C3 Wellness Spa
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A facial at $77, deep tissue at $130 an hour, back waxing at $85, physical therapy that your insurance may cover. Every price is on this page and every treatment is described in the words the therapist would use.
3001 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh. Open until 8pm on weeknights, so you can come after work.
The short version
That is the real barrier, and it is not vanity. You do not book a thing when you cannot picture what the hour looks like or what you are supposed to do with your hands.
So this page describes each treatment the way the therapist would describe it: what happens, how long it takes, what it costs and what your face or back looks like when you walk back out to your car.
Nothing here is a separate men’s menu with a markup on it. These are the same treatments and the same licensed therapists, listed together because these are the ones men book most.
What it costs
These are the standing rates, not a first visit teaser. Prices are per person and per appointment, and each one links through to the full menu for that treatment.
| Treatment | Length | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Gentleman’s Facial | 60 min | $77 |
| Deep Tissue Massage | 60 min | $130 |
| Deep Tissue Massage | 90 min | $170 |
| Chest Waxing | 30 min | $45 |
| Full Back Waxing | 60 min | $85 |
| Brozilian Wax, front only | 60 min | $65 |
| Brozilian Wax, front and back | 90 min | $85 |
| Physical therapy, self pay | 30 min | $60 |
| Physical therapy, self pay | 60 min | $120 |
| Salt & Sound Booth | 15 min | $15 |
Physical therapy is the one line above that your insurance may pay instead of you. Send your card details through the free benefits check and you will hear a copay figure before you book anything.
A 3.5% card fee applies to card payment and cash is exempt. The fee does not apply to insurance copays. HSA and FSA cards are accepted.
The Gentleman’s Facial
You lie on a heated table, fully clothed from the shoulders down, with a towel across your chest. The only thing being worked on is your face and neck.
Your esthetician starts by cleaning off the day, then reads your skin under a light. She is looking for two things men usually arrive with: oil through the T zone and irritation along the jaw from shaving.
Then comes a gentle exfoliation to take off dead surface skin, steam to soften the pores, and extractions if you want them. Extractions are the part that stings for a second at a time. Say no and the hour continues without them.
A mask goes on for around ten minutes. That is the stretch where your shoulders, arms and hands are usually massaged, because there is nothing else to do while it sets. It ends with moisturiser and sunscreen.
Daily shaving is exfoliation, intended or not. It scrapes the surface layer off your cheeks and jaw every morning, which is why that skin reacts differently to the skin on your forehead.
Tell your esthetician how often you shave and with what. The treatment gets adjusted around it, and the advice at the end is usually about razor technique before it is about products.
Shave the morning of your appointment or the night before, not in the twenty minutes before you arrive. Fresh razor burn limits what can be done.
Slightly pink for an hour or two if you had extractions, and normal by the time you get home. Nothing is applied that anyone would notice at dinner.
The full facial menu runs from $70 to $195 and every price is published. The Gentleman’s Facial is the standard starting point, but nothing stops you booking any of the others.
Back, chest and the rest
Back waxing is $85 for the hour and chest waxing is $45 for half an hour. Both are booked constantly, in May and June especially, and neither is unusual to ask for.
You lie face down for a back wax with a towel over everything not being worked on. Hard wax goes on in sections, sets, and comes off with the hair. A full back takes most of the hour including the shoulders.
It hurts most on the first pass and less on every appointment after that, because the hair grows back finer. Most people describe it as sharp rather than bad, and it is over in a second per strip.
A Brozilian is the male version of a Brazilian: $65 for front only at sixty minutes, $85 for front and back at ninety. Your esthetician has done hundreds of them and will tell you where to move without any fuss about it.
Every waxing price is published on the waxing page, including the smaller ones like ears, nose and brows that men often add on at the desk.
Deep tissue
Deep tissue is $130 for 60 minutes and $170 for 90 minutes, a little above Swedish at every length. Pick by what your body needs rather than by cost.
The work is slower and firmer than a standard massage, pressing into the layer under the surface muscle. It suits stubborn knots, lifting soreness and the shoulder that has been tight since you started working from home.
Two problems account for most of the men booking this. One is a desk: neck, upper back and a chest that has shortened from years of leaning forward. The other is training: hips, hamstrings and low back that will not release.
Tell your therapist which one you are, point at the spot, and say how much pressure you actually want. Firm should feel like work, not like something you are gritting your teeth through.
Ninety minutes is worth the extra $55 if the problem is in more than one place. An hour spent on a back also has to cover shoulders and neck, and that goes quickly.
Cupping at $130 and stretch sessions from $50 are on the massage page along with every other length and price. Cupping leaves round marks for a few days, which is worth knowing before a beach weekend.
The part that is medical
This is the difference between C3 Wellness Spa and a day spa. There is a licensed physical therapist in the building, and that is a medical service with a copay rather than a spa rate.
If your shoulder has been going for eight months, if a knee gave out on a run, or if you were rear ended on Capital Boulevard and it still is not right, this is the door rather than the massage table.
Self pay is $60 for 30 minutes and $120 for the hour if you would rather skip insurance entirely. Plenty of people do, because there is no referral to chase and no deductible to burn through.
If you want to use insurance, send your card and date of birth for a benefits check and you will get a copay figure back before you commit. It costs nothing and there is no obligation attached to it.
Massage can also be billable when it is clinically indicated, meaning it forms part of treatment for an injury or a diagnosed condition. That is decided plan by plan, so the check is the only honest answer.
A first visit
Start with a 60 minute deep tissue at $130. It is the easiest first appointment, it needs no explanation from you, and it tells you whether this place is any good.
Add the Gentleman’s Facial on a second visit once you know the building. Booking both on the same day works and takes about two and a quarter hours in total.
The Salt & Sound Booth is $15 for 15 minutes and needs nothing from you at all. You sit clothed in a room while dry salt air runs, which suits allergies, sinus pressure and a chest that never fully clears in spring.
Arrive ten minutes early for paperwork. Park directly outside at 3001 Hillsborough Street, Suite 124. Weeknight appointments run until 8pm and Saturday runs until 6pm.
If none of it is obvious, call (919) 616-7868 and describe the problem in one sentence. The front desk books this all day and will tell you which treatment fits.
Before you book
A 60 minute facial at $77 built around skin that gets shaved. You stay clothed with a towel across your chest while your esthetician cleanses, exfoliates, steams and does extractions if you want them, then applies a mask, moisturiser and sunscreen. Your shoulders, arms and hands are usually massaged while the mask sets.
Yes, and it is one of the most booked treatments at C3 Wellness Spa. Daily shaving exfoliates the cheeks and jaw every morning, which is why that skin behaves differently to the rest of your face. Most men who book one have never had a facial before, so nobody expects you to know what happens.
The Gentleman’s Facial at C3 Wellness Spa is $77 for 60 minutes. The full facial menu runs from $70 to $195 depending on length and treatment, and every price is published. There is no separate men’s markup, so you can book any facial on the menu at the listed rate.
Shave the morning of your appointment or the night before, not in the twenty minutes before you arrive. Fresh razor burn limits what your esthetician can safely do. Tell her how often you shave and with what, because the treatment is adjusted around it and the advice afterwards is usually about technique before products.
A Brozilian is the male version of a Brazilian wax. At C3 Wellness Spa it is $65 for front only at 60 minutes and $85 for front and back at 90 minutes. Hard wax is applied in sections and removed with the hair, and your esthetician will direct you through it without any awkwardness about it.
The first appointment is the sharpest and every one after that is easier, because the hair grows back finer. Each strip stings for about a second and the rest of the hour is comfortable. Full back waxing is $85 for 60 minutes and chest waxing is $45 for 30 minutes at C3 Wellness Spa.
Deep tissue at C3 Wellness Spa is $130 for 60 minutes and $170 for 90 minutes, slightly above Swedish and therapeutic at each length. Book 90 minutes if the problem is in more than one area, because an hour on a back also has to cover shoulders and neck.
Yes. C3 Wellness Spa has a licensed physical therapist on site, which makes it a medical service rather than a spa treatment. Self pay is $60 for 30 minutes and $120 for 60 minutes, and most plans are billable so you pay a copay instead. Send your insurance card and date of birth for a free benefits check first.
A 60 minute deep tissue massage at $130 is the easiest starting point, because it needs no explanation from you and it shows you the building. Add the Gentleman’s Facial at $77 on a second visit, or book both on the same day for about two and a quarter hours in total.
Answer a few questions and we will tell you where we would start you, and why. It takes about thirty seconds and nothing you pick is sent anywhere.
Facials from $77, deep tissue $130, first visit $85, on Hillsborough Street and open until eight on weeknights.