Get your sore, tired and strained muscles ready; atmospHAiR spa, 28944 W. Route 120, Lakemoor, is open for business after celebrating the grand opening of its “Massage & Skin Care Sanctuary” July 19. The sanctuary is an expansion into the space next door to their salon along Route 120.
“The space next door was vacant for about a year and I just had the idea it was a great location to provide clients a real sanctuary where they can unwind and truly relax,” said owner Linda Whyte. “We had one massage room in our salon but it wasn’t ideal for offering the peaceful and relaxing environment that we wanted for our spa services.”
Whyte said that, try as they might, they couldn’t keep the activity in the busy salon quiet enough for the desired refuge of the relaxing environment of the one massage room.
“It didn’t provide the optimal situation for our massage therapists to service their guests,” she said.
Mark Malmstedt is one of the massage therapists whose strong and supple fingers will massage the tension out of the sanctuary’s clients. Whyte said Malmstedt has received rave reviews from guests so far.
“I have certifications in Swedish massage and deep tissue massage,” Malmstedt said. “I also have knowledge of sports massage and myofacial-release therapy.”
He described myofacial-release massage as the process of unwinding the individual muscle groups in the body by elongating the muscles and relieving stress. “When you do a myo release, it’s very gentle; it’s very non-invasive,” he said.
The new sanctuary has three massage rooms – two with single tables and one with double tables allowing for the new trend of couples massages. The sanctuary also has a new modernized skin therapy room where restorative and therapeutic facials and full body waxings are offered.
“We’re also expanding our reception area, giving us the much needed extra room to work with our guests as they arrive and depart,” Whyte said.
She described the expansion as decorated in soft, earthy tones, including chocolaty browns and creamy beiges, accented with metals, all designed to augment the meditative environment of the sanctuary. Each room will have its own theme décor and accent color based on one of the elements earth, water, wind and fire. By piping soft, relaxing music into each of the rooms, the sanctuary will surround clients with restive surroundings that will begin the process of taking out the kinks even before the massage and skin therapists begin their work.
The new massage center will employ eight licensed and certified massage therapists and one licensed and certified esthetician. The sanctuary will offer Sunday hours in addition to the other six days of the week.
Whyte said several of the massage therapists are working on certifications to offer hot-stone massage and pregnancy massage. One therapist is training to later provide certified massage therapy for clients who have cancer. Malmstedt said he’s working on his myofacial certificate.
Before the expansion, atmospHAiR spa occupied 1,783 square feet of space. The expansion will add another 1,147 square feet to the facility.
