Beauty & Spas in Winter Garden

The Spa at Bella Collina is a luxurious contradiction. Its massive welcoming area and stone-tiled courtyard are reminiscent of an Italian castle, but inside, therapists rejuvenate bodies with the latest and most popular spa techniques. The spa's personalized treatments rejuvenate clients in a private retreat nestled in the rolling hills near Lake Siena. Before their treatments, clients can slip into robes in the private locker room, then relax in a secluded courtyard graced with a trickling waterfall and a blacksmith who fashions cast-iron cucumbers. The staff provide visitors with a comprehensive and detailed menu of facials, body treatments, nailcare, hair services, and massage therapy.

During more than 15 years in the beauty industry, Tracy Belknap experienced firsthand the positive effects beauty treatments can have on a woman's self-esteem. She helps bolster her clients' confidence with simple beauty solutions and has even seen women cry with joy after a single treatment, a reaction that only strengthened her resolve to found Lash Envy & Day Spa. Though she offers facials and other spa treatments, Tracy has a particular affinity for luxurious eyelash extensions, which she has been applying for the last seven years. The licensed eyelash specialist and her four other lash artists all rely on a steady hand and medical-grade glue to affix the single-strand lashes to 70% or 100% of natural lashes or to the full forehead.

Physician and Balanced Health and Wellness founder Dr. Mary Alavi may not be a mapmaker, but she does understand that knowing where you are is the first step toward getting to where you want to be. She created the center after years of watching her patients suffer from premature aging and degenerative diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, knowing full well that many cases could have been preventable had her patients merely stopped to examine the signs. Her whole-person approach to health care includes a detailed exploration of each patient's history, lifestyle, genetic factors, and favorite episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, which allows her to outline a custom treatment plan. This road map to wellness might include medical screening or lab testing, nutrition plans or fitness protocols led by a certified personal trainer, or even visits with a life coach. Dr. Alavi's balanced approach to wellness also inspired her to make changes in her own life—since 2003, she's lost and kept off an inspirational 60 pounds, and she continues to share her own personal successes and failures to encourage her patients to stay on track.

The patient-centered philosophy at Balanced Health and Wellness is evident in the lobby, where guests relax in antique-style chairs and make small talk with a grandfatherly hardwood clock. Staffers present clients with tea or flavored water before directing them to sessions with a massage therapist or an aesthetician, or to a consultation with the office's certified laser technician, who sets his smoothing sights on hair, spider veins, fine lines, and age spots.

At Altamonte Springs Body Contouring, doctor of chiropractic Ken Ross knows a bad back when he sees one. A retired deputy sheriff with an extensive background in law, he puts his training to use as he lectures on medical fraud and treats a laundry list of chronic aches and pains through noninvasive, drug-free techniques. With three decades of chiropractic experience under his belt, Dr. Ross allays spinal troubles with precision adjustments that nudge bulging disks into healthier positions. He also draws on such contemporary medical procedures as ultrasonic fat reduction, a treatment designed to help clients to lose weight without dieting excessively or pushing their car to work every morning. Dr. Ross demonstrates his devotion to patient well-being through individualized care, personally overseeing every treatment that takes place in his office to ensure effectiveness and results.

Dr. Richard S. Bragg believes that outward appearance impacts the way people feel on the inside. That’s why he built his practice with a passion for making people feel better about their appearance mixed right into the foundation. As director of Florida Vein Care and Cosmetic Center, Dr. Bragg follows this mission by treating patients with safe, effective, and advanced cosmetic treatments.

At two locations, Dr. Bragg and his staff utilize surgical and non-surgical techniques to perform procedures like repairing stretched and torn ear piercings, and eliminating red spots from the epidermis. His staff also nourishes skin with glycolic facials and nixes wrinkles with Botox Cosmetic and Juvederm.

A head of green hair is not usually the desired outcome of a do-it-yourself coloring job. That's where Luscious Locks' owner Jessica Ramirez comes in; drawing from an education at a Paul Mitchell school and nine years in the haircare business, Jessica deals with such coiffure don'ts with finesse. Within light-strewn confines perched close to Lake Mineola, the stylist repairs damage from coloring mishaps and berets sculpted from taffy or simply spruces up locks with cuts that jive with each customer's lifestyle. She begins each hair appointment by luring out content sighs with a shampoo and a five-minute head massage.