Massage in Sun City

Our bodies are constantly subjected to the stresses of work, family, and clingy shadows, so the staff at Color Me Bella Spa and Salon works hard to ensure clients look and feel their best. Stylists transform tresses with cut and coloring treatments and aestheticians swiftly remove fuzz from brows during waxing sessions. In addition to hair services, clients can opt for a mani-pedi or botanical facial, or retreat to a private room for a therapeutic hot stone massage at the hands of the spa's licensed massage therapist.

During the eight years she taught anatomy, physiology, and therapeutic massage, Patti Selleck was frustrated. On her website she discloses the reason: "As much as I could affect with massage, I couldn't make permanent changes." So she sought therapies to enhance the results she could provide for clients, traveling a path that led her to enroll in The Rolf Institute in Boulder, Colorado. Rolfing, the commercial name for structural integration, relies on gravity to release tension patterns after sessions in bands of connective tissue called fascia that, when tight, strained, or french braided, can cause joint and muscle pain and imbalances throughout the entire body.

Selleck connected with the practice because it built on her strengths, as the healing process stems from consultations with clients—a specialty of hers since she is a chaplain and a certified lay counselor—and requires a massage therapist's deft touch and detailed understanding of the human body. More than a quarter-century after learning massage in 1985, she revels in work that can have a transformative effect on her patients' lives, enabling them to achieve emotional and spiritual balance through physical alignment.

Brandi Nuttall, the owner of Dolce Salon & Spa, must believe that you can never have too much of a good thing. Expanding upon her first and second Dolce locations, which measure in at 12,000 and 13,000 square feet, respectively, she opened the third hub in 2007, and now there is a fourth. The 30,000-square-foot behemoth built in 2007 houses 62 styling stations, 21 spa rooms, 14 pedicure thrones, a makeup counter, a brow bar, and manicure stations. All four locations boast the same services—though at different scales—as well as men’s hair and spa treatments and bridal styling. Unlike hotels that charge extra for doorknobs and oxygen, the salons have a generous streak. They provide hairstyling services to those who donate to Locks of Love, spa services to local foster children, and hair clippings to areas affected by oil spills.

Half a dozen facials and plenty of waxing treatments are the bread and butter of The Best Little Spa, where licensed aestheticians care for their clients' complexions in a relaxed atmosphere. The team spends around 60 minutes per facial, cleansing and steaming skin during the European treatment or combating acne and abandoned whack-a-mole holes with the high-frequency Blemish Blaster facial. Diamond-tipped microdermabrasion wands, meanwhile, work to buff away age spots and shrink pores. The staff members can embellish any facial with add-ons such as collagen masks. They also make way for tiny condos on the skin by waxing an array of body areas.

The eponymous rituals of Salon Rituals seem simple enough. Staff members speak with each client and assesses what defines them, from face shape and skin type to hair texture, sense of style, and dictionary of choice. Then they unleash their font of Aveda-backed knowledge to color hair, perform facials, or teach clients how to apply their own makeup for a flawless style.