Best Beauty Spots in Auckland

The City of Sails is no slouch in the salon stakes. Melissa Williams-King uncovers the best places to pamper your face, body and hair.

Best blow-dry

Dry & Tea

At this ultra-feminine salon you can choose from a list of wash-and-blow styles, such as New York Femme (soft, loose curls) or The Milan (sleek and straight), or save time with a chic bun or braid on dry hair. While your tresses are being transformed, indulge in teas, sweet treats or bubbles. There are three locations; Newmarket is the original, while Britomart and the flagship City Works Depot are both in the CBD.

Best nails

HM Nails

Owner Lisa Hinchcliff is an experienced podiatrist who uses quality OPI and SpaRitual polishes as well as hospital-grade sterilisation techniques in her nail salons, which are combined with a podiatry clinic. Her Remuera and Ellerslie salons are sleek and minimalist.

Best facial

The Facialist

Ashleigh Scott has a deliberately low-tech, hands-on approach at her City Works Depot clinic – you won’t find a list of treatments here because everything is tailored to each client. Scott makes her own Tribeca Skin Tonics with organic oils and uses and sells products by Osmosis, Dermaviduals, Coola and Janesce. She stocks dietary supplements and herbal teas, too, all in the name of holistic skin health.

Best waxing

Off & On

Founder Nicky Shore revolutionised Auckland’s hair-removal scene in 2008 with the opening of her now thriving business. The aim was to make the process more professional and, dare we say it, almost enjoyable (a wall switch signifies when you’re ready for the therapist to enter, which feels more dignified). Shore’s three salons in Newmarket, Britomart and Takapuna specialise in Brazilians – using special store-made wax – and laser hair removal.

Best massage

East Day Spa

Tucked inside the five-star Skycity Grand Hotel in the CBD, this serene space is a long-time favourite of beauty editors for its extensive range of treatments but most people go there for the massages. Balinese acupressure massage is the house speciality and the business also has outposts on the Indonesian island.