About Lapilita and who writes it

Lapilita is a small, independent website that explains skincare and cosmetic treatments in plain English for Australian readers: what a treatment involves, what it really costs and which mistakes to avoid. We don’t run a clinic or salon, and we don’t sell or perform treatments. Our job is to help you decide, and that includes deciding not to go ahead.

About Lapilita and who writes it

Why Lapilita exists

Xavier Montague started Lapilita to answer the skincare and cosmetic treatment questions we kept hearing, properly and in one place. The aim was to cover the topic plainly: what works, what doesn’t and what we’d actually choose ourselves.

A lot of what’s written about treatments comes from people with something to sell, such as clinic websites, product brands and paid social media posts. That makes a straight answer hard to find, especially on cost. Because we aren’t selling the treatment, we can say when something probably isn’t worth the money, show where the money goes and point you to a better source when there is one.

We want Lapilita to be the site Australians check before booking a skin or cosmetic treatment, and to be useful even when the answer is “you don’t need this”.

How we research, source and review

How we research, source and review

Our values only matter if you can see them on the page. Here’s what they mean in practice:

  • Show the working. Every article cites its sources and explains how we reached a conclusion, so you can check us rather than take our word for it. When the evidence is thin, we say so.
  • Link out. When another source covers a topic more carefully, we link to it.
  • Honest dates. Published and last-reviewed dates are real. We aim to review guides at least twice a year, and we update pages in place rather than republishing them, so saved links keep working.
  • Stay in our lane. We explain treatments and costs. We don’t diagnose or give personal medical advice, and we point you to a GP, dermatologist or registered practitioner when that’s the right answer.
  • Corrections welcome. If you spot an error, tell us. We check it, fix it and note the change.

Read more about how we cover skincare and cosmetic treatments.

Who writes Lapilita

Xavier Montague founded the site and writes for it. Frederick Ashbury is a contributing author whose bylined articles appear in the Journal. Every article carries its author’s name, so you always know who wrote what.

Read more about Xavier Montague, our founder, and Frederick Ashbury, contributing author.

What Lapilita is not

We’re an online publisher with no premises and nothing to book. We don’t perform treatments, sell skincare products, give personal skin assessments or recommend specific clinics or practitioners by name.

Everything on Lapilita is general information, not medical advice. It can help you understand a treatment and prepare better questions, but it can’t replace a consultation with a qualified professional.

If a guide doesn’t answer your question, or you think we’ve got something wrong, ask us a question or suggest a correction. A real person reads every message.