Beauty & Spas in South Carolina

Aquarium maintenance might seem like a strange background for an expert in neuromuscular therapy and deep-tissue massage, but that's exactly how massage therapist Lynne Luckow got her start. She decided to change careers after reading about the health benefits of massage and went on to study anatomy, physiology, and medical massage at Aesthetics University. She opened Healing Hands Therapy Center in 1993 and continued her training with renowned professionals in the field of alternative medicine. Eventually, she grew her practice to the point where she was working 12 hours a day, six days a week, roughly the amount of time it takes to give a full-body massage to a really big whale. Luckow knew it was time to expand: the center is now home to eight highly trained massage therapists, who earned it nominations in CityVoter's Best Massage category in 2011.

In addition to performing massages, Luckow promotes physical and emotional healing with Ayurvedic counseling and meditation. She has further rounded out her team with licensed acupuncturist Brenda Sherman, who holds a Master of Science in acupuncture and oriental medicine.

Doctor of Chiropractic Stephen Khouri, the exclusive chiropractor of College of Charleston athletics, was born prematurely without fully developed lungs. As a result, he suffered from severe asthma and other respiratory problems throughout his early childhood, at least until he was referred to a chiropractor. After undergoing chiropractic care, he noticed that his asthma attacks were significantly less severe, and so, at the age of 6, he decided he would grow up to be a chiropractor and not the dinosaur most little boys dream of being.

Now, at Khouri Chiropractic Health Massage, Dr. Khouri and his nimble-fingered team assuage patients' aches with holistic, integrated medicine. He and his staff prioritize chiropractic and massage among their many treatments, utilizing adjustments and muscle-manipulation to ease aches and help bodies heal themselves. An acupuncturist is on hand to insert hair-thin needles into specific body parts and stimulate the body's chi, and nutrition and exercise advice help fortify the body. Now, at Khouri Chiropractic Health Solutions, Dr. Khouri and his nimble-fingered team assuage patients' aches with holistic, integrated medicine. He and his staff prioritize chiropractic and massage among their many treatments, utilizing adjustments and muscle-manipulation to ease aches and help bodies heal themselves. An acupuncturist is on hand to insert hair-thin needles into specific body parts and stimulate the body's chi, and nutrition and exercise advice help fortify the body.

Ron Haynes and his daughter, Jessie, have built a business from smiling faces. They don't snap yearbook photos or transform dentist gloves into balloon animals. Instead, they helm teeth-whitening shops that brighten smiles in 20 minutes. Since 2005, they have brightened over 50,000 smiles annually across five states. The locations in North Carolina offer either convenience at their South Park Mall kiosk or privacy at their office locations. Armed with Beaming White, a special light activated gel teeth-whitening system that pairs a peroxide-based gel with a UV-free LED light, their team of technicians helps clients brighten their choppers with an applicator pen. An applicator pen exposes the teeth so the gel and light reach every inch of enamel. Once the light unites with the gel, coffee, tea, and grass stains begin to vanish. Teeth continue to lighten after the treatment, achieving a color that's 3-7 shades whiter over the course of 24 hours. With proper care, results can last up to 12 months, or roughly the time it takes to adapt the phonebook into a comedic opera.

Mary White believes in the power of movement to rehabilitate both bodies and minds. As an alternative health expert who has been practicing for almost 20 years, she relies on an integration of yoga, massage, and water movement therapy to put clients on the path to wellness. Her programs are entirely inclusive, welcoming yoga beginners to experience the same restorative poses that have benefitted athletes and irreparably tangled acrobat pairs.

Inside the studio, a blend of styles—including Kundalini, Bikram, and Vinyasa flow—merge with Pilates and muscle-specific stretches. The combination of motion-based techniques works to combat pain and recurring ailments as it hones enough mental focus to defuse a bomb while stressed out by the fact that you’re in a cartoon in the first place. Mary strives to dispense her teachings to walk-in students as well as specific therapy groups, including Alzheimer's patients and single women in need of support.

"Touch can be healing," says Donna Medley, proprietor of CovRing Day Spa. Indeed, Donna uses the word “heal” often when she talks about the events that inspired her to open the spa. Her son dealt with prolonged medical problems, and the family worked together to nurse him back to health. This, she says, pushed the long-time cosmetologist to pursue the wellness aspect of her training, and soon she'd shuttered both her Maryland salons and focused on opening CovRing Day Spa.

Donna thought in terms of healing potential when designing the spa itself. The space is awash in the restorative colors of the earth, from the grass green in the mani-pedi room to the lounge painted in the same cerulean shades of the sky and naturally occurring groups of blue musicians. The healing power of olive oil infuses all of the spa's Swedish massages, facials, and mani-pedis. To Donna, the olive oil symbolizes an anointing, and because she used it when caring for her son, it recalls his healing, reminding her every day why she chose this path.

With a focus on full-body training rather than muscle-isolating machines, Vaughn Bethell’s sprawling 12,000-square-foot gym eschews the traditional rows of high-tech equipment for functional gear such as giant tires, kicking bags, and training ropes. Of course, Bethell—a qualifying World Cup soccer player who has trained many pro-athletes-to-be—believes that the best piece of equipment is the human body itself. He relies on his bevy of fitness-related certifications to craft effective exercises that draw from the body’s own weight to create muscle-toning resistance. He uses these functional movements in a variety of services at his high-ceilinged studio, including athlete training, women’s boot camps, and personal-training sessions.

Bethell also prides himself on cultivating a welcoming nature in his gym, inviting guests to cool down in the lounges or showers before playing a round on the ping-pong tables or dead-lifting the communal computers.