I first went to see Vaia Pappas over ten years ago, in a tiny single-treatment-room salon in Surry Hills. I hadn't seen her since. I had not forgotten the facial massage.
She has moved, and the new place is a lofty terrace in East Sydney with marble bench tops, earthy finishes and her own artworks on the walls. Stepping into the fresh white space, I'm greeted with a hug before I've got a word out.
Upstairs, Into Someone's House
We head up to the facial room, which feels less like a clinic than like being let in somewhere private. Bunches of fresh spring blooms. Crystals arranged in clusters. A writing desk looking out to a balcony heaving with potted plants, and a small bookcase packed with health and beauty tomes.
There are plans to put a crèche in downstairs, so mums can book something for themselves without having to arrange the rest of the day around it. Twenty years in the industry teaches you what people actually need.
The Ultraceuticals Signature Facial
I nestle into the cushy treatment bed and we catch up on the last ten years while Vaia cleanses and massages my skin with expert strokes. This is the bit. She has the hands.
"The goal is pure relaxation today," she says when I ask about her philosophy, taking the massage down into my neck and shoulders. "But I guess it's just about really understanding and hearing a client's needs, understanding and guiding them."
She stocks Ultraceuticals alongside her own range. "I love that they use high-grade cosmetic ingredients and create potent formulations," she says, applying a mask and then working my hands and feet with the Ultraceuticals Body Retexturising Complex.
I start to drift off. Time stands still and the minutes slip by in a haze.
Then She Offers to Do My Nails
At the end of it, she kindly offers to repaint my chipped nails. There's a hilarious moment when we realise the polish is still wet and she is going to have to dress me. I feel about five years old and somehow it isn't embarrassing.
There's something very nurturing about Vaia. Part Greek mama, part high priestess, and twenty years in means she makes it all look like instinct rather than training.
The Rest of the Menu
Beyond facials: waxing, tinting, nails and spray tans, plus LED light as a facial add-on and infrared sauna sessions. Vaia also runs herbal and wellness consultations, with formulas she hand-mixes on site and stocks alongside the Ultraceuticals range.
The useful thing about the combination is the diary. A consultation and your beauty maintenance in one visit rather than two, which is the whole reason her clients stay for years.
Booking
Bookings go through (02) 9380 7588 or @vaiabeauty on Instagram, and you'll find her at 32B Burton Street, Darlinghurst.
