Taneesa Williamson Three doctors from Melbourne who have a shared passion for skin, skiing and the snow have created something special
Knowing that their patients were still eager to get their skin fix whilst away on holiday, three Doctors from Melbourne have teamed up to create Le Skin Chalet, a new skin solution in the heart of the Victorian Alps. With two mountain locations available and accessible through winter, Le Skin Chalet offering of chemical peels with minimum downtime, cosmetic injectables and acne treatment solutions with a holistic approach.
Dr Alice Rudd (Founder of SkinDepth Dermatology), Dr Priska McDonald and Dr Felicity Gould all joined forces to create Le Skin Chalet in 2022 for their first winter snow season offering luxury skin treatments at the hands of skilled, passionate professionals. Le Skin Chalet first originated in Mount Buller in June 2022, then expanded over to Falls Creek with familiarity of alpine local – Dr Gould.
What was the motivation behind creating a destination skin clinic?
Dr Rudd: “The two main driving factors are Dr Gould, Dr McDonald and myself are all passionate about the alpine region and have all been skiing since we could walk! We are colleagues and all collaborate in our practices based in Melbourne so thought why not combine our skills with our passion and start an alpine skin clinic.”
“We are all aware of the detrimental effects of a dry alpine environment on skin, such as dryness, redness and severe barrier impairment – not to mention the sun exposure (including reflectance of the snow). As many skiiers spend the season on the mountain, they often have a deteriorating barrier. Our skin treatments are focused on rehydrating the skin, barrier repair and rejuvenation. Many of our clients can afford a little bit more downtime than they would in the city, so we can often up the ante on our treatments. We are aware most destinations including Mount Buller and Falls Creek have day spas, but we wanted to provide something more medical and highly effective.”
We asked: “How do you treat and care for skin when performing these treatments in higher altitude locations? Does the skin need to be cared for in a different approach?”
Dr Rudd: “The altitude wreaks havoc on the skin. The environment is very dry and the skin can rapidly become dehydrated. There is artificial heating constantly turned on in every building in the Alps which further leads to skin dryness. The sun is strong at high altitude and there is also reflectance off the snow of UV, so there is almost like a double-whammy of UV exposure.”
Rudd: “Our treatments at Le Skin Chalet focus on assessing for barrier impairment and treating that with our repairing balms and serums. We select chemical peels based on the skin type and often chose AHAs such as lactic acid to provide smoothing and hydration. We see a lot of pigment and sun damage too so we treat that more intensively with medium depth peels. We provide advice on changing up one’s skin care regime to suit the alpine environment.”
In addition, we asked Dr Rudd about Le Skin Chalet’s service offering of injectable treatments, and how each doctor follows up on each treatment if the patients are not local to the area?
Dr Rudd: “If a client is travelling between the mountains and Melbourne we will offer to follow them up at Skindepth Dermatology in St Kilda if it suits them. If they are not able to, then we will consult via Skype at the 2 week mark to see if any ‘tweak-ments’ are needed. Usually one of the three of us will be on each of the mountains and we have supplies stored incase of any follow up is required. Additionally, we have clinics in both Shepparton and Wangaratta and will routinely follow patients up there if needed.”
Read SPA+CLINIC’s latest issue here:
There are 5 ways you can catch up with SPA+CLINIC
- Our quarterly print magazine, delivered to your door. Subscribe here.
- Our website, which is updated daily with its own completely unique content and breaking news.
- Our weekly newsletter – free to your inbox! Subscribe here.
- Our digital magazine – click here to view previous issues.
- Our social media – see daily updates on our Instagram, Facebook & Linkedin
