Sessions let customers lie back, relax

During facials, soft music plays and aromatherapy candles glow.
Permanent hair removal is possible with Gentle Touch Skin Care's Aurora machine. Nurse practitioner Mary Lou Ferranto does all of the hair removal. "We offer a package deal," she says, "because it usually takes several sessions six to eight weeks apart to remove all the hair. Follicles grow at different rates, so you can't get all of it at once."
Young adult women and older teens are most interested in hair removal under their arms and on their faces and legs, Ferranto says, and men come in for their necks and backs.
Licensed aesthetician Paula Shelton of Hubbard handles facials and self-tanning at Gentle Touch Skin Care. "I love what I do," she says. "It's not work."
After graduation from a cosmetology school, Shelton worked at a spa, but she wanted more. "I wanted to use my own ideas and to be taken seriously. I was so excited to come here and work with Gentle Touch."
In Shelton's room at the Salem office, her personality shows through. The lights are turned down, aromatherapy candles are burning and soft music spills into the scented air.
Satisfied customer
"It was unbelievable," says Lisa Chronister of East Liverpool, who was given a free facial after she hosted a skin-care party. "It took a solid hour, with me just relaxing on a heated feather bed. There was warm steam blowing on my face. She used all kinds of oils and exfoliators and moisturizers. And it wasn't just my face. She massaged my scalp, my neck, my arms and my hands. I enjoyed it as much as I would a full body massage."
Shelton has acquired some regular clients who have facials monthly. Others come in before a special occasion, or because they received a facial as a gift. Facials can be customized for a client's needs, and can include deep cleansing, sinus treatment or acne repair. Full-body therapy and self-tanning are also available.