Beauty & Spas in Holyoke

During Simplicity Salon’s three-hour Coppola keratin smoothing treatment, a formaldehyde-free protein complex, encases hair follicles in a keratinous bond, straightening strands, adding shine, and ensuring spider-shaming levels of silkiness. The treatment eliminates up to 95% of frizz, making hair appear longer while cutting down on morning blow-dry times. Hair must be kept dry for 72 hours after the treatment, precluding hair washing or underwater swimming dance moves. Straight strands last for 3–5 months, depending on care and hair type. Your Groupon includes keratin shampoo and conditioner (a $40 value) for post-treatment maintenance.

In spite of the name, Community Massage epitomizes personal service. The massage therapists tailor each deep-tissue, reflexology, or hot-stone massage session to suit clients' unique body type or set of instructions tattooed on their back. Similarly, aestheticians customize facials to hydrate dry skin or draw excess oil from pores.

Massage therapist Jodi McClain had just finished her last massage of the day when her patient, still lying prone on the table, burst into tears. She began speaking about difficult emotional issues she'd held in for years, until that massage helped set the pain free. Jodi savors seeing her clients leave happier than they were when they walked in, and uses her custom blend of Swedish, deep-tissue, and trigger-point-therapy massage to achieve this pleasant outcome—by way of ousting tension and muscular pain. She also performs myofascial-release massage and cranio-sacral therapy upon request, and can collaborate with doctors to build injury-treatment plans and incite laughter with multiple taps to the funny bone.

During massages, massage therapists may slather their client's skin in Massage FX cream—infused with aloe, arnica, and ivy extracts—to keep it moisturized and dull any site-specific pain. Though they eschew aromatherapy, they often soak a cloth in eucalyptus and peppermint oils to relieve clients' suffering from sinus pressure. They also conduct facials and specialized skinny massages to tone and tighten skin, as well as applying infrared-light therapy to detox skin and enrage cats by demonstrating the photon theory of light, as most cats still think of light as a wave. They conduct all their treatments in one room designed to evoke a garden; with flowers hung from the ceiling, a decorative fence, and soft lighting. While they often plays piano melodies, the massage therapists also lull clients toward relaxation with a bubbling water fountain and casual conversation.

Patrons walking into Masse’s Custom Cuts’ power-blue parlor won’t experience the hurried haircuts and impersonal services of a big chain salon. The stylists at this locally owned studio exemplify individualized service for women, men, and children by discussing styles and recommending looks based on face shape and personal taste. During cuts and conditionings, they pamper heads with Matrix and Redken products.

Growing up, Southern Sun-Sations's owner, Virginia, always enjoyed being outside and absorbing the warmth of the sun. That's why, once she was older, she decided that the tanning industry provided a natural path to follow her passion. Since 2003, Virginia's been helping people enjoy the sun's warmth and tan-imbuing rays at Southern Sun-Sations. The indoor sun-salon supplements its different levels of UV-tanning beds with Mystic Tan booths, which coat bodies with sun-kissed color without UV rays and awkward first dates with the sun.

Marie Loranger takes on aches and pains with a pair of well-trained hands. Her deft fingers deploy modalities ranging from the gentle kneading of Swedish massage to the intense pressure of deep-tissue massage, depending on the needs of the client. Marie also handles other healing traditions, such as ear candling and stretching, the latter of which incorporates stretching and pressure on the whole body.

Although Marie currently works inside a room at Exotic Image Tanning and Massage Spa, the inspiration for her business name comes from her plans to take her massages on the road. Soon, she will be pulling into home driveways or office parking lots where she can perform her massages in a dimly lit, temperature-controlled room.