Personal endorsement: After moving to Atlanta six years ago, I began a quest for a go-to waxer, visiting at least five places (testing multiple aestheticians at each) before meeting Raquel. In those days she worked in the back of a salon that also offered manicures and spray tans; it did not seem like the type of place that would employ an expert. But Raquel has the magic touch. I was so pleasantly surprised by her technique, I haven’t gone to anyone else. Raquel—who pioneered sugaring in Atlanta—now owns Sweet Peach, a specialty studio in Virginia-Highland. —Caroline C. Kilgore
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Paris Campeau, Jazmin Spa
Personal endorsement: I know nobody has a truly symmetrical face, but that knowledge does not make me any less self-conscious about having uneven eyes. Most waxing just accentuates my crooked lids. But Paris is a magician of an aesthetician, able to create the illusion of symmetry with pain-free waxing and a little adroit tweezing. She also does the longest-lasting lash and brow tinting I have ever tested, which enhances her handiwork— and eliminates the need for mascara. —Rebecca Burns
Raw Bronzing Studio
Construction in Inman Park sent Tiffany Terranova’s studio packing to the Westside this year, and it’s now tucked away where no one will see you making the unglamorous post-spray dash to your car. A human (rather than a machine) applies your tan in a small room with laminated glam magazine pages on the walls. Extra tanning molecules are sucked out through a vent tastefully disguised as a Chinese screen. Terranova expertly mists a glow that’s not too dark, not too orange, and not too smelly thanks to the organic ingredients in her specially blended product.
Four-Handed Massage, Mind & Body Day Spa
Two massage therapists indeed prove twice as effective. In the Alpharetta spa’s largest treatment room, a duo of practitioners work in tandem: They begin by unknotting the back with fluid, simultaneous motions, then one kneads the shoulders while the other works on the legs. The experience disorients in the most relaxing way possible. The massage is $170 for sixty minutes; $250 for ninety. Achieve an even deeper sense of calm by adding shirodhara, an Indian Ayurvedic treatment in which warm, herbed oil is drizzled over the forehead and then massaged into the scalp. It’s $65 for an additional thirty minutes, and you’ll want a nap afterward.
Mandarin Oriental
When the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group took over Buckhead’s former Mansion on Peachtree earlier this year, it revamped the spa with its signature therapies fusing Asian and European techniques. Start with a fifty-minute Oriental Essence massage ($135) that combines Chinese acupressure and Swedish massage. Or indulge in the nearly two-hour Peaches and Cream ($280), which uses nutty peach-scented massage oil and, as a finale, features a scalp rub that includes Georgia red clay.
Sweet Peach Wax & Sugaring Studio
Swarms of stubble-free followers swear by Raquel Souza’s sugaring—a Middle Eastern practice that removes hair with a paste made from sugar, water, and lemon juice rather than wax. It’s less painful because the sugar adheres only to hair, not skin. Results also last one to two weeks longer than with traditional methods. The first to offer sugaring in Atlanta, the Brazilian aesthetician also specializes in body scrubs and facials. We love her line of all-natural waxes, scrubs, lotions, and soaps. Plans are in the works for a second location in Buckhead.
The Mastery by Esani
Having walked in with roots and split ends, we expected a talking-to, but stylist Genevieve was nothing short of lovely. She asked about our hair’s texture and temperament, then suggested an awapuhi wild ginger hair repair treatment ($60). Gliding past crystal chandeliers and slate walls to a row of shampoo bowls, we settled in for the absolute best scalp massage to the soundtrack of a rolling thunderstorm. This new Paul Mitchell salon—owned by Lucie Doughty (a stylist to the likes of Charlize Theron and Rene Russo) and Arlene Lyons (Stanford MBA and former VP at Fidelity Investments)—doubles as an academy for aspiring stylists and entrepreneurs wanting to run their own salons.
Jonpaul’s
“Manly” and “spas” don’t normally coalesce, but Jonpaul’s and its country club aura excel in equating the two. Services include massages, nail grooming, and tonsorial services, but the twenty-five-step Deluxe Shave with hot towels and scented oils makes you feel like a master of the universe.
Château Élan
This Napa-esque winery and resort’s spa, just forty minutes northeast of Atlanta, elevated its game with a $3 million renovation in 2010, adding spa suites, couples’ treatment rooms, and big, comfy couches for relaxing between services like the Château Winery Ritual, a grapeseed body scrub and mud wrap. Day rates for access to common areas, whirlpool, sauna, and steam room are a deal for inn guests: $25 during the week, $35 on weekends. The best part? A low-lit “quiet room” for napping.
Blo Beauty Bar
When it opened in summer 2011, Blo became the first local salon to specialize in tress-straightening blowouts, which start at $35 and include a shampoo and invigorating scalp massage (you can also add cocktail-inspired conditioning treatments, like the Dirty Martini). A competitor, national chain Drybar, opened in fall in Buckhead, but Blo’s advantage? Its location: a girlified ranch in Brookhaven that lends intimacy to bridal and bachelorette parties (who can rent out the whole place).
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