South River, 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.

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.

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.

At Everlasting Beauty Med Spa, skilled aestheticians wield SkinMedica and Dermalogica products to refine pores and firm up skin. In addition to five kinds of massage, they also perform FDA-approved VelaShape body-contouring treatments, which target cellulite with noninvasive infrared-light energy. VelaShape is said to diminish waistlines and slim thighs without the aid of a concave mirror.

If Guys & Dolls Hair Salon & Spa has a homey feel, it's probably because the space that now brims with scissors, haircare solutions, and nail polish was until the 1970s a cozy home lined with family portraits and a checklist of uncles banned from family reunions. Today, stylists Vicki Berrien and Heather Guagliardo are at the reins, showcasing their decades of experience styling hair, cleansing skin with facials, and accentuating eyes with eyelash extensions.