The BEST beauty therapist in Sydney

Does this sound like a big call to you? It's the truth, and I have been to quite a few beauty therapists over the years. Thankfully said beauty therapist happens to manage the best day spa in Sydney, so it's all terribly convenient really.

The beautiful and incredibly talented Melisa Giraldo is the therapist in question and she really knows her juice. She manages the luxurious Fifty Four Park St (located, oddly enough, on Castlereagh St in the Sydney CBD) and while the salon is the first line in glamour and opulence, Giraldo is as down to earth as you could get. She is approachable and gives practical advice, loves a good chat and you can't fault her treatments.

The day spa offers the usual day spa-y services like waxing (I get compliments on my brows they are so good now), spray tan (St Tropez, natually) and manis & pedis. Just on this, before Fifty Four Park St, Giraldo was head manicurist for Miss Frou Frou and helped create the Miss Frou Frou line of nail polishes - she comes from an excellent manicure pedigree. Beyond these, there is also a menu of Carita, Thalgo and MD Formulations eye, face and body treatments. Giraldo's current recommendation is the Thalgo Hydra-Moisture Source facial to get tired skin ready for summer. She explains, "dry winter skin is in need of a pick me up as we go from season to season and this treatment ticks all the boxes in 75 minutes with a steam, extraction, massage and hydrating mask". Sounds like heaven? Yeah, I agree. Or if you want to treat the whole bod, and who doesn't, you should go for the Thalgo Ocean Memory treatment with a full body exfoliation, massage and wrap.

The spa itself is unparalleled in class and style. Beautifully appointed with marble, brass and vintage pieces that would leave any interior designer with their jaws on the floor, it doesn't feel pretentious but it does feel classic and inspiring. Kind of like stepping into the old-world glamour hotels in New York. Gosh I miss New York.

Honestly, if it's good enough for Giraldo's celebrity clients like Cate Blanchett, Kate Bosworth, Naomi Watts and Nicole Kidman (she even manicured an Olsen!) then it's good enough for me.

Price: eyebrow wax $30, express mani $55, Hydra-Moisture Source facial $150 - call the reception to enquire about all prices
From: Fifty Four Park St Day Spa - (02) 9282 8999
Why you need to visit: For some special pampering with one of the finest, nay, THE finest therapist around

Picture credit: fiftyfourparkst.com - steveback.com.au