The descent into Hamilton Island, especially for those escaping one of Sydney’s most waterlogged winters, is breathtaking. The sky blurs into the ocean—one endless sweep of blue—punctuated only by the shadows of pristine white clouds and densely forested islands that suddenly give way to scalloped white beaches and sparkling shallows.
I can guess who amongst my fellow passengers is here as a guest of Mecca Cosmetica by the phones rising smoothly to the plane windows to capture the descent.
Mecca Cosmetica is an official partner of Hamilton Island Race Week, an annual regatta, now in its 40th year, which sees up to 200 yachts compete across the Whitsundays. Over the years, the race week has evolved beyond a sporting event into an interstate cultural pilgrimage. The weekend draws a crowd of editors, chefs, athletes, influencers, and the lucky resort veterans (cue White Lotus references) for long lunches, live music, and designer kaftan-filled events. Over the past three years, Mecca Cosmetica’s Living Lab Kiosk—a sleek, shipping container-sized boutique lined with their cult-favourite To Save Face SPF line—has become a fixture. The To Save Face line has quietly expanded into a full sunscreen wardrobe. There’s the original To Save Face SPF50 recommended for its seamless compatibility with makeup. Now it’s joined by the Brightening Sun Serum (a niacinamide-infused glowy base), the Matte Sun Serum (for the shine-averse), and the To Save Body SPF30 Radiant Sun Mousse, which gives limbs an ever-so-subtle sheen.
I’m here to experience the final weekend with them: superyachts, seaplanes, sun protection and all.
Day One
We arrive and are ferried to The Sundays, a new boutique resort overlooking Catseye Beach. The sleepy island streets are lined with wallabies and their babies (to the delight of Loewe-clad passengers clutching mini Flamencos). Our first stop is a restorative 45-minute facial with the Mecca Cosmetica skincare team. My skin is travel-worn thanks to a busy August and dehydrated, not exactly superyacht-ready.
Mecca Cosmetica, MECCA’s house brand, refines and distils the beauty retailer’s encyclopaedic experience with global cult products into essentials made for the Australian climate (and schedule). My facialist, Hillary, begins with the Purifying Cleansing Balm, a product I mentally add to cart as soon as its swept over my face. Infused with eucalyptus, clove and chamomile oil, it’s a hit of nostalgia for those of us who once hoarded Eve Lom’s iconic balm cleanser. Unlike that beloved classic, the balm rapidly emulsifies with water and doesn’t require a muslin cloth to remove. Perfection.
After a sheet mask, Gua Sha massage, and a layer of the Whipped Hydrating Gel Cream, which my dehydrated skin slurps up, we finish, naturally, with SPF.
Facially recharged, I head to the Hamilton Island Race Week opening dinner with my equally glowing Mecca Cosmetica crew. It might only be Thursday night, but the week is in full swing.
Day Two:
This morning’s itinerary: superyacht.
I do a quick check: Lip De Luscious, hat jammed on, sunglasses affixed and sandals fastened. My dress might be Zara, not Zimmerman, but I consider myself close enough to be ready to cruise like a local.
We board a yacht, are handed champagne and caviar canapés, and head out to sea. We board the yacht, where we’re handed champagne flutes and caviar, and settle in to take in the archipelago views. I havent been to the Whitsundays before, and the ecology strikes me as a Jurassic Park by way of The White Lotus.
After a loop around the island with the race boats, we disembark for a long lunch with Josh Niland, of three-hatted Saint Peter fame, at his new Whitsundays outpost, The Sundays. He shares his take on reimagined Queensland home cooking – seafood and “land-based meats,” as he refers to it, sourced locally and cooked whole.
Olympic sailor Olivia Price is our guest of honour. At just 19, she competed in the London Games—and still spends most of her life on the water. “Your skin cops it out there,” she tells us. “Salt, wind, sun—it’s brutal. We always reapply, always carry zinc.” Spartan but effective.
Lunch is followed by scoops of Niland’s famous gelato by the pool, and dancing into golden hour. That evening, I return to my makeshift spa to de-SPF: a double cleanse with Mecca Cosmetica’s Purifying Balm and Renewing Gel Cleanser, followed by the Future Face Hydrogel Mask—a deeply hydrating sheet treatment packed with peptides, ceramides, and vitamin C. It feels like a cooling reset after a day in the sun. I draw a bath, a luxury I don’t have at home in my Sydney sharehouse, and soak until my fingers prune.
Day Three
Seaplane day.
Despite my morning SPF layering and the life-affirming skincare ritual I’ve slipped into, I’m mildly terrified. We board a plane roughly the size of a family SUV, hats clutched, champagne tucked into a cooler bag like true professionals.
As we take off over the Whitsundays, the surreal beauty of the ocean shrinks under us. People are now politely ignoring my constant references to Jurassic Park, but the landscape below is otherworldly – agate waters, white sandbanks shifting beneath the surface and dense forests. As we land on a private strip, floating in the water, the only thing prehistoric is how smug I feel stepping out of the seaplane wielding a tube of Mecca, To Save Face, to ward off the other beachgoers trying to take photos with what I’ve come to refer to as my seaplane. It’s glorious.
But the day isn’t finished. After a quick freshen-up (read: speed-shower, SPF re-up, spritz of fragrance), we head out for a pre-dinner whale-watching cruise.
The open waters of the Whitsundays at dusk turn a stormy emerald green and are occasionally a whale hotspot. While we only caught a glimpse of a hump, there was plenty of golden hour content captured, marking the endeavour a success in most attendees’ books.
Our final dinner is held at The Long Pavilion at Qualia, the island’s most exclusive restaurant. We sip wine, eat coral trout and sugarcane granita, and take in The Long Pavilion’s famous views, a burnt orange sun setting over a pitch black forest and vast expanse of sea.
Day Four:
I wake early, shaking off my evening wines (we may have alingered a little too long) with morning yoga and waving my final goodbyes. I’m leaving with a suitcase full of SPF, a camera roll full of sunsets and questionable selfies, and skin that may never be this hydrated again.
The ELLE Edit:
MECCA COSMETICA
To Save Face SPF50+ Superscreen
MECCA COSMETICA
To Save Body SPF50+ Hydrating Sunscreen
MECCA COSMETICA
To Save Face SPF50+ Brightening Sun Serum
MECCA COSMETICA
To Save Body SPF30 Radiant Sun Mousse
Disrobe:
MECCA COSMETICA
Purifying Cleansing Balm
MECCA COSMETICA
Renewing Cleansing Gel
MECCA COSMETICA
Future Face Hydrogel Mask
MECCA COSMETICA
Gel Cream
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