With services that include sea-salt scrubs, Botox injections and ear candling, day spas in Howard County can provide luxurious escapes from the stresses of everyday life and help customers look and feel better in the process.
Some customers stop by for a couple of hours, for maintenance procedures such as manicures and hair-removal; others indulge in a full day of pampering, often with friends, that might include facials, a gourmet lunch and hydrotherapy. Treatments like hot stone massages - in which smooth stones are warmed and placed on the body as part of a more traditional massage - have become commonplace. But these days, spas are turning to more exotic treatments, such as body wraps that promise to take inches off the figure or reflexology massages that promise to relax the entire body though the massage therapist works only on the feet.
The spa business is booming in Howard County. Lynn's Day Spa, one of the first in the county when it opened nine years ago, has expanded four times, said owner Lynn Shannon, and now has 4,000 square feet and 25 treatment rooms. Meanwhile, new spas continue to open and flourish.
Here is a listing of many local day spas and some of the services they offer.
Lynn's Day Spa, 10720 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia, 410-730-1822.
Seaweed body wraps, Dead Sea salt scrubs and time in an oxygen chamber are among the treatments offered at this something-for-everyone retreat.
Owner Lynn Shannon said about 40 percent of her customers are men, who come in for services ranging from facials to sports massages.
The wide-ranging list of services starts with a simple manicure, and goes up from there. Perhaps the most luxurious package is a six-hour relaxation session that includes a mud wrap, steam, aromatherapy massage, manicure, pedicure and paraffin treatments for the hand and feet.
Lynn's also provides spa treatment for the Columbia Association at the Columbia Gym in the River Hill Village Center.
Studio K Salon and Spa, 11045 Stratfield Court, Marriottsville, 410-442-4060.
Owner Kathy Hughes opened this full-service spa and salon in September 2005, and said customers come in for everything from haircuts to massages. A salon offers hair care, manicures and pedicures, and there is a separate spa for massages and facials.
One spa service is ear candling, a centuries-old technique that places a paraffin cylinder in the outer canal of the ear. When it is lit, Hughes said, "It pulls all the toxins out."
