Ukiah, CA Spa and Massage

After completing her advanced aesthetics training at the Scuola d'Estetica Dorabruschi in Italy, owner Dolores De Alba brought her passion for skincare back to wine country, opening the complexion-focused blush a day spa with her husband and spa co-owner James. After entering the soft-colored salon, patrons slip into cozy robes and slippers and peruse a skin-perfecting treatment menu while sipping hot tea, volcanic mineral water, or champagne. Exotic ingredients pervade each treatment, with papaya, grapeseed, green tea, and rose clay extracted from Provence and sprinkled with rose buds helping technicians exfoliate skin, soothe musculature, and rebalance the body’s energies. The salon offers special packages for teens, brides-to-be, and men in need of TLC, customizing treatments to boost confidence or ease muscles sprained during staring contests.

A visit to Elements Skin Care & Massage Studio is as much a treat for the eyes as it is for the senses. In each of the spa’s spacious chambers, the stark geometry of dark wood furniture complements the flowing lines of a sheer curtain, a linen-draped massage table, or a single potted orchid. These aesthetic pleasures only serve to enhance the sensory decadence that the staff of skin specialists, massage therapists, and nail technicians grant their clients. A slate of 10 facials —including a signature service that treats not only the face to a massage, but the feet, legs, back, and scalp as well—help stave off blemishes and fine lines with Bioelements products. In private massage rooms, therapists call on several modalities to ease tension with hot stones, firm pressure, or pregnancy-appropriate strokes, as reflexology foot treatments ease tension stemming from tight shoes or arguments between toes. Feet can also bask in the spa’s many pedicures, which go beyond standard nail-salon services to incorporate heated lava shells, warm neck wraps, and even complimentary martinis.

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.

Meridians' staff instills wellness in both the body and mind with a full menu of hair services, massages, and holistic treatments. Skilled stylists use ammonia-free dyes and formaldehyde-free keratin solutions to style hair into streaks of smooth, silky hues. Inside sunny rooms, therapists uncork tension with skin-salvaging facials and massages that include private consultations before and after treatment. Meridians' therapy packages incorporate add-ons, such as sea salt and mud to therapeutic-exfoliation treatments, cleansing the skin of dead cells without the 1,000-page contracts involved in renting a bulldozer.

Within the cedar-lined walls of a 22-foot-wide wine barrel, Magical Massage proprietors Carolyn Manzi and Martha Paul work to knead away clients' stress and pain, restoring a sense of wholeness symbolized by their circular space. Applying three combined decades of massage experience, Manzi and Paul customize their therapeutic treatments with quality products such as organic Miessence salves and local Sonoma lavender oil.

Sunbeams curious about what it's like to have a body peek into the room through a skylight, setting the massage tables' white draperies aglow. Beyond a wall of velvet drapes, the attached Inspiration Gallery shop hosts a sparkling spread of hand-crafted housewares and jewelry.

Hairstylist Chrystal Lemos and licensed aesthetician, massage therapist, and MAC freelance makeup artist Leslie Beer work as a team at the helm of their brainchild, Polished, a luxurious hair and skin salon. Using techniques learned at Bumble and bumble’s and Vidal Sassoon’s academies, Chrystal shapes and colors manes, hydrating thirsty strands with deep-conditioning treatments instead of the traditional method of dousing them in Gatorade. Perms of varying intensities bolster the volume of limp locks, whereas smoothing systems improve curls’ manageability.

Meanwhile, Leslie expertly combats persistent acne with a mix of chemical peels and facials, whose enzymes and extractions shepherd skin toward smoothness without removing key bumps, such as the nose. Her Swedish and deep-tissue massages, tailored to each client’s maladies, assuage chronic pains, and her waxing style employs up-to-the-minute strategies to minimize discomfort.