Okay bestie, let me paint you a picture: I’m lying flat on a treatment bed in the middle of Westfield Mt Gravatt, but mentally? I’m in a five-star spa in the Swiss Alps being nursed back to life by skincare gods. The kicker? This whole dreamscape costs me nothing, because the facial cost is fully redeemable on product at Mecca. Yep. Literally a free luxury facial disguised as a shopping experience.
So I booked in for a skin treatment at Mecca Mt Gravatt, expecting a nice enough glow-up and maybe a cute sample or two. What I got instead? A full-blown transcendental skin experience. My facialist, Marnie (yes, I’m naming names because legends deserve recognition) was part therapist, part magician, part guardian angel in a Mecca apron.
We started with a gentle cleanse using Verso Facial Cleanser, which honestly felt like a soft but luxe reset button for my skin. Then came La Mer The Treatment Lotion, which I’ll admit I audibly sighed at how bougie it felt, like the beauty tragic I am. But it was when Marnie moved on to the Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Universal Daily Peel Pads that I realised: this wasn’t just skincare. This was a journey.
Cue the facial massage. Oh. My. God. If I could bottle that moment and replay it every night before bed, I would never need melatonin again. Marnie had that perfect pressure—firm enough to make my cheekbones feel chiselled, gentle enough that I almost drifted off into REM sleep right there in the middle of the shopping centre. You know that feeling when your whole body just melts? That was me, somewhere between the second serum and her miraculous thumb work near my jaw.
Then she whipped out the NuFACE Trinity+ Facial Toning Device with conducting Hydro Gel full of IonPlex technology, which combines glacial water and skin-loving electrolytes to help deliver microcurrent deep into the skin more comfortably and effectively, while hyaluronic acid works to plump and lock in moisture for a hydrated, radiant finish. and while I could ever so slightly feel the microcurrents zapping my face into place, I was too far gone into bliss mode to care. My skin felt like it was getting a workout, while the rest of me was being tucked in for a nap.
At one point, she layered on the Chantecaille Hibiscus Smoothing Mask, popped on some Patchology Serve Chilled™ Press Reset Calming Eye Gels (on my eyes AND nasolabial folds—GAME CHANGER), then gently placed a cool, weighted jade eye mask on top. Girl. I was gone. My soul briefly left my body. The hum of the shopping centre outside melted into white noise, like being rocked to sleep on a luxury yacht made entirely of botanical extracts.
She wrapped everything up with a potent cocktail of the Allies of Skin Peptides & Omegas Firming Eye Cream and Allies of Skin Tranexamic Acid & Arbutin Advanced Brightening Serum (hello, glow), followed by a generous layer of the Mecca Cosmetica Hydrating Gel-Cream. My lips were treated to Dr. Jart+ Vital Hydra Solution Lip Mask Jelly Bear and the final flourish? A spritz of the Omorovicza Queen of Hungary Mist—which is basically a floral blessing in bottle form. One deep inhale and I was reborn.
When the treatment ended, I sat up dazed, like I’d just emerged from a two-week wellness retreat. My skin? Radiant. My eyes? Depuffed. My spirit? Recalibrated. I floated (yes, floated) over to the Mecca shelves and picked out all the products that had just performed magic on my face, knowing the facial cost was now basically store credit. And as if the experience wasn’t dreamy enough, Marnie handed me a handful of deluxe samples so I could keep the ritual going at home before committing to full sizes.
Final verdict? This is hands down the most luxe facial you can get for “free.” And if you ask for Marnie at Mt Gravatt, tell her I sent you—just maybe don’t snore during the jade eye mask part like I might have.
Fancy a pampering with high-end products? Book your Mecca Facial experience here. At select Mecca stores.
In her spare time, she likes long walks down the makeup aisle and performing in Brisbane theatre. You can follow her adventures on Instagram and TikTok @thebeautypalate.
