Last time I climbed onto a HydraFacial bed, I walked out convinced I’d discovered the closest thing to achieving a Beyonce-esque glow. Minus the vocal range, dance moves or global fanbase of an award-winning pop star
So when HydraFacial launched HydraFillic with Pep9 – its newest booster and what I’m affectionately calling the sequel – I couldn’t help but wonder whether lightning could strike twice.
After all, sophomore albums are notoriously difficult. For every B’Day or Lemonade, there’s a part two that never quite lives up to the original.
Could my favourite facial really improve on an experience I’d already raved about?
Well, fast-forward a full week, and I’m still recommending the treatment to anyone who will listen. It’s quick, virtually painless and somehow leaves my skin looking like I’ve got Queen Bey’s facialist on speed dial.
Want to channel your inner BK? Here’s the exact process required to recreate your own Bey-approved glow. Jay Z not required.
Beyonce et al
When HydraFacial unveiled its newest innovation – the HydraFillic with Pep9 Booster, recognised by People magazine as one of the Best Beauty Launches of 2025 – I did what any beauty editor with an entirely reasonable obsession with glowing skin would do.
I booked myself straight back in. Naturally.
Considering a HydraFacial is performed somewhere in the world every 1.5 seconds, and has reportedly attracted celebrity devotees including one Ms B. Knowles, as well as Paris Hilton, Jennifer Lopez, Angelina Jolie, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, it’s hardly beauty’s best-kept secret anymore.
The real question wasn’t whether HydraFacial still lived up to the hype. It was whether my favourite facial could actually get even better.
A Familiar Favourite… With a New Leading Lady
Walking into my appointment, everything felt comfortingly familiar.
The signature machine. The satisfying swirl of the patented Vortex tip. The promise that I’d leave looking noticeably fresher without hiding behind sunglasses for the next three days.
But this wasn’t simply the same treatment with a fancy new serum.
According to Lidia Sorokina, Business Development Manager for HydraFacial Australia (NSW), HydraFacial has always been about treating overall skin health. Not just delivering a temporary glow.
“HydraFacial is a multi-step treatment,” she explains. “We start with a deep cleanse and exfoliation using a special serum, then we apply a mild peel to soften the pores and provide rejuvenating properties.”
That first stage combines gentle exfoliating ingredients including lactic acid, which helps loosen dead skin cells while boosting hydration, and glucosamine HCl, which supports healthy cell turnover – essentially creating a smoother, brighter canvas before the rest of the treatment begins.
Next comes what might just be my favourite part.
“We then perform painless extractions using another serum that softens the skin while removing dead skin cells, trapped oils, makeup and impurities,” says Lidia. “It’s the deepest cleanse for your skin without any downtime.”
She’s not exaggerating.
The extraction stage is powered by ingredients like salicylic acid, which helps dissolve excess oil and congestion inside pores, while honey extract helps replenish hydration and soothe the skin. It’s a little like giving your complexion a professional reset button – without the redness or recovery period usually associated with a deep cleanse.
Watching everything the treatment quietly lifts out of your pores afterwards remains equal parts horrifying and deeply satisfying.
Enter HydraFillic
If my first HydraFacial was the breakout single that made me a fan, HydraFillic with Pep9 is the polished follow-up album – bringing back everything I loved while introducing a few impressive new tracks.
Designed to visibly improve elasticity while softening the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, the booster combines HydraFacial’s proprietary Pep9 peptide complex – a blend of nine peptides designed to support collagen production, strengthen the skin barrier and improve the appearance of firmness – with triple hyaluronic acid for multi-level hydration and improved moisture retention, and moisture-loving fruit extracts to deeply hydrate the skin while helping strengthen its barrier.
The timing couldn’t have been better.
As someone whose skin seems to alternate between dehydrated, stressed and occasionally wondering whether it still remembers what collagen is, the promise of firmer, bouncier skin sounded exactly like what the doctor ordered. And, once my skin had been thoroughly cleansed, Lidia introduced the treatment’s newest star.
“We’re going to infuse the HydraFillic Pep9 Booster for deep hydration and anti-ageing,” she explains … “Then we’ll place you under LED light to stimulate collagen and elastin production.”
The Pep9 Booster is where the treatment really shifts from simply creating a glow into supporting longer-term skin health. Alongside the peptide complex and hyaluronic acid, it also contains vitamin B5 (panthenol), which helps attract and retain moisture while supporting the skin barrier.
The LED portion that follows is blissfully relaxing – essentially permission to lie still and pretend you’re doing something wildly productive while glowing red under futuristic lights. Beyond the space ship vibes, red LED light therapy is designed to support collagen production, help calm inflammation and enhance the overall rejuvenating effects of the treatment.
Then comes the grand finale.
“At the very end of the treatment, we’re going to infuse your skin with antioxidants for protection, hyaluronic acid again for hydration and peptides for anti-ageing,” says Lidia. “It’s like liquid gold that’s infused into your skin using our special HydraFacial technology.”
Liquid gold ordinarily might sound like marketing hyperbole. But I truly struggled to find an alternative description when I saw my reflection afterwards. It’s little surpise when you realise just what goes into this final protection stage to seals in the treatment. Think: a combination of antioxidants, peptides and hyaluronic acid to help defend against environmental stressors while keeping the skin hydrated and supported.
Why It Feels Different
HydraFacial’s biggest strength has never simply been the ingredients themselves.
It’s the way they’re delivered.
Rather than sitting expensive skin care on top of your face and hoping for the best, HydraFacial’s patented Vortex Infusion technology works throughout the treatment.
“We use a special patented technology called Vortex Infusion,” explains Lidia. “As we’re removing dead skin cells, trapped oils and impurities, we’re simultaneously infusing hydration, antioxidants and peptides.”
“The technology pushes the solution through the special tip into the skin in between the pores – everything your skin needs for ultimate skin health.”
It’s the beauty equivalent of an artist dropping a remastered album: the original magic is still there, but everything feels sharper, more refined and elevated.
As one layer is removed, another is already being replenished.
The result is skin that doesn’t simply look cleaner.
It looks healthier.
Encore, Anyone?
One of the biggest compliments I gave my first HydraFacial was that I noticed the glow before I’d even reached the car park.
HydraFillic somehow takes that feeling one step further.
Yes, my skin looked brighter.
But what surprised me most was how much firmer it appeared.
My cheeks felt noticeably bouncier, my complexion looked plumper, and those tiny dehydration lines that love making surprise appearances after a busy week seemed considerably softer.
Even the following morning, my skin still had that fresh, juicy quality that usually disappears somewhere between removing makeup and waking up.
Makeup glided on more smoothly. My skin felt calmer. And instead of looking like I’d simply had a facial, I looked like I’d actually been looking after myself.
A novel concept.
Will HydraFillic erase every late night, every stressful deadline and every occasion you’ve accidentally fallen asleep wearing mascara?
Sadly, no.
But it does what every great sequel hopes to do: it builds on everything you already loved without losing what made the original special.
If my first HydraFacial was the beauty equivalent of Beyoncé’s breakout hit, HydraFillic is the chart-topping follow-up that proves the original wasn’t a fluke. It doesn’t reinvent the formula – it simply turns up the volume.
Same superstar treatment.
Just with an even stronger supporting act.
And unlike many Hollywood sequels, this is one that genuinely deserves a standing ovation.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be patiently waiting for the trilogy.
