While there is no evidence to show that regular facial massage can help prevent aging, it can promote lymphatic drainage and help achieve a temporarily lifted appearance. And for FaceGym’s clients, who include singer Ellie Goulding and model Karlie Kloss, that is enough.

In September 2020, the company closed a second round of funding (for an undisclosed amount) and last year it launched a range of topical products and tools into Sephora in the UK and United States.

The studios are not your typical salon. Music is blared, and rather than Enya or the soothing sounds of the harp, it’s Beyonce, Mariah Carey and George Michael. Your facialist is a “trainer” who lies you back in a black leather chair amid sleek silver and monochrome accessories (this is no calming oasis) for your treatment. Er, workout.

Gender-neutral

This design is deliberate, of course. Theron called on Alasdhair Willis, chief creative officer at Adidas, for help in creating the atmosphere at FaceGym.

“When I first thought of it, FaceGym was yellow, it was plants everywhere, lots of wood. And then Alasdhair came in and was like, ‘No! It’s a gym! Make it look like one.’”

As a result the spaces are gender-neutral, something Theron was keen to achieve. “Even online, men account for 40 per cent of sales,” she says.

Most of the company’s workouts combine various massage processes, but there is also cryotherapy, radiofrequency and oxygenation. One treatment being launched in Australia is the “I Need It All”.

“It hasn’t officially been on the menu,” says Theron, “but it’s everything: massage, skin IV, cryotherapy, oxygen, active rollers with serums. It’s for when you just need everything thrown at your skin, all at once. “

Australia is a natural market for FaceGym, says Theron, who sees parallels with Los Angeles, where the company has set up shop in West Hollywood. “It’s a similar attitude to health and wellness,” she says, “and LA has gone nuts for us.”

She plans to open standalone retail stores in Australia, too.

As for her Spa Junkie days, they may be officially over, but Theron says she is never finished looking for the next big thing in beauty. “It’s a disease,” Theron says of her addiction to finding new beauty techniques. “I’m always thinking, ‘what if there is something amazing out there that nobody else has found?”

“It’s an endless curiosity.”