Stocksy/Marko
The new year is traditionally a time for reinvention, but the concept of a fresh start is evolving. No longer just about lofty resolutions or hitting the gym, reboot efforts increasingly blend beauty, holistic wellness, and science. Across the East Bay, med spas are expanding beyond injectables; cosmetic surgeons are helping patients feel like their best selves; wellness centers are introducing high-tech, often touchless recovery tools; and providers are offering a wide range of aesthetic treatments that boost health and appearance on multiple levels. Read on for Diablo’s exploration of our region’s many routes to looking and feeling revitalized in 2026.
Revitalize your face with a dermaplaning treatment at SkinScience Medical Aesthetics.
Courtesy of SkinScience Medical Aesthetics
The New Face of Beauty
Advanced treatments at med spas like SkinScience Medical Aesthetics promote youthful skin and facial harmony.
Forget over-plumped lips and other dramatic facial features—the world of medical aesthetics is entering a new era, one that is defined by subtlety. “There’s this term now: ‘undetectable injectables,’” says Melissa Hubiak, M.D., founder of SkinScience Medical Aesthetics in Pleasant Hill (with additional locations in Martinez and Brentwood). “People want to look really natural … just look their best.”
Hubiak, a board-certified physician who has been in the med spa industry since 2008, opened her East Bay practice 13 years ago, making SkinScience one of the area’s first true medical spas. Unlike day spas, med spas are operated by trained medical professionals who perform procedures such as injecting fillers and Botox, laser resurfacing, and microneedling. Every client is medically cleared before treatment, ensuring both safety and quality.
Finding Balance
After years of “bigger is better” trends fueled by celebrity influencers, today’s clients are leaning more toward balance and authenticity. “People are fatigued [by] that overfilled look,” Hubiak says.
Facial balancing—using injectables to harmonize proportions rather than exaggerate them—is becoming increasingly popular, but Hubiak says SkinScience has always leaned toward natural-looking results. Dermal fillers Restylane and RHA and other injectables such as Botox, Dysport, and Daxxify remain top offerings, helping with wrinkles, smoothing and filling fine lines, and adding volume for a more youthful appearance.
Treatments such as LaseMD Skin Resurfacing brighten the skin, while DiamondGlow and hydrafacials are much-requested medical-grade facials. “The DiamondGlow machines have a diamond tip that helps exfoliate and really drives in the serums,” says Hubiak. “The hydrafacial has vortex-fusion technology, which also helps extract [impurities] in the pores and drive the serums in a little deeper.”
A growing trend in aesthetics is regenerative medicine—treatments such as microneedling that revitalize skin by stimulating the body’s healing processes. “Microneedling is basically making micro-injuries that tell your body to repair [them] by making collagen,” says Hubiak. “After age 25, our collagen production goes way down, [leading] to thinning skin, wrinkles, and lines. Services like microneedling and lasers that help stimulate collagen slow the aging process.”
SkinScience also offers procedures such as salmon sperm facials, which use growth factors derived from salmon DNA to promote healing and collagen production.
Hubiak and her team customize treatment plans that may unfold over six months to a year. A typical program might start with a medical-grade facial or skincare regimen, followed by neuromodulators to relax fine lines, laser resurfacing for texture, and filler to restore lost volume. SkinScience always takes the full picture into account when developing a course of treatment. “People age in three planes: bone, muscle, and soft tissue and skin,” explains Hubiak. “We have to look at all of those different planes when we’re talking about facial aging.”
Botox injections can reduce wrinkles and lines.
Stocksy/Studio Firma
Beyond the Surface
While 90 to 95 percent of SkinScience’s clients are women, more men are now seeking preventive treatments, particularly regenerative options, to help ward off wrinkles and other signs of aging. Although the med spa features some body treatments and laser hair removal, its main focus is the skin and face.
With advancements like upgraded lasers, hyaluronic acid fillers mixed with other regenerative medicine fillers, and the potential for cosmetic growth factors, the med spa industry continues to evolve rapidly. Yet for Hubiak, the heart of her work remains the same: helping people feel like their best selves. “We’ve had patients cry and hug us because they [are happy] looking at their reflection in the mirror. They feel like themselves again,” she says. “We’re in the business of making people feel comfortable and confident. It’s really rewarding.” skinsciencemedspa.com.
Hydrafacials are among the top offerings at Changes Salon and Day Spa.
Courtesy of Changes Salon and Day Spa
For Your Consideration
Smooth fine lines with Botox injections at Skin Artistry Clinic in Alamo, where board-certified physician Faiqa Chaudhry, M.D., offers advanced methodology in a comfortable setting. With multiple locations in the East Bay and around the United States, med spa chain SkinSpirit is a well-known provider of Botox and dermal fillers. The Art of Beauty Medispa in Danville was the readers’ pick for Best Med Spa in Diablo’s Best of the East Bay (BOEB) for 2025 and has a wealth of treatments for the face and body. Berkeley’s Nubo Med Spa and Wellness promises expert and individualized care using the latest technology. One of the first med spas in Northern California, Encore Medspa (with offices in Pleasanton and Walnut Creek) is a popular destination for injectables, fillers, and other treatments.
You can also pamper your face and body at one of the region’s many premier day spas and skincare providers. Treatments at Skin by Lexie, the 2025 readers’ pick for Best Facial in BOEB, include hydrafacials, dermaplaning facials, and peels—or treat yourself to a combination package at the Walnut Creek location. The city is also home to Changes Salon and Day Spa, where much-requested facials include Changes’ signature treatment (with fruit enzyme exfoliation, extractions, and a personalized mask), a pomegranate medi-facial consisting of a facial and peel, and a hydrafacial. Also in downtown Walnut Creek, Woodhouse Spa has glow-up options such as cryofacials, hydrafacials, and dermabrasion. Fans of Korean skincare products will appreciate K’s Beauty in San Ramon, or enjoy a European deep-cleansing facial at Lafayette Park Hotel and Spa in Lafayette. The Spa at the Claremont in Berkeley welcomes both locals and hotel guests to its Forbes 4-Star spa for personalized facials. Relax and restore at Cocoon Day Spa in Oakland, which has a range of services for the skin, from gua sha facials using ancient Chinese techniques to microcurrent facials with LED light therapy.
Stocksy/Leandro Crespi
Artful Approaches to Plastic Surgery
Expert techniques bring precision and craft to facelifts and other cosmetic procedures.
The desire to look refreshed, not transformed, is helping shape contemporary aesthetic medicine, and according to Brett Stompro, M.D., F.A.C.S., a leading facelift specialist in Blackhawk, cosmetic surgery is entering a new era with procedures that are evolving at “warp speed.”
For years, facelifts were performed only on the skin layer before evolving to procedures that involved the muscular layer, which offered improvements but still fell short. A major leap forward came with the so-called deep-plane facelift (or advanced facelift), which works underneath the muscle and requires “a much more intimate knowledge of anatomy,” according to Stompro. “That’s why only 5 percent of plastic surgeons across the country do the advanced facelift procedures.”
“There is obviously a physical component [to plastic surgery], but there’s also an emotional component. If someone is concerned about a body part [to the point of preoccupation], and you can make that pain or that discomfort go away, it makes them very happy.”—Joseph Mele, M.D., F.A.C.S.
The latest evolution goes one step further. “The fourth generation [of facelifts] is combining that deep-plane facelift with a structural neck lift,” explains Stompro. Instead of pulling skin, surgeons now reshape deeper structures—in some cases, even reducing the portion of the submandibular glands that can cause “a heavy neck. … That has been a game changer,” he adds.
Last year, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery invited Stompro to moderate an international panel on deep-plane facelifts paired with structural neck lifts, giving him a professional forum to share his 30 years of knowledge. “It’s so great to have finally unlocked the secret of the ideal facelift. The only problem is a limited number of surgeons have the key,” says Stompro. “It shouldn’t just be 5 percent [of surgeons who are] doing these advanced techniques.”
Compassion in Practice
Double board-certified plastic surgeon Joseph Mele, M.D., F.A.C.S., welcomes clients from the Bay Area and out of state to his practice in Walnut Creek. In addition to facelifts, tummy tucks, rhinoplasty, breast augmentations and lifts, and liposuction, other popular procedures include otoplasty (aka ear contouring) and gynecomastia reduction to remove excess breast tissue in men. “I probably have more male clients than average because I do so many gynecomastia reduction [procedures],” says Mele. Regardless of gender, he always ensures his patients are seeking surgical intervention for themselves and not anyone else.
“There is obviously a physical component [to plastic surgery], but there’s also an emotional component,” says Mele. “If someone is concerned about a body part [to the point of preoccupation], and you can make that pain or that discomfort go away, it makes them very happy.” If patients aren’t fully satisfied with their outcomes, Mele encourages people to partner with their care provider to resolve any concerns.
“Good plastic surgeons don’t abandon you; they want to make sure you’re getting the best result possible,” he says. “[Maybe] we have to let it heal and then do a revision if it’s still bothering you.”
What’s Ahead
Among the recent trends in plastic surgery are procedures using the patient’s own body fat to add fullness in other regions, microsurgeries, and smaller breast implants. Mele says his clients in the East Bay don’t typically ask for the oversize implants patients might request in cities such as Los Angeles or Dallas. “They just want to have something that matches their bodies in proportion,” he says.
Patients are also opting for smaller procedures that may not last as long as full facelifts but require less recovery time. Such procedures, including eye lifts and short incision neck lifts, are especially appealing to male clients, says Stompro. “Men can come in, have this done … and they’re back at their computer in [less than a week].”
Another major shift is the rise of combination procedures. A deep-plane facelift may be paired with an endoscopic brow lift, an eye lift, and fat grafting, all in one session. Fat transfer, in particular, has become an excellent tool for restoring youthful fullness. “It is one of the major advances in facial aesthetic surgery in the last 40 years,” says Stompro. plasticsurgery1.com; drmele.com.
For Your Consideration
With dozens of plastic surgeons in the area, finding the right person for your cosmetic procedure starts with research. Plastic surgeon Joseph Mele, M.D., F.A.C.S., suggests perusing websites from professional organizations such as the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (plasticsurgery.org) for information on common procedures, before and after photos, and a search tool to find plastic surgeons certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. Many providers have their own online galleries, which can give future patients an idea of expected results. Request recommendations from family and friends, and look to social media for added data. Mele suggests asking your prospective surgeon if you can speak with former patients and find someone who is a good personality match. “You want somebody you can communicate with easily because it’ll relieve a lot of stress,” he adds. Cosmetic surgeon Brett Stompro, M.D., F.A.C.S., also urges people to consult multiple providers and closely scrutinize before and after images, either online or in the medical office, to identify the look they hope to achieve.
Among the noteworthy medical options in our region is the accredited Blackhawk Plastic Surgery and MedSpa, led by founder Stephen Ronan, M.D., F.A.C.S. Ronan is also the founder of the American Society of Hair Restoration and provides a range of procedures for the body, face, and scalp. In San Ramon, Michelle Place, M.D., is a board-certified plastic surgeon who specializes in cosmetic surgery of the face and body. Those seeking body-sculpting services might consult with Steven Williams, M.D., of Tri Valley Plastic Surgery in Dublin. A board-certified surgeon and a former president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Williams specializes in tummy tucks, often combined with breast reductions or liposuction. In Lafayette, Barbara Persons, M.D., F.A.C.S., provides breast augmentation, facelifts, and body contouring through liposuction among other offerings at Persons Plastic Surgery.
Bay Area Brain Spa offers neurofeedback to improve sleep and decrease stress.
Tamalyn Ann Photography
Futuristic Wellness
Technology-based services at Bay Area Brain Spa add a cutting-edge spin to restorative practices.
Science meets self-care in the growing arena of biohacking. A broad term that involves making small biological changes to optimize health, performance, and longevity, biohacking can include everything from wearable trackers to neurofeedback to more extreme (and controversial) measures such as microimplants. Although they can sound like weird science, biohacking practices are becoming more mainstream, with a 2025 survey conducted by the Sanctuary Wellness Institute of more than 1,000 adults in the United States finding that 67 percent of respondents identified themselves as “biohackers.” In the Silicon Valley–adjacent East Bay, utilizing technology to promote well-being is a natural fit.
Neurofeedback is a huge draw at Bay Area Brain Spa in Albany. “We definitely attract the biohackers,” says co-owner Carleigh Rochon, who refers to the spa’s offerings as “technology-based wellness” or “touchless wellness.”
The spa’s menu of services includes neurofeedback brain training, red light therapy, lymphatic massage, dry salt therapy, and more—all designed to help restore the body and mind. And while the science and services might sound intimidating, Rochon insists the goal is simple: “We’re helping people find what makes them feel good and function better, whether that’s through technology, mindfulness, or a little of both.” That concept has resonated deeply in the East Bay, where Rochon says 90 percent of her clientele lives.
Bay Area Brain Spa’s BioCharger platform uses four energy types to support focus, flexibility, and recovery, among other benefits.
Courtesy of Bay Area Brain Spa
Touchless Therapy
Bay Area Brain Spa opened in 2020, right when the pandemic made touch-free therapies not just appealing but necessary. Rochon and her business partner originally planned to offer group neurofeedback as an affordable way to help more people regulate their nervous systems. Then COVID-19 hit.
“We signed our lease, we were ready, and, boom, everything [changed]. And so it was a little bit of a fluke,” Rochon recalls. “It was very intentionally touchless because of the time; 1768441277 we have this niche where you can come in and do your self-care without having to have an energetic exchange with other people.”
Bay Area Brain Spa’s top service is neurofeedback, which Rochon describes as “effortless brain training to regulate the central nervous system, stress, anxiety, sleep, [and] focus.” It’s designed to improve resilience and mental clarity.
Another popular option is lymphatic drainage massage, delivered through a full-body compression suit called the Ballancer Pro. “It flushes your lymph system,” says Rochon. “[It is] great for detoxification, flushing water weight, speeding your metabolism, and boosting your immune system.”
It is also an aesthetic favorite. “People use it for weight loss,” she notes. “Your skin tightens up; you look more glowy because your system’s clean.”
Red light therapy is the spa’s third-most-requested service. “It definitely improves your skin tone and boosts collagen,” says Rochon. “But red light is so amazing for your whole body, just in charging your voltage, giving you more energy, and letting your cells perform better.”
Clients can also combine services for the ultimate indulgence. Explains Rochon, “You do your neurofeedback in the compression massage suit with the red light facial all in one sitting.”
Other Brain Spa options include halotherapy, or dry salt therapy—which involves breathing air containing salt particles and may improve respiration and relaxation, among other possible benefits. (Scientific research on halotherapy is still limited.) And for clients looking for something more futuristic, there’s the BioCharger, a platform that emits electromagnetic frequencies inspired by the environment. “It is harnessing the frequencies that we would be getting in nature and bringing them inside for you to get in a concentrated dose,” Rochon adds.
Sessions in zero gravity flotation tanks at Peak Performance Float and Wellness Center promise relaxation and pain relief.
Courtesy of Peak Performance Float and Wellness Center
Serenity Strategies
Rochon believes the East Bay’s open-minded, health-conscious community makes it the perfect place for this kind of forward-thinking approach to wellness.
“People here want to be proactive with their health,” she says. “This kind of self-care just really ups their game because this isn’t treatment. This is proactive.”
Whether guests pop in for a single service or spend a few hours rotating through multiple modalities, the Brain Spa experience is designed to be highly restorative. “We want everyone to feel like they’re in a safe, healing space,” adds Rochon. “The climate right now feels so stressful for so many people; we really need to be taking care of everybody.” bayareabrainspa.com.
Reboot Float and Cryo Spa in Rockridge and other East Bay providers offer rejuvenating treatments.
Courtesy of Reboot Float and Cryo Spa
For Your Consideration
The menu of services at Arctic Restore, a repeat readers’ pick for Best Alternative Therapies Provider in Diablo’s Best of the East Bay, is vast and includes cryo-thermal contouring to reduce fat and firm skin. The Alamo practice also has lymphatic drainage massage, multi-wave light facials, biofeedback, and red light therapy among its offerings. Abundance WellSpa in Antioch promises improved skin and reduced inflammation through halotherapy in its Himalayan salt rooms, along with Reiki energy healing, lymphatic drainage massage, and infrared sauna sessions. Float therapy is another source of pain and insomnia relief and stress management. At Walnut Creek’s Peak Performance Float and Wellness Center, users can relax in zero gravity flotation tanks; contour red light treatments are also available. Soak in 1,000 pounds of Epsom salt and water at Reboot Float and Cryo Spa in Rockridge, or reduce inflammation and boost energy with its whole-body cryotherapy treatment. Kume in Oakland features flotation tanks, cryotherapy, and a sauna cocoon pod to flush out toxins. Alternative treatments don’t need to use the latest tech; sound therapy is an ancient practice that utilizes sound vibrations to promote stress relief. East Bay Healing House in Berkeley has individual and group sound bath experiences.
The experts at Celebration Salon provide wigs, toppers, and a hair prosthetic system that can boost clients’ self-esteem after hair loss.
Jessamyn Photography
Mane Supporters
The specialists at Celebration Salon assist clients with finding confidence after hair loss or thinning.
While working for a hair extension company in the 1990s, Rhea Bianco identified a gap in the market: There were no realistic, effective solutions for those with top hair loss. “Most of the people who were coming to us had hair loss in areas that extensions wouldn’t address, so then when they looked at their results, they became frustrated,” she says. “[Adding extensions with a deficit on top] just didn’t look natural or right.”
“[The CNC hair prosthetic system] helps people so much when it comes to their mental health. When people wake up in the morning and they feel good, then everything’s better the rest of the day.”—Rhea Bianco, Celebration Salon
Today, Bianco helps clients with top hair loss and other concerns via personalized wigs, toppers, and other customized solutions at her Celebration Salon in Alamo. The American Hair Loss Council–accredited salon is part of an elite group of certified CRLab trichology treatment centers that gives clients access to a next-level CNC hair prosthetic system that helps them look and feel their best.
Finding the Ideal Fit
Bianco, who has three decades of experience in the industry, and her team of experts help clients from across the region facing a variety of hair loss challenges—whether the loss is the result of chemotherapy, or they are battling trichotillomania or alopecia, facing postpartum hair shedding, or dealing with hair thinning due to other reasons. To figure out which solution is best for a prospective client’s particular situation and lifestyle goals, a team member first holds a free private consultation, including a scalp and hair evaluation.
The Celebration team will then advise on an optimal course of action— from scalp treatments and keratin tip extensions to toppers and full wigs. Each decision is made with a commitment to achieve the most natural look possible. Made with human hair, toppers provide a lightweight option for those looking for coverage on certain areas of the scalp, while the wigs provide a secure solution customized for each individual. “Wigs can have too much hair on them, so we remove a lot and then we add highlights,” says Bianco. “We can perm to create textures.”
Bianco calls CRLab’s medical-grade CNC hair prosthetic system the “Bentley” option, crafted to imitate one’s original hair using 3D printing. She and her team take scans at the salon before sending measurements to a lab in Bologna, Italy. “Within three months, they make a complete prosthetic that’s custom-made—it fits your head like a contact lens,” says Bianco. “This is made specifically for you, and that’s really important when it comes to security, fit, the look, the scalp color, the density, the curl pattern. We re-create to the T what someone lost.”
A client can shower, swim, and lead a full and active life with a CNC system in place. “It’s undetectable. … It helps people so much when it comes to their mental health,” Bianco adds. “When people wake up in the morning and they feel good, then everything’s better the rest of the day. [The alternative is that] you have to take off your wig, and put it on the counter. You wake up and look in the mirror, and it’s like you’re facing [hair loss] again every day. This eliminates that.”
Bianco has offered CNC systems for more than five years, and Celebration Salon recently acheved platinum status from CRLab due to the salon’s number of orders.
Solutions for All
Though Celebration’s offerings are nonsurgical, Bianco partners with skilled surgeons, including for those with CNC systems, as a surgeon can inject hair and merge it with the hairline, among other treatments. Her clientele spans men, women, and transgender individuals—and the pieces can have a transformative effect on each person’s confidence.
“We cry a lot of happy tears. That’s pretty common,” Bianco says. “We will do our best to find a solution that’s going to fit your budget. … We’re going to find a solution for you so that you’re not in pain every day.” celebrationhairsalon.com.
Lash extensions can create a lush look for your eyelids.
Shutterstock
For Your Consideration
Take a top-down approach to optimize how you look and feel. If you are dealing with hair loss, many talented surgeons across the Bay Area perform supplemental or alternative treatments. California Hair Surgeon, which has a location in Walnut Creek, is a frequent partner of Celebration Salon. Sara Wasserbauer, M.D., is among an elite group of hair transplant experts certified by the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery. As well as completing traditional hair restorations, Wasserbauer is a trailblazer in scalp micropigmentation and the newer area of hair follicle cryopreservation. Alamo and Livermore’s Her Secret Hair also supplies hair restoration alternatives, including hairpieces, extensions, and weaving, while the Pleasant Hill outpost of Golden State Dermatology offers surgical hair transplantation, medical therapies, scalp micropigmentation, and more in addition to its dermatological and cosmetic surgery services.
Brighten your smile with teeth whitening at the Diablo Dental Group.
Shutterstock
Extensions aren’t just for hair. At the Lash Empire, which has sites in Alamo and San Ramon, Kelly Tong and her staff provide eyelash extensions—a semipermanent treatment that gives a fuller appearance. Each silk fiber extension is added individually using an FDA-approved adhesive. Lash lifts, which curl the eyelashes with a curling rod and a lifting solution to maximize each lash’s visibility, create a similar lush visual. Alex Cher Beauty in Lafayette claims the title of the East Bay’s lash lift specialist. Face Foundrié, which recently opened a new location in Emeryville, is among the regional specialists that can provide brow lamination, during which a perming solution is used on the eyebrows to give them shape and fullness for an extended period.
To bring your smile up to 1,000 watts, dentists Nashwa Aziz Elrashidy and Kamile Lim lead an expert team at Danville’s Diablo Dental Group with experience in teeth whitening, Invisalign, cosmetic bonding for tooth cracks and chips, veneers, and more. Coliseum Dental Walnut Creek has been a preferred provider for porcelain veneers, gum and enamel recontouring, and ceramic bridges and crowns, among other services, for more than 30 years.
