Wake Forest, NC Spa and Massage

The specialists at Suddenly Slimmer of Raleigh live up to the promise of their spa’s name with a menu of services designed to melt fat and eliminate cellulite. The spa’s featured VelaShape treatment exemplifies this mission, using a blend of radio frequencies and light energy to noninvasively shrink fat cells. Similarly, body wraps work to slenderize figures while nourishing skin with solutions made of natural minerals and electrolytes. When not cocooned in anti-aging minerals, clients may partake in sessions on the Proellixe vibration machine, which sends high-frequency vibrations throughout the body to tone muscles, burn fat, and dislodge loose change stuck behind the ears.

Licensed massage therapists Elizabeth Watkins and Yolanda Parrish tend to clients with a variety of massage modalities, calling upon their training, experience, and specializations to create customized treatments. The long, gliding strokes of a Swedish massage unearth tiny lingonberries blocking the flow of blood vessels, and a hot-stone massage loosens knotted muscles with concentrated warmth. Prenatal, oncology, injury, and other styles of medical massage treat specific health issues and help patrons recover from physical traumas.

Éminence organic skin serums and aromatic massage oils hydrate skin as massage therapists work out knots at Stellar Spa Services, where the healing properties of pampering are celebrated. Heated massage tables warm musculature during the Swedish massage, as hands trace spice-trade routes across spines. Kneading and taps punctuate flowing strokes, loosening tight muscles and kick-starting circulation. Alternatively, aestheticians can revamp visages with an express skin therapy facial, which cleanses and hydrates skin while loosening the muscles in the face and neck. The calm skin facial dulls the consequences of kissing pet crabs with chamomile and arnica. Dreamy music and flickering candles induce serenity as patrons sip elixirs from the complimentary tea bar.

Body Temple Massage Therapy's owner and licensed therapist, Trisha Lewis, takes a holistic approach to resolving troublesome aches, implementing techniques she learned as a student at the American and European Massage Clinic, where she studied anatomy, physiology, and Eastern philosophy. Trisha personalizes each massage to accommodate clients' specific needs, going hand-to-hand against aches caused by strenuous physical activity or sleeping in dollhouse guest rooms. While Swedish, deep-tissue, or sports massage strokes knead away tension, minds are set at ease by the treatment room's low lighting, sleek wooden floors, and comfortable massage tables.

A wildly successful alternative to traditional day spas—its more than 300 locations blanket 36 states and half a dozen countries—Planet Beach is a futuristic relaxation station where state-of-the-art machines administer all the spa and tanning services. These friendly automatons sometimes replace familiar treatments, as in the Luminous facial, a light-based service that delivers blemish-busting results similar to those of a conventional facial. But other equipment maps out new spa territory entirely: the Hydro-Derma Fusion chamber moisturizes the whole body with nutrient-rich steam in order to offset the effects of a dry climate or a rear-end collision with a salt truck. Other machines whiten teeth, spray-tan skin, and massage muscles.

Planet Beach operates on a gym-style membership system, meaning that members purchase packages or pay flat monthly rates. As members spend more time at the spa, they get to know the helpful assistants who are always on hand to demonstrate how to use the equipment without activating its ability to cry.

Licensed aesthetician Debby Runner helps whisk away wrinkles and blemishes using advanced skincare techniques. One of them, the HydraFacial system, was featured on an episode of The Doctors. It can purge dirt and dead skin cells from the pores and hydrate the skin, which helps reduce the appearance of blemishes and fine lines. Beyond basic skincare, Debbie also performs professional makeup applications for women and teens to bring out their natural beauty or jump-start their careers as mimes.