Beauty & Spas in Worthington

Beyond its rust-and-silver-hued metal sign, Monarch Health's patients meet with Dr. Deborah Cole-Sedivy and an adept medical staff of certified nurse practitioners. In the cosmetic-therapy center, a trio of LightSheer Duet lasers scours skin's excess fuzz, and CoolLipo lasers melt away subdermal cellulite while preserving ice cream sandwiches stowed in patients' pockets. Medical staffers bustle to and fro, working to personalize aesthetic services, such as facials and chemical peels, and families mosey into appointments for health surveys, physical examinations, and diet-and-lifestyle assessments. Therapists augment many treatment plans with natural foods and herbal supplements, which use Mother Earth's bounty to boost health without the dangers of bench-pressing a seemingly lonely bear cub.

Sensational Smiles' Dr. Brian M. Mooney, a full-service dental practitioner, whitens discolored gumstones in less than an hour using Zoom! technology. During the 45-minute session, the dentist lathers teeth with a light-activated gel to bleach away stains caused by coffee, smoking, and clumsy cocktail-party guests. The treatment's specialized light may cause heightened sensitivity in teeth, but any tingling will dissipate shortly after the procedure. After brightening their chatter factories up to eight shades whiter, clients take home a preventive-care package packed with goodies for the mouth, including a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, lip gloss, and a stainless-steel mug. Sensational Smiles ensconces visitors in a spa-like setting lavished in leather sofas, soothing music, and time-killing books. A selection of complimentary beverages, sugar-free snacks, and fresh cookies show tasters that you care without having to swallow a dozen red roses.

Six years ago, a troupe of talented and ambitious stylists opened Scioto Hair Artists Group with the aim of creating a positive workplace focused on fostering a personal relationship between each stylist and client. Affectionately shortened to S.H.A.G. by the artists and their clientele, the salon may seem peculiar because it has no receptionist. Instead, new clients meet the stylists face-to-face, learning their background and specialties before they choose who will cut their hair. A cheery color scheme of pink, black, and white matches the positive energy encouraged by the stylists, and vaulted ceilings display exposed rafters and accommodate any birds made recently homeless after their nests were cut off.

College students explore plenty of options to fund their education—waiting tables, working in the library, moonlighting as birthday clowns—but these ventures are usually temporary. When Charity Hawk began doing nails in 1999 to pay for college, her client roster began to grow, rapidly. She says, “I realized then, this is what you go to college for,” and being a nail technician became her career. Her clients, some of whom have been with her for more than 10 years, get pampered in the space Refuge at the Mill, formerly known as Nails by Charity, where dark hardwood floors and sheer black curtains balance stucco-textured walls, giving the salon an elegant, vintage feel. In mani-pedis enhanced with sugar scrubs and moisture masks, Charity coats nails with polish by OPI and formaldehyde-free Zoya as shiatsu massage chairs ease stress. Charity is most adept at working with acrylic nails, on which she uses only Entity products. Her years of experience have given her a talent for correcting acrylics gone awry without reapplying them, damaging the natural nail bed, or forcing them to go to detention.

Under Stephanie Nguyen's direction, nail technicians and aestheticians at Luxe Nail Spa weave through the spacious salon, attending to their tasks like gears inside a grandfather clock. With 20 pedicure chairs and a separate spa treatment suite, "ours is the largest and most elegant salon in Columbus," Stephanie says. Beyond the array of pedicure chairs, corinthian columns support a lime-green arch leading to the chandelier-lit manicure station. OPI and Gelish shades pop after striking nails, waiting to be cured under lamps installed in circular tables that facilitate conversation between clients and the parrots perched on their shoulders. Within the spa treatment suite, aestheticians deliver spray tans, waxing, and massages.

Within the beautifying outpost of Salons at High and Hubbard, aesthetician Eugenia Garnes flaunts her transformative prowess in makeup, skincare, and waxing. Soothing mint-green walls surround Eugenia and her clients during aesthetic treatments, which can refine visages with organic facials customized to individual skin chemistry or with salon makeovers that use classic cosmetics or the precise artistry of airbrushed makeup. Eugenia also smoothes areas of the face and body with waxing sessions that, like caresses from an on-fire stunt man, rid skin of unwanted hair.