I’ve not been able to find a beauty salon whose facials I truly like ever since I came to Melbourne a couple of years ago. Granted, beauty treatments in Australia are not cheap, so a lot of research went into finding the right one for me. I wouldn’t want to pay over a 100 bucks for something sub-standard and me walking out of the salon thinking “Ugh, what a bloody waste of money”. I tried that once with a particular salon here. Never again.

About a month ago, with my 25% discount Entertainment Book voucher in hand, I gave Endota Spa a go. And I have to say, I was very impressed.

Photo Credit: TheAussieZombie

Location

Endota Spa has many branches all over Australia. The one I went to was at Chadstone Shopping Centre. I usually avoid having beauty treatments in small rooms in departmental stores because 1) it’s noisy and 2) it lacks the relaxing ambience. The Endota Spa at Chaddy is a shoplot outside of the shopping centre. I couldn’t hear any of the outside noise, which was very good.

Ambience

The room I was booked in was actually catered for two. There was no one else with me (thank goodness, although I don’t think they would place me in a room with an utter stranger). It had two treatment beds, a large bathtub and cabinets with a modern basin. The lights in the room were dimmed, there were aromatherapy candles lit, relaxing meditative music playing overhead … ahh … bliss. I didn’t take any photos of the spa as the room was too dark for my phone’s camera to pick up on anyway.

Service

The treatment which I booked for was the AGE Smart treatment. As a new customer, there were several forms I needed to fill up, mostly answering questions about my skin, what type of massage I’d like, the usual Qs. My therapist, Ashlee, was lovely. She asked me what I wanted to achieve out of the facial, what I’ve been using, etc. When she found out that I have oily skin, she switched me to another treatment, which is meant for oily skin (the AGE Smart would be far too rich for me). Endota Spa uses Dermalogica products, and so she used the mediBac Clearing range on me.

What I love about the facial altogether was that there was no hardselling at all, not before the facial, during or even after it was over. She did not critisize my skin just to promote new products to me. She pointed out my problem areas, but also complimented me on my supple cheeks that go “toing toing” *ahem ahem*.

The facial and massage were heavenly. When it was over, she brought over a pot of tea, we sat down and chatted some more before I paid for the treatment. I did buy a Dermalogica mediBac Clearing starter kit just to give it a go, and it wasn’t even because I felt compelled to buy something from her. She even popped in sachets upon sachets of the Oil Control Lotion (which I will be reviewing in my next post) for me to try out; they were enough for a month’s use.

Overall, it was a rewarding experience. The staff was pleasant, the ambience relaxing, and the service was excellent. I’m definitely booking my next appointment soon.

Two very enthusiastic thumbs up!