Montage Skin & Body Studio, Manhattan Beach

Montage Boutique Spa boasts modern beauty services and a trendy atmosphere, while still hitting the service-oriented grace notes of service (think personal shelves to lay your jewelry on before laying down on a body cushion). Owner Dianne de la Garrique has earned a cadre of followers in her 20 years in health and beauty, and small touches like these still attract them to her calm, essential oil-scented studio.

Dianne bills herself as a constant seeker of the best beauty products, and the ones that meet her standards are integrated into the menu and executed by the studio's licensed aestheticians. Customized facials here are often medleys of vitamin C, peptide, or fruit and plant enzymes that are fine-tuned to every face's needs. Regenerative stem-cell facials, meanwhile, harness science and nature to soften the appearance of fine lines and thick squiggles. And for the finer touches, Montage offers massage, organic mani-pedis, and a boutique with apparel and accessories.