatment, clients can peruse a stash of Bumble and bumble., Paul Mitchell, and Moroccanoil products that eagerly await adoption.

Janet Long founded In Balance Center to provide her clients with an escape from daily stress and, by designing a menu of rejuvenating spa services, to maximize relaxation. She and her team of massage therapists work out kinks and tense muscles with nimble hands, heated stones, and aromatherapy. They ensure each session is tailored to the client, taking into account sore spots, sites of chronic tension, and a preference for walking on their hands. In addition to spa treatments, patrons can search for inner balance during yoga and Pilates classes for all abilities and experience.

The attentive aestheticians at The Jennifer Day Spa blend Eastern and Western beauty and relaxation techniques to craft custom spa treatments. Clients can grab some "me time" and partake in one of 14 different facials, including supersonic treatments to nourish collagen and Photo Rejuvenation Time Machine treatments that give faces the famously smooth complexion of H.G. Wells. Aestheticians can denude any area with waxing services or snuff out tension through reflexology, which targets pressure points on the feet and hands to restore energy flow throughout the body. The Jennifer Day Spa also bundles its services together into multitreatment spa packages, many of which include the flowing strokes and gentle kneading of Swedish massage.

Salon Soleil Nails & Spa's nail techs wield OPI lacquers, ibd gels, and LCN nail toppers, which are made from a gel-like, light-cured resin that does not discolor natural nails. Nearby, hairstylists update 'dos with Matrix color and perm haircare, and massage therapists dole out Swedish, deep-tissue, and aromatherapy massages while using Spa Organics lotions that are infused with natural ingredients such as raw emotion. The beauty haven also boasts a private treatment room dedicated to waxing, and leather pedicure thrones that are regularly spit-shined with hospital-grade disinfectants.