Spa Guide: A White Pond Paradise Salon and Day Spa

Rick Lucas grew up watching his family pamper people. His mother ran a salon in the basement of his childhood home and his younger sister Patty opened A White Pond Paradise Salon and Day Spa in 2001. Now as the sole owner of the Akron salon, Lucas touts tried-and-tested treatments such as a Swedish massage ($50-$128) and hot stone massage ($105-$158). “A lot of what we do has been around for thousands of years,” he says. “The more you go back, I think, they had a lot of things right as far as overall wellness.” But that doesn’t mean Lucas isn’t about experimenting with new options — think massages that are tailored to athletes ($75) or expectant mothers ($65-$150) and facials aimed at slowing the aging process ($95) or calming a preteen’s turbulent skin ($50). “It’s more about consistency,” he says of his client’s ideal health and wellness goals. “I would like to be an information portal to say, ‘This might not be the quickest way to get what you want, but it’s the safest and the healthiest.’ ” 566 White Pond Drive, Akron, 330-865-7800, awhitepondparadise.com

Try this: Lie in a water massage bed for the Cactus Cloth Body Polish ($95), which uses a thin cloth made from cactus fibers (that you get to take home and reuse) to cleanse and deeply exfoliate, removing dead skin on top and stimulating blood circulation below. Rising steam opens pores, while the gentle beating of four showerheads reveals bright, fresh skin.

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