Facial massage, skin detoxification and reiki healing: this is where to treat your face to some TLC.

MO+ Bondi Junction

Ancient therapies and new-age technologies

If you, like me, know all too well the feeling of puffy eyes and a clenched jaw, or hold all your tension and stress in your neck and shoulders, then a facial specifically designed to release and sculpt muscles may be for you. It’s the kind of problem skincare won’t help with, and we don’t all have weeks of rest and relaxation waiting around the corner. Diet, exercise and relaxation tools help, of course, but sometimes a reset is in order. Use of facial sculpting, lymphatic drainage and Gua Sha tools are all on the rise and have become the new standard in beauty treatments.

MO+ in Bondi Junction offers Remedial Facial Sculpting as a stand-alone treatment. The skincare is simple – a cleansing water and jojoba-based hydrating oil – and the focus is instead on the lymphatic drainage and tension relief. Beginning with a LED Light Therapy your therapist will then work on the muscles across your chest, shoulders, neck, jaw and face. Long strokes and pressure point techniques releasing and sculpting the face and jaw. It won’t hurt per se but you will feel the pressure.

“Tight facial muscles inhibit oxygenation and nutrition, decreasing flow to the skin – a vital element for healthy, bright looking skin ... By releasing the tension in your facial muscles, your facial shape will often take on a slimmer, softer, more relaxed and natural look - like you’ve just come back from holidays."
- Barbara Choy, MO+ Bondi Junction

Karpati Medispa

The skin diagnosis

It is always refreshing to hear that the best way to care for your skin is really to do less. That is, fewer products and only products that are suited to you. Knowing what this is in a saturated industry is harder and harder, even for those of us that work in the field.

Enter Karpati Medispa in Sydney. Eva Karpati’s philosophy of natural skincare and machine-based therapy is the re-evaluation we’ve been searching for. Kaparti examines your skin and can tell what needs fixing, where you’re going wrong and what you need to be doing. The facial starts with an enzyme gel peel which sloughs away dead skin that no amount of cleansing can take care of. Then a cleanse, steam, extraction and mask that is unique to your skin’s needs – for me, a blend of marine algae intended to feed my skin. You’ll leave the spa with a renewed sense of purpose – ready to cut the fat, to stop messing around with your skin and your regimen and ready to simplify the ways you care for your skin.

Jocelyn Petroni

Skin, body, heart

In Jocelyn Petroni’s sun-drenched  salon you’ll be treated for your skin, body and heart. Eastern medicines have fused with Western techniques in recent years, so treatments do not solely focus on say skin, but holistically incorporate skincare, massage and healing into one focused treatment.

Our skin responds to psychological stressors as readily as our minds and bodies. Breakouts, puffiness, eczema are all signs of stress in the body. An independent neuroendocrine organ, the skin responds to and produces chemical reactions to our environments, releasing cortisol and beta-endorphines. For these reasons Petroni saw the importance of creating a calm environment for both the client and the therapist. Relaxed minds and bodies create calm skin and in turn the skin responds more readily to treatments and skincare.

You’ll first be taken through a short diagnosis of your current routine and concerns, from here your treatment will be tailored to your needs; hydration, rejuvenation, extraction. Cleanses, masks, steam, topical treatments and more will all be administered in a way that induces relaxation.

"The therapists in our salon actually wear face masks when performing treatments ... to ensure the therapists can breathe at their own pace and leisure, otherwise you tend to hold your breath ... We breath from our belly not from the rib cage, slowly, calmly, consciously which slows, calms and focuses the mind. This helps get the client into that transcending, meditative state.”
- Jocelyn Petroni

Onda Beauty

Organic beauty meets efficacy

Newly opened on Oxford St, Paddington, Onda Beauty offers a retail service showcasing the best in organic and natural skincare the world over. Started by friends Naomi Watts, Sarah Brown and Larissa Thomson, in NYC, the store now boasts four locations (two in NYC, London, and now Sydney). Australian brands including the Ayu, Edible Beauty and Sodashi sit alongside international favourites May Lindstrom and Marie Veronique, with treatment services utilising the products available in store.

If your skin is in need of a general refresh (read: hydration), de-puff and general revitalisation, the Onda Signature Facial would be for you. The facial begins with a Gua Sha massage, focusing on the eyes and cheeks so that after you’ll look more awake and refreshed. You’ll then be treated to cleanses, exfoliation and masks, as well as a high-pressurised oxygen that's infused with nutrients whilst being applied to the face and décolletage. An Omnilux light treatment will also promote skin healing and collagen production, leaving you glowing and sculpted.