Bare Waxing & Skin Centre on Crummer Road is the Grey Lynn branch of a small Auckland salon group founded by Vivianne McIntosh in 2007. The Grey Lynn doors opened in 2010, two years after the original Glen Innes salon, and the focus has stayed the same throughout: a curated menu of grooming essentials — female and male waxing, brows and lashes, spray tans and skin treatments — performed week in, week out by a team that treats them as core craft rather than add-ons.
The philosophy is that a salon appointment should be something to look forward to, even when it is just a bikini wax. Every client, no matter their shape, shade, age or background, is made to feel comfortable and great about themselves. Convenience is taken seriously too: there is online booking and cancellation, text reminders, late nights midweek, and free client parking under the building.
Products are kept simple and deliberate. Core brands include Dermalogica for results-based skincare and Pure Fiji for luxurious body care, and everything stocked is paraben and sulphate free, made with eco-safe renewable ingredients, never tested on animals and responsibly packaged. There is also a plain-spoken promise behind every treatment: if it does not meet your expectations, the team will refund you and do their best to fix any issues.
Grey Lynn is led by salon manager Robyn, who joined Bare in 2017 while travelling from the UK and is the group's male waxing specialist, supported by area manager Sam, who has been with Bare for over 15 years, and founder Viv, whose focus is education, training and client experience.
Bare Waxing & Skin Centre Grey Lynn has been a fixture on Crummer Road since 2010 — but the story starts a little earlier. Founder Vivianne McIntosh launched Bare in 2007 out of a need for clean, affordable and professional waxing and grooming services, opening the original Glen Innes salon in 2008 before bringing the same formula to Grey Lynn, just near the Ponsonby Road end.
The idea behind Bare is disarmingly simple. A salon appointment should be something to look forward to — even if it is just a bikini wax. Every client, no matter their shape, shade, age or background, should feel comfortable and great about themselves when they have a treatment. Care, consistency and convenience sit at the heart of everything the team does, and it shows in the small things: online booking and cancellations, text reminders, late nights twice a week, free client parking under the building, and getting the uncomfortable parts of a wax done as quickly as possible.
Waxing and grooming are the core business here — what the team does all day long. Because the focus is specific, they consider themselves experts. The Grey Lynn team works through a curated menu of maintenance and skin treatments covering female waxing, male waxing, brows and lashes, spray tans, skin treatments and packages. The rule of thumb: if it is on the treatment list, they perform it every week, so your regular is never a stretch.
Male clients get particular attention. Salon manager Robyn, who hails from the UK and joined Bare while travelling in 2017, is the salon's dedicated male waxing specialist — and, by her own account, a waxer through and through.
Alongside the maintenance menu, the salon offers skin treatments built on results-based skincare. Core brands are Dermalogica and Pure Fiji, chosen because the team trusts them and knows them inside out. Everything on the shelves meets the same criteria: paraben and sulphate free, made with eco-safe renewable ingredients, never tested on animals, and packaged responsibly. Skin services extend to advanced options like Dermapen microneedling, which the salon has featured on its blog, the Bare Edit.
Products aside, Bare stands behind its work with a straightforward promise: when you visit, you should feel welcome, wanted and cared for, and the treatment you booked should meet your expectations. If it does not, the team will refund you and try their best to fix any issues. They are candid about it, too — some of their most loyal clients are people who gave them a second chance because of how honestly a problem was handled.
Bare was founded by Vivianne McIntosh, who spent more than 20 years in corporate change management and communications alongside building the business. She is upfront that she is not a qualified beauty therapist — pretty good with a spray tanning machine, she admits — but her passion is education and training the team so they deliver exceptional client experiences. Grey Lynn's day-to-day is led by salon manager Robyn, supported by area manager Sam, who qualified as a beauty therapist 18 years ago and has been with Bare for over 15. The team calls itself the Bare Family, and the values are consistent across both salons: kindness, making clients feel welcome and safe, delivering great treatment results, and aiming to be the highlight of a client's day.
The Grey Lynn salon is at 41 Crummer Road, near the Ponsonby Road end, with free client parking under the building. Opening hours run Monday 10am to 6pm, Tuesday 10am to 7pm, Wednesday and Thursday 10am to 8pm, Friday 10am to 6pm and Saturday 9am to 4pm; the salon is closed on Sundays. Bookings can be made any time through the live online booking system, which also handles cancellations, and gift vouchers — which never expire — can be purchased online as well.