Beauty & Spas in Springfield

As high-pitched needles buzzed in the background, a young April Slater traced her father's designs, stenciling with a steady hand and honing her artistic eye. Many years later—after apprenticing and working at several other parlors—Slater opened her own studio, Memento Ink. In the bright, cheerful space, Slater decorates bodies with classic and custom designs while her staff performs piercings and applies permanent makeup. Customers enjoy refreshments in the airy lobby as they browse classic tattoo designs and portfolios of original artwork. Of her studio that she makes available to host charity events, Slater has said, “I wanted everyone to feel welcomed and have the same positive experience, whether it was their first tattoo or they had a full bodysuit.” The Register-Guard suggests that “she’s been successful in doing just that.”

Within the bright green walls of Cry Baby Ink, a staff of body artists customizes meticulous tattoos, sells fetching apparel, and studs appendages with piercings. The studio occupies a convenient Valley River Center location, increasing the mall's cool factor without the need to hire the Hells Angels for security.

Jeanne knows firsthand the power of anti-aging facials. Though the aesthetician admits to being of a certain age, she’s maintained a youthful appearance with the help of hydropeptides. After her first treatment, Jeanne thought, “Oh my God… if it works for me at this age, it can work for anyone else.”

Beyond appreciating skincare's results, Jeanne understands how it works. She knows that keeping skin in top shape requires more than just a facial every once in a while. That’s why she couples all of her treatments with skincare tips, such as what ingredients to look for in skincare products, nutrition tips for healthy complexions, and which microdermabrasion crystals make for the prettiest earrings. “I want them to be knowledgeable,” she says of her clients. “I want them to have the power and know what’s going on.”

After a frightening near-death experience, Ananda Rubio awakened from a weeklong coma with a renewed sense of purpose. Today, he fulfills much of that purpose by healing others through massage. A licensed massage therapist, Ananda applies his personal healing touch during deep-tissue and Swedish massages, hot-stone therapy, and PNF stretching sessions.

Ananda works alongside a team of like-minded practitioners at Radiant Health Center, a tranquil oasis that emphasizes the healing power of natural therapies such as massage, acupuncture, and Chinese medicine. The spa also hosts an infrared sauna in its secluded garden, where clients can detoxify and become one with nature as they pretend to be flowers in a greenhouse.

At Willow Medical Spa, the staff has a two-tiered focus: women’s health and women’s beauty. Board-certified Dr. Elizabeth McCorkle helms the center’s gynecological practice, where she treats women of all ages, from the Iron to the Industrial. Her range of services includes menopausal health, contraceptive options, and minimally invasive surgical procedures. At her side are Krista Todd, a medical-aesthetics practitioner and medical assistant, and Dana Higgins, a medical assistant. Together, they staff the aesthetics branch of Willow Medical Spa. In this domain, they perform such services as Exilis body sculpting to flatten unwanted curves and Whisper dry laser peels to abate facial wrinkles.

Sunsational Tanning & Salon’s beds and spray tans infuse skin with luminous color regardless of the season. A staff of specialists has kept the sun from setting on the salon’s expansive interior for more than eight years, matching skin tones with tanning beds or manually applying UV-free spray tans. They keep all of their equipment in pristine shape, regularly changing the light bulbs in their beds and refilling their spray-tan applicators with liquefied gold. They also lighten teeth using Beaming White products.