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Thrillist Itineraries

Thrillist destination guides with local expertise to help with everything you need to know before embarking on your next adventure.

Thrillist Itineraries Destination Guides: Things to Do and Everything You Need to Know Before Traveling

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Best Travel Guides, Cool Hotels and Interesting Events - Thrillist

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SpaDerma

These self-care and wellness activities in Chicago are the best way to unwind in the Windy City.

Chicago

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In Chicago there’s no better time to prioritize (or upgrade) your wellness routine than when <a href="https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/us-states-with-the-worst-winters">winter is around the corner</a>. The city might be known for its hustle, sports, and <a href="https://www.thrillist.com/eat/chicago/best-restaurants-in-chicago">food scene</a>, but the long dark hours that lay ahead create the right conditions to recharge and invest in yourself. And while you can’t make the sunny days come any sooner, getting your mind, body, and spirit ready for them will ease the dry, cold, brittle of the season. 
 
Self-care means different things to different people so we’ve put together a list that reflects a wide variety of interests. From holistic work spaces to new moon celebration rituals, these are the spots around the city that are sure to get you through.

In Chicago there’s no better time to prioritize (or upgrade) your wellness routine than when <a href="https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/us-states-with-the-worst-winters">winter is around the corner</a>. The city might be known for its hustle, sports, and <a href="https://www.thrillist.com/eat/chicago/best-restaurants-in-chicago">food scene</a>, but the long dark hours that lay ahead create the right conditions to recharge and invest in yourself. And while you can’t make the sunny days come any sooner, getting your mind, body, and spirit ready for them will ease the dry, cold, brittle of the season.

Self-care means different things to different people so we’ve put together a list that reflects a wide variety of interests. From holistic work spaces to new moon celebration rituals, these are the spots around the city that are sure to get you through.

In Chicago there’s no better time to prioritize (or upgrade) your wellness routine than when <a href="https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/us-states-with-the-worst-winters">winter is around the corner</a>. The city might be known for its hustle, sports, and <a href="https://www.thrillist.com/eat/chicago/best-restaurants-in-chicago">food scene</a>, but the long dark hours that lay ahead create the right conditions to recharge and invest in yourself. And while you can’t make the sunny days come any sooner, getting your mind, body, and spirit ready for them will ease the dry, cold, brittle of the season.Self-care means different things to different people so we’ve put together a list that reflects a wide variety of interests. From holistic work spaces to new moon celebration rituals, these are the spots around the city that are sure to get you through.

The full vegan waxing spa is the first in the city. They offer a combination of both hard and soft waxes to meet each guest's unique hair removal needs. They also offer full body sugaring hair removal services and facial threading, making them one of the few spas in Chicago offering all methods of hair removal. In addition to waxing services, the boutique spa offers facials, eyebrow and lash work. Of particular interest is their <a href="https://waxskinlounge.com/acne-boot-camp-your-path-to-clear-skin/">Acne Bootcamp</a>.

Wax & Skin Lounge

The Wax & Skin Lounge

Russian manicures, Sofwave Skin Lifting (non-invasive wrinkle help and collagen boost) and Tixel skin resurfacing (a non-invasive thermal treatment to improve skin texture) are a few of the options available at the two-story Shot Bar, which offers rejuvenating treatments and cosmetic services. The space design feels less clinical and more like a fun night in at your trendy friend’s house. Regular Victoria Kent recommends the quickie Glo2Facials saying: “There's no downtime, you leave feeling really glowy and hydrated. It's also a quick spa stop. The facials are either 15 or 30 minutes and you get the same benefits with either time frame.”

Shot Bar

Facials, filler, laser, Botox are just a few of the spots catering to this North side med spa. They lead with science-backed, medical-grade approach to skincare. Multiple locations make it easy to stay up with treatment plans. The business is more than 20 years old, and family-owned and operated.

Spa Derma

The Honeycomb Network is a community space offering holistic co-working and collective care services where connection is at the center of their mission centering BIPOC creative entrepreneurs. Plant-based cooking, Afro-Caribbean dance, chakra balancing, and brand strategy courses for entrepreneurs are a few of the self-care classes offered in-house and online. Expect an apothecary, gallery space and a variety of cultural events, on-site.

The Honeycomb Network

The mainstays of spa services are offered at the Waldorf but where the brand really shines is in its foray into new age mindfulness. <a href="https://na.spatime.com/wac60611/5133944/spa-service/service-item/61816364">Tarot card readings</a>, <a href="https://na.spatime.com/wac60611/5133944/spa-service/service-item/46624089">crystal meditations</a>, and bath rituals are all incorporated through its menu. Not your beat? There’s plenty of signature services to choose from. For long-haul travelers, the <a href="https://na.spatime.com/wac60611/5133944/spa-service/service-item/41500016">Calming Slumber Jet Lag Recovery with CBD</a> might be of particular interest.

Courtesy of Waldorf Astoria Chicago

Waldorf Astoria Chicago

Why leave high-end indulgence to out-of-towners when it’s so easily accessible to city and suburban residents? Treat yourself at the Four Seasons spa with <a href="https://www.fourseasons.com/chicago/spa/facial_treatments/" rel="noreferrer sponsored">The Method by Augustinus Bader facial</a> (brand fans include Kim Kardashian, Bella Hadid, and Priyanka Chopra), <a href="https://www.fourseasons.com/chicago/spa/body_treatments/" rel="noreferrer sponsored">body treatments designed for the change of seasons</a> or just a <a href="https://www.fourseasons.com/chicago/spa/hand_and_foot_treatments/" rel="noreferrer sponsored">fancy nail service</a>. Get 30% off all weekday services with promotional code WELL2023.

Four Seasons Hotel Chicago

Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Chicago

This 122-year-old factory was turned into a bath house inspired by Roman, Greek, and Ottoman practices resulting in a stunning display of architecture that’s only eclipsed by its serene environment. With dim lights, 10,000 square feet of Spanish stone and six pools of aqua to soak in (of varying temps) this is the go-to place when you need to unplug and recharge. Bookings are limited which minimizes overcrowding to ensure a relaxing experience that feels like a 90-minute European getaway. Reservations are required. Weekends tend to sell out earlier, as well as same day appointments.

AIRE Ancient Baths

Aire Ancient Baths

Maggie Eyebrows is the in-real-life salon scene from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiF6-0UTqtc">Destiny’s Child’s Bills, Bills, Bills music video</a>—and just one of the ‘90s and 2000 bangers you can expect to be playing on their TVs in the background at this luxury eyebrow and lash salon. Maintenance beauty care doesn’t have to be boring. At Maggie Eyebrows, it’s a whole vibe.

Maggie Eyebrows

Freeze &amp; Float Spa is one of the few places in the city that offers a wide assortment of self-care services under one roof. Facials and massages aren’t the only thing on the menu here. There’s an infrared sauna, sensory deprivation tanks, cold plunge, laser hair removal, IV therapy, and more for a one-stop shop for all your wellness needs.

Freeze & Float

Newly opened Eastend promises to be a modern wellness space that blends science with ritual. Salt chambers, compression therapy, and bio-energetic therapy (a technique involving lights and sounds) are all a part of this wellness spa focused on slowing down the ravages of time. The high-tech health spa is designed to supercharge your wellness practices.

Eastend

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80agQKcN3oM">Scratch Goods</a> in the city’s trendy West Loop offers natural and affordable skincare for all. The small-batch beauty brand started as a kitchen project and a small Etsy shop by Elizabeth Leipold and Maureen McClure, the two best friends eventually launched Scratch Goods into a successful full-service brick-and-mortar shop in 2015, to help customers get the most out of their products. Since then, the pair has grown their all-natural product line while keeping their original philosophy for product development the same: food-grade ingredients that are safe enough to eat, fragrance from pure essential oils only, and zero water, eliminating the need for synthetic preservatives.

Scratch Goods

This South Side wax, eyebrow and beauty bar bills itself as a “safe space for every body,” regardless of gender identity. Latina owner Isabel Bahena identifies as a queer and has integrated her lived experience into the brand’s ethos of creating a welcoming environment for anyone looking to feel beautiful. Special events at Everybody Beauty Club include full moon celebrations where haircuts are offered as a symbolic ritual of letting go, tarot card readings, and even limpias, Aztec smoke cleanses.

EveryBody Beauty Club

Everybody Beauty Club

Wellness

The Ultimate Wellness Guide to Chicago

Ultimate Wellness Guide to Chicago: Spas, Baths, and More

Here’s how to unwind in the Windy City.

In Chicago there’s no better time to prioritize (or upgrade) your wellness routine than when winter is around the corner.

SpaDerma

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The Ultimate Wellness Guide to Chicago

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