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Take it from me, celebrity aesthetician Toska Husted and her eponymous spa can give anyone A-list skin.
When it comes to celebrity beauty, it’s easy to assume that it’s all about Los Angeles or New York—or even more far-flung destinations. But if celebrities know anything, it’s how to get the very best of whatever they want. Facials are no exception, which is why celebrity aesthetician Toska Husted spends almost as much time jetting around the globe to deliver her signature facial treatments as she does in her own namesake spa in Charlotte, NC, Toska Spa and Facial Bar.
Typically, she goes wherever her high profile clients ask. It could be Miami, to give Jennifer Lopez an epic facial before her even more epic Superbowl performance or New York City to cycle through celeb after celeb, including the entire Kardashian clan, in the days before the Met Gala. It could also be Los Angeles to frequently get her hands on Jennifer Aniston’s glowing (ageless) skin. There could even be various places in Europe and the Middle East to treat a coterie of royals (whose names Husted keeps secret, thankyouverymuch).
When she’s not racking up frequent flier miles, though, she can be found at her own spa Toska Spa and Facial Bar in Charlotte, NC where I was lucky enough to catch her. Charlotte also happens to be my home town and even with regular visits, I was only just able to get in for a Toska treatment (the wait list for a facial from Husted herself is long—like really, really long).
Husted has lived in Charlotte for six years and in that time has become almost single handedly responsible for the rising number of glowing, flawless complexions seen around the South East. Her most loyal clients include the wives of NASCAR drivers and basketball players as well as the creme de la creme of Charlotte society, not to mention a growing young millennial set that are skincare obsessed and fiercely dedicated to the “Toska Glow.”
Last year, Husted moved from her original location to a brand-spanking-new ginormous 3,500 square-foot multi-level spa in the tony SouthPark area of Charlotte. The new location, decorated in chic tones of white with gold accents, features not only multiple private treatment rooms but a new six chair open facial bar, where clients can drop in for quick 30-minute facials individually or as a group. “We even had a blind date here the other day,” she told me, which made me wonder why I’ve never thought of that. Facials at the bar might be quicker and less expensive ($99 - $179 with add-ons available), but clients still experience the techniques, products and glowing skin Toska and her aestheticians are known for.
The real deal A-List treatment comes from the signature facials, which run between $295 for a Brightening Facial and $795 for the Platinum treatment that includes all the bells and whistles. Each facial is customized to your specific skin type and issues. In my case, we started with the Biologique Recherche Skin Instant Lab which used high-tech wands to measure specific levels in my skin like hydration, elasticity, sebum content and more to create a highly detailed map - and told Husted exactly what my skin needed so she could customize my facial down to the last detail.
Up in her private treatment room (complete with marble countertops and a working fireplace), Husted conceived a personalized plan that included Biologique Recherche, Valmont and Auteur products, which she chose to help gently exfoliate, hydrate and calm my skin (I had just flown down the day before, so my skin was particularly parched from the airplane, she theorized). There was also one of the most incredible facial massages I’ve ever had, a healthy dose of LED light therapy and liberal use of an Ionix radio frequency device for lifting and toning.
Husted doesn’t believe in beating up your face. Instead, she told me, everything she does is focused on gently lifting and calming the skin to make it look its absolute best, both in the short and long term. While she did do some extractions for me, they were painless and not the focus of the treatment—more like something you’d do to clear the way for everything else. After the facial was over, I understood why high rollers from around the world clamor for a Toska facial. My skin had never looked so good. All traces of travel, fatigue, and stress were gone from my complexion and it looked lit from within, like my skin was stretched over a lightbulb. My face looked tight, lifted, and healthier than I could ever remember seeing it. And for the record, it wasn’t just me. I had also brought my mother to get Toskafied and when we met back up after our facials, at least a decade was gone from her face and she looked like she’d never missed an hour of sleep in her life.
Growing up in Charlotte, I would have never dreamed that it would become one of the most under the radar but important beauty destinations in the country, but thanks to Toska it has. I might not be able to fly her to me, but you better believe I’m never missing a trip to her spa every time I visit from now on. And for one of the most incredible facial experiences possible, you should do the same. Trust me, you’ve never seen your skin glow till you’ve been Toska’d.