Beauty is as much about where you go as what you use. Increasingly, the rituals that shape how we look and feel extend beyond the bathroom cabinet, into spaces dedicated to restoration, innovation and considered care. From high-performance facials and destination spas to next-generation wellness spaces, we’ve curated the addresses redefining what modern self-care looks like. Some are grounded in science and technology, others in ancient practices and the restorative power of slowing down, but each offers something worth seeking out. Consider this your guide to the treatments, practitioners and destinations changing the way we approach beauty and wellbeing.
Here, we’ve curated the spas, clinics and wellness destinations setting a new standard for modern self-care.
Riya Studios
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Location: Level 1, 202 Oxford Street, Paddington NSW 2021
Rooted in the belief that skin health is inseparable from the body as a whole, this intimate Paddington practice brings ancient wisdom into conversation with contemporary skin science. Founded by Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner and skin therapist Mariya Makas, RIYA takes a highly considered, individual approach, combining bespoke facials, acupuncture, advanced technologies, and hands-on therapies. Treatments look beyond the surface, considering the relationship between skin, the nervous system, hormones and internal balance.
The result is a more nuanced approach to beauty: one that favours ritual over quick fixes, and restoration, longevity and equilibrium over the purely aesthetic. Central to the RIYA philosophy is an understanding that meaningful results are rarely achieved in isolation. Each treatment is approached as part of a broader conversation around the body, with techniques selected intuitively and tailored to the individual rather than prescribed through a singular methodology. Consultations are equally individual, taking into account skin history, lifestyle and current concerns before a treatment plan is established.
Home care is considered alongside in-studio treatments, with recommendations intended to support results between appointments and over the longer term. There is a quietness to the experience – both in its physical setting and considered pace – that feels deliberately removed from the conventions of traditional beauty spaces. Instead, RIYA occupies a space somewhere between clinic and sanctuary: technically rigorous yet deeply restorative, with an emphasis on creating lasting shifts in how the skin looks, functions and ultimately feels.
The Commons Health Club
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Locations:
- 33 Cremorne Street, Cremorne, VIC 3121
- 189 Toorak Road, South Yarra, VIC 3141
Merging fitness, recovery, and community into one elevated destination, The Commons Health Club’s Melbourne locations across Richmond and South Yarra are conceived as spaces for both vitality and respite. A self-led functional training floor sits alongside more than 200 weekly classes, spanning Pilates, yoga and spin through to breathwork and sound healing. Beyond movement, advanced recovery treatments extend into a beautifully appointed Bathhouse, where magnesium pools, cold immersion, saunas and steam rooms invite a slower rhythm. Together with a workspace under the same roof, The Commons Health Club creates a place to move, recover, work and connect.
Reset Studio
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Location: 15 Knox St, Double Bay NSW 2028
Built around the restorative potential of heat, cold and stillness, RESET in Sydney’s Double Bay brings time-honoured wellness practices into a contemporary, design-led setting. Traditional cedar saunas, ice baths, halotherapy, steam and magnesium bathing sit alongside LED and compression therapy, with experiences designed for private or intimate small-group sessions. The approach here is deliberately languid, encouraging wellness not as an occasional intervention, but as an ongoing ritual.
David Jones
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Locations: find a David Jones store near you
There is a particular pleasure in surrendering yourself to expert hands. And at David Jones, beauty moves beyond the counter into a considered world of treatments, consultations and rituals. Across its beauty destinations, discover more than 140 beauty services from some of the world’s most esteemed Houses and local powerhouses – from Rationale, Clé de Peau Beauté and La Prairie to Dermalogica, CHANEL Beauty and Tom Ford. Each offers personalised experiences designed to transform the practical appointment into something altogether more pleasurable. Think of it as an address for whatever the occasion, or inclination, demands. A restorative facial when skin calls for renewed attention; artfully applied makeup before an evening out; brows sculpted with precision; lashes perfected; hair polished into place; or an unhurried fragrance consultation in pursuit of a scent that feels intimately your own.
For more spontaneous moments, express appointments distil the experience into a beautifully spent 20 minutes. Available across selected David Jones stores in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra, many treatments can also be redeemed against products from the corresponding beauty House. It’s an invitation to reconsider the beauty appointment – no longer just an errand, but a ritual. For those inclined to plan ahead, appointments are available to discover and reserve online. And David Jones Rewards members can also earn and redeem rewards across eligible beauty purchases.
