Beauty destination: the Heyday difference

One of the first dates I had when I arrived in Los Angeles a couple weeks ago was with Heyday, a beauty destination with a difference that I just WISH was on every street corner back here in little old New Zealand!

Heyday, which allows you to pop into stores for a super affordable, customised facial, boasts five locations in New York City and is now also in Los Angeles, where I popped into their incredibly convenient outpost not far from where I was staying on Beverly and La Brea (see below).

At Heyday, they employ a team of over a hundred Skin Therapists to “tap the power of expertise and human touch to demystify skincare and make it the approachable self-care and wellness routine it should be”. They believe everyone should have the chance to put their best face forward, a mission statement that I can fully get behind.

Amidst all the product hype, influencers, and skincare noise, they proudly bring alive the human touch of true skincare professionals, and have done since 2015.
Up until then they explain, facials happened in lavish spas, where you might be in a robe, listening to whimpering spa sounds and giving up two hours of your day and a significant chunk of your wallet. Professional skincare felt like a special occasion splurge instead of ongoing self-care, not to mention the slew of pricey product lines that most spas draw from as they try to convince you that a complicated, ten-step routine is the path to skin enlightenment. Not so at Heyday, which is a refreshing change.
My trip to Heyday Beverly began with filling out a form listing my concerns and regime on an iPad, meaning it could go straight onto record and be easily accessed by my therapist. Their skin analysis includes tools that help determine your skin type and areas to focus on, and my therapist Nori definitely took her time talking to me about my skin and having a good look at its state of affairs on that particular day.

After this analysis, she personalized the products and methods to use to get the most out of our session together. The treatment plan was joyfully multi-brand, with Heyday saying that they “don’t fear nature or the lab”. They believe in intentional, effective, and non-toxic products that harness the power of nature and the advances of science, and I loved discovering multiple brands that I’d never heard of before. Some were from the natural realm and others as aforementioned, closer to the lab, and I left with a glow that belied the 12 plus hours I’d recently spent on a plane.

Heyday offers a 30-minute facial option, which is great as a boost or to tame a skin freak out when the going gets tough. I went for the 50-minute, $95 option, which was a comprehensive, deep-cleansing facial that included extractions and some seriously gentle but effective exfoliation.

A big part of the Heyday experience is product curation, and not long after I left I received a comprehensive email detailing the products that Nori had used that I loved, and those she recommended. I am still kicking myself for leaving without Naturopathica’s Manuka Honey Cleansing Balm, which was a revelation! If anyone knows how to get it in New Zealand, please share!

Lastly, when you are asked to hand over your email address to most companies they then bombard you with pointless and dull EDMs – not Heyday. Their missives are super informative and just a damn good read, love that.

If you’re heading to – or live in – New York or Los Angeles then I sincerely suggest you jump on the Heyday train, you won’t be disappointed.