Spas and Salons

In the early 1980s, Wilmington women had their hair and nails done in beauty shops. Men went to barber shops for a shave and a haircut. Rarely would you see a man receiving services in a beauty shop or a woman in a barber shop. Hairdressers often provided services in their homes and had largely a neighborhood or family type of clientele. The 1982-83 Yellow Pages listed 87 beauty parlors, no day spas, no nail salons.

Fitness meant membership in the “Y” or perhaps one of the few local athletic clubs: Concept One, Atlantic Nautilus Fitness Center, Center Court and Elaine Powers Figure Salon. A suntan actually came from being out in the sun. Dermatologists focused on skin disorders. Plastic surgeons stuck to surgery. Massage was equated with physical therapy. Aromatherapy was unheard of. Spirit was associated with church. Not so today.

Tremendous Growth In Spa Industry

What a difference 25 years makes! In 2008, southeastern North Carolina has become an all-around great place to enjoy a healthful lifestyle. You can find more than enough activities to get and keep you fit and fantastic. Then, after a good workout, you’ll most certainly want a massage, sauna or spa treatment. Give your body, mind and spirit the care they deserve – right here, right now.

Check out some or our many excellent fitness centers and health clubs – some 30 listed are listed the 2007-08 Yellow Pages. Stop in for tours and meet the personnel who work in them. Get the feel for a place before committing to membership. We recommend taking advantage of free trial periods when they’re available. Around here you can find a wide variety of facilities, everything from cozy small fitness centers for women only to large, sophisticated, state-of-the-art, freestanding health clubs, with lots of places in between.

A Full Range Of Fitness Activities

If you’re not into serious strengthening or heavy-duty workouts, you can find less arduous activities on the menus of most fitness centers, but particularly at the area’s senior centers, YMCA, YWCA or local recreation centers. With a little effort, you’ll find just what you’re looking for; after that, it’s only a matter of time before you’re looking and feeling terrific.

Among the tremendous array of fitness activities to choose from are the usual and the not-so-usual selections. Depending on your interests and skills, you can exercise in the water, in the gym or in the great outdoors. Want classes in yoga or Pilates? We’ve got them. Looking for total body conditioning systems or a personal trainer? We’ve got lots of them. Need help with prescription exercise or cardiovascular programs? We’ve got these, too.

Tanning Options

Of course, no southern coastal community worth its grits would be without a fair share of tanning salons. Heaven forbid that a Snowbird should appear on the beach with pasty, white, northern skin or worse yet, return home in such an unpardonable way! For that matter, many of us who live here like to get a head start on beach season by visiting our favorite body bronzing palace. Fortunately, we’ve got health-conscious entrepreneurs who offer safe tanning options, and those businesses using tanning beds have strict regulations.

Both men and women enjoy being pampered occasionally, which is why we have a large number of pampering places. From head to toe, you can get beautified, baked, trimmed, tweezed, waxed, wrapped, rubbed, scented, coiffed or manicured – all in one delicious salon visit, if you so choose. Now the theme is unisex, with men commonly seen in salons. You’ll be amazed at the number and variety of shops, salons and spas available here.

Choices Galore

Ever-popular are the intimate neighborhood styling parlors where everyone knows everyone else and gossip abounds, but you can also find hair and nail salons in many department stores, strip plazas, malls and shopping centers. The big business, though, is day spas. We love them.

Weddings, pageants, proms, parades, festivals, balls and graduation parties provide ladies with excellent excuses for a spa experience. We have numerous small, pleasant salons that are less expensive and we have larger, more sophisticated ones with top-of-the-line services carrying an appropriate price tag. A few local physicians offer limited in-office facial or spa treatments, too.

Consider spending a few hours to an entire day being fussed over and nurtured. Because spa services are designed to promote relaxation, we recommend that you leave your children, pagers, and cell phones at home. Maybe you’d like to have a relaxation massage, body polish, microdermabrasion, or steam heat therapy. Why not throw in aromatherapy for good measure? Enjoy!