The 17 Best Facials and Aestheticians in Melbourne
These dermatologists and skin moguls are a match for pollution, stress and late nights in the city.
A great facial does more than hydrate. It's the one that has you skipping foundation and heading straight to brunch, and getting there takes a specialist who reads your skin rather than sells you a masque.
Melbourne is well served on that front. The city's facialists range from a dermatologist who studied genetics at Harvard to nervous-system-first studios where the treatment opens with a heated blanket and a soundscape. Some map your face with fluorescence imaging before they touch it. Others have spent four decades learning what hands alone can do.
Whether you're after a high-performance peel, a fix for a stubborn pigmentation concern, or simply an hour where nobody talks to you, these are the best facials in Melbourne worth booking.
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Fluffy Skin, Cremorne
Melbourne's go-to destination for low-maintenance brows and lashes has turned its 'less, but better' philosophy to skin. Fluffy founder Abbie Lawley spent five years fielding the same question inside her Cremorne studio — "what should I actually be doing with my skin?" — and thus, Fluffy Skin was born. The carefully edited menu is led by skin specialist Taylor Marx, and swaps TikTok-fuelled overwhelm for honest, education-first guidance and a progression-without-pressure approach.
Start with a 30-minute express reset or the signature Formula (advanced peels, LED and oxygenating therapies), or commit to The Full Fluff, which layers advanced skin therapies with over 30 minutes of restorative massage. Skin needling, extraction-focused sessions and specialist treatments for teens, pregnancy and postpartum clients complete the lineup, all delivered in the maroon-hued, softly lit rooms of Fluffy's expanded HQ.
79 Stephenson St, Cremorne
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Skin Angel, Armadale
This Armadale clinic looks just as heavenly as its name suggests. From enzyme-driven and depigmentation peels to laser and skin needling treatments, all sessions are held in sunlit rooms that inspire images of chic provincial living.
The draw here is the structure. Rather than booking one-off treatments, you commit to a monthly 'regime' mapped to a zone of the face: Bronze covers the cheeks, Silver the half face, Gold the full face, and it climbs to Opal for face, neck and décolletage. There's a dedicated bridal program, The Bride, if you're working to a date.
1206 High Street, Armadale
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Little Company, Collingwood
The skin and the nervous system get equal billing at Little Company. Cocoon up in cave-like rooms with hypnotic soundscapes and heated blankets, while the facialists' expertise transcends their easy manner. A tiny but mighty menu offers two paths: Ritual for frazzled nerves and Remedy for skin-first results, both from $199 for an hour.
Every first visit starts with a fluorescence scan on the MoreMe skin scanner, which is Collingwood-only and thrown in free. The newest addition is NanoFusion, which uses 81 silicone micro-pyramids to push serum through the barrier without a needle, from $209. If you want the sculpted-jaw version, Structure pairs manual work with intra-oral buccal massage from $249.
244 Smith Street, Collingwood
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MECCA Aesthetica, CBD
We waited with bated breath for Mecca's Bourke Street flagship last year. The behemoth store houses a sprawling retail space, but its best-kept secrets lie deeper within: on the top floor, Mecca Aesthetica runs seven private treatment rooms staffed by dermal therapists and registered nurses.
The one to know is the MECCA Facial — $120 for an hour, tailored to an initial skin consultation, and fully redeemable on product the same day. If you were due for a big restock, your facial is essentially a gift with purchase. Beyond it sits a genuinely clinical menu, from meso skin needling from $350 to Clear + Brilliant laser at $440 and Rejuran skin boosters at $950, plus facials built around cult brands like Augustinus Bader, Dr Barbara Sturm and Biologique Recherche.
All of it is flagship-exclusive for now, though a second Aesthetica clinic lands with Mecca's Chadstone store later this year.
Level 1, 299 Bourke Street, Melbourne
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The Dream Skin Clinic, Parkville
You can sign up for a single treatment at Dream Skin, but most clients make a long-term commitment to their skin health here. Known for taking brides-to-be from consultation to complexion over nine months to a year, the Parkville sanctuary also does careful work on melanin-rich skin, where the wrong laser setting does real damage.
The Dream Facial, a HydraFacial, is $300, and the Signature version $400. At the serious end sit a depigmentation program called Dream Formula at $2,900 and gold needling on the Potenza platform at $1,000. The holistic regime can also be paired with lifestyle-aligning naturopath sessions.
21 Royal Parade, Parkville — by appointment
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Melanie Grant, Armadale
Celebrity facialist Melanie Grant has treated the likes of Nicole Kidman, Victoria Beckham and Hailey Bieber. You can get the same A-list glow in an Armadale townhouse — treatment suites upstairs, retail lounge below — or at her studios in Los Angeles, New York and London, where she now runs two addresses in Mayfair and Knightsbridge, plus a twice-yearly Paris residency.
No expense is spared for a Melanie Grant facial — one of the steps in a not-so-simple hydrating facial involves a "potent" ultrasound infusion. The house exclusives are the ones to book: custom facials developed with Biologique Recherche, Valmont and Augustinus Bader, or the Chanel Le Grand Soin. The clinical side covers RF microneedling, fractionated erbium resurfacing and depigmentation protocols.
1208 High Street, Armadale
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April Brodie, Melbourne
Another heavyweight in the beauty business, April Brodie brings four decades of industry experience and a perpetual waitlist, working across Melbourne, Sydney and London by appointment only.
She offers a tight trio of treatments: the Buccal Fusion Facial, 90 minutes of intra-oral sculpting paired with gua sha; a Korean-style golki facial massage; and a bee venom facial using a mask so limited that only 500 are produced worldwide each year. Brodie is Australia's only certified practitioner of the treatment, trained by its creator Deborah Mitchell.
By appointment — waitlist via aprilbrodie.com
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Rationale, Various locations
It's easy to mistake Rationale for a high-end atelier — it kind of is. Five Victorian flagships now stock the luxury, science-led formulas, from the Armadale original to Emporium, Toorak, Doncaster and Canterbury, while the David Jones Bourke Street outpost headlines an installation wall of colourful serums.
Rationale's stores also double as skin clinics. The signature EpiNova facial is $340 for 90 minutes and the PhotoGenic ritual $260, with 45-minute express versions from $189 if you're squeezing one in. Diagnostic imaging and genetic analysis are part of the consultation process — very clinical — but you can also opt for a fuss-free virtual consultation, free of charge.
The Kyneton-born brand landed in Harrods in January, with the rest of the UK following from next month.
Armadale, Emporium, Toorak, Doncaster, Canterbury and David Jones Bourke Street
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Luminary Melbourne, Bentleigh East
Nicolette Kocsi opened Luminary as a sole operator in 2020 and now runs a team of six, with three consecutive Victorian Clinic of the Year titles from the Australian Beauty Industry Awards behind her and the national title in 2024. The team clearly know their stuff.
Try the Qi Beauty Magnet Facial at $290, an energy-based treatment utilising Gold Coast-born Qi beauty technology. The facial draws on traditional Chinese medicine, where gold-plated magnets are placed on facial meridians and problem areas. They form controlled magnetic gradients that supercharge blood, oxygen and lymphatic flow, cellular repair and skin barrier strength. Luminary's expert sculpting techniques follow, resulting in a snatched and luminous complexion.
The Luminary Signature is the entry point at $195, and if you're going regularly, the Luminary Society membership works out at roughly $44 a week for 13 signature facials a year.
886 North Road, Bentleigh East
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Method Aesthetics, Collingwood
Cosmetic specialist Dr Stephen Whelan runs this industrial chic space with a commitment to honest assessments informed by a "deep appreciation for the science and art of natural beauty". In practice, that means being told when a treatment won't help you, which is rarer than it should be. This ethos extends to all injectable treatments, including penile enhancements.
The focus beyond injectables is laser work and acne scarring, with subcision and collagen stimulation on an ALMA platform. Pricing is consultation-based, so bring questions.
Gipps Street, Collingwood
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Doctor Shammi, Fitzroy
Formerly Ode Dermatology and now trading under her own name, Dr Shammi Theesan's holistic approach to ageing, acne and pigmentation is rooted in the belief that beauty isn't skin-deep. She studied genetics at Harvard, trained at prestigious institutions across Melbourne and London, and now creates highly specific solutions — no trial and error here.
AviClear handles acne, Moxi and Pico take on pigmentation and melasma, and BBL, ClearSilk and ClearV cover rosacea. Her flagship is the Dr Shammi Hair Protocol, and she now consults from Sydney rooms as well as the Gertrude Street practice.
41 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy
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Skindepth, Balaclava and St Kilda East
Dr Alice Rudd is a household name for those familiar with the local dermatology scene. She heads up a team of cosmetics professionals in a refurbished 1900s building in Balaclava that greets you with its vintage checkerboard-tiled verandah, while her dermatology-dedicated St Kilda East practice covers psoriasis treatments, gynaecology care and skin checks by cancer specialists.
The team now runs to 12 doctors across the two sites, and the newest addition is the Heal Lite Lounge, an express LED session for when you want results without an hour on the table.
87 Hotham Street, Balaclava and 1 Balaclava Road, St Kilda East
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Hüd, Northcote and St Kilda
Founded by Norwegian aesthetician Gry Tømte, Hüd is a skin clinic with the relaxed sophistication of a boutique cafe. Its Northcote location was Melbourne's first to run the Aerolase Neo Elite, a laser treatment compatible with all skin tones.
The device has been cleared by the FDA to treat 32 conditions, ranging from psoriasis, eczema and rosacea to acne, fine lines and melasma. There's zero downtime, thanks to a 650-microsecond pulse duration that moves faster than the skin's surface can register. Sessions run $400 to $500 depending on what you're targeting. On the facial side, Correct + Repair is $240 for 45 minutes, or $299 with the Restore step added.
507 High Street, Northcote and 140 St Kilda Road, St Kilda
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Liberty Belle, Toorak
Following decades in plastic surgery and a sold-out skincare line, Liberty Belle's luxurious facility is the cherry on top of Dr Chris Moss' cake. The beauty sanctuary takes an all-encompassing approach to beauty, from facial enhancements and body contouring to an extensive repertoire of facials.
The one to book is The Belle Facial with Dermasweep — a microdermabrasion tool that polishes and removes debris from the skin's surface — an oldie but goodie for a radiant glow, recommended every four to eight weeks. Pricing is consultation-based and bookings are by phone only.
504–506 Toorak Road, Toorak
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The Skin Bar, Armadale and South Yarra
Skin needling is available at most skin clinics, but it's the single obsession within the verdant green walls at The Skin Bar, from $249 a session. For the needle-averse, the K-beauty Spicule Treatment is a gentler alternative to traditional and RF needling at $255. The same resurfacing glow is achieved through natural "microscopic, needle-like structures derived from freshwater sponge", delivered via a luxurious cream.
Seize the prime absorption window post-treatment, and top the session off with an enzyme facial. Series pricing brings the cost down considerably if you commit to three or six.
1240 High Street, Armadale and 2 Avoca Street, South Yarra
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St. Skin, North Melbourne
The city's north-west finally has a skin destination worth the trip. Leelah Linke is a Bachelor-qualified dermal clinician with two decades behind her, and her Peel Street clinic is where to go for the pigmentation nobody else has cracked: the full Cosmelan and Dermelan depigmentation protocol, an in-clinic mask you wear home for up to eight hours, then a maintenance cream, for melasma and the marks left behind by acne.
Start with the Skin Discovery Session at $225, which includes OBSERV diagnostic imaging — specialised lighting that reads pigmentation and vascular activity before either surfaces — plus an express treatment with LED and a written roadmap. The device list is deeper than most, with two separate Lutronic RF needling platforms, Lumenis ResurFX and IPL, and DMK enzyme therapy in four escalating levels.
243 Peel Street, North Melbourne
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Comma, Cremorne
Known for its striking architecture and restorative massages, Comma is easily one of the best day spas in Melbourne. If your skin needs some TLC, try the Calm Visage — a massage-facial hybrid, $170 for the hour.
Over the course of an hour, bliss out with detoxifying kneading throughout the body, a four-step facial ritual (including a vitamin infusion) and a soothing heat pack that will leave you feeling and looking good. Flag it when you book, since it needs a specifically trained therapist. Afterwards, the bath house is right there.
10–12 Hill Street, Cremorne
Images: Supplied
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