Aura Screened spas can now apply on glowranked.com/for-spas·1,261 spas on the register with their public records checked·Aura Screened spas can now apply on glowranked.com/for-spas·1,261 spas on the register with their public records checked·
Before you book · Botox, filler, laser

The 60-second check.

A med spa is a medical clinic. Ten seconds of asking beats months of fixing. Here’s the whole check — and the deep version if you want it.

  1. 01

    Look them up.

    10 sec

    Search the spa on the register below. Free, no login. If they're Aura Screened, the public record checked out when Aura last ran it: the website resolved, the details matched, the advertising stayed inside the law. The date of that screen is on the spa's page — read it, because there is no automatic re-check behind it.

  2. 02

    “Who’s the medical director?”

    15 sec

    Every California med spa is legally required to have a licensed MD or DO supervising. If the front desk can’t name them, that’s your answer.

  3. 03

    “Who is actually injecting me?”

    15 sec

    RN, NP, PA, or MD — get the credentials. Estheticians cannot legally inject. Ask before you sit in the chair, not after.

  4. 04

    “What product, and where does it come from?”

    15 sec

    Real Botox / Dysport / Juvederm with a lot number. If the answer is vague (“a similar neurotoxin”), walk out. Counterfeit vials are real and the FDA has been warning about them all year.

If they answer all four without flinching — good sign. If they dodge, that’s not rude of you to notice. It’s the whole point of asking.

Step 1 starts here — search the register

5,805 California med spas · free · no login · spas can’t pay to rank

The deep check · 10 minutes, once

Sixty seconds is the screen. This is the check.

Everything below is free and stays free. It’s the same ground the register covers — laid out so you can do it yourself, for any spa, anywhere.

The license

Look up the license yourself.

Every legitimate injector in California holds a state license you can read tonight, free, at search.dca.ca.gov — the Department of Consumer Affairs' public lookup. Aura does not read it for you: no part of her screen touches the DCA, which is exactly why this page exists.

Ask for the full name of the person who'd be treating you — by text or DM before you ever book. Completely normal ask; good clinics answer in minutes. Then search the name.

  • License type: RN, NP, PA, MD, or DO. Estheticians and “certified injectors” with no state license cannot legally inject.

  • Status: you want “Current.” Expired, delinquent, or surrendered means stop.

  • Discipline: any accusations or board actions are posted right there as public documents. Read them.

The medical director

The medical director is not a formality.

California med spas operate under physician supervision — and as of January 1, 2026, state law (SB 351) got a lot stricter about it. The doctor has to actually control the medical side, not just rent their name to the business.

So ask: “Who's the medical director, and how often are they here?” You're listening for a name and a straight answer. Then look that name up in the same DCA search. If the front desk doesn't know who supervises their own clinic, that tells you how present the doctor is.

The exam

Your first visit should include an exam.

Before your first treatment, someone licensed to evaluate you — MD, DO, NP, or PA — is supposed to look at your health history, your medications, and your goals, and decide the treatment is actually appropriate for you.

If your first appointment goes straight from the front desk to the needle, that's not an efficient clinic. That's a skipped step, and it's the step that exists to protect you.

The product

Ask where the product comes from.

Real Botox, Dysport, and dermal fillers come from the manufacturer or licensed U.S. distributors, in labeled packaging, with lot numbers. Counterfeit and gray-market vials are not a scare story — the FDA has kept issuing warnings over improperly sourced product this year.

Ask to see the box. Ask where they buy. A legitimate clinic has a boring answer and zero hesitation. Vague answers — “it's the same molecule,” “we get it from a partner” — are your cue to leave.

Red flags

Six ways to know something’s off.

  1. 01

    The price is dramatically below everyone else's. Real product and real supervision cost money — a too-good price is usually missing one of them.

  2. 02

    Treatment offered at a house, a hotel room, or a “Botox party.” Injectables are medical procedures; the setting should be a clinic.

  3. 03

    No health history, no exam — straight to the needle on visit one.

  4. 04

    Nobody can name the medical director.

  5. 05

    The product never appears in labeled packaging, and lot-number questions get vague answers.

  6. 06

    A hard push to prepay a package today, before anyone has evaluated you.

One flag is a question to ask. Two is a pattern. Three is your answer, and you don’t owe anyone an explanation on the way out.

The question card

Eight questions that take two minutes.

  1. 01

    Who's the medical director here, and how often are they on site?

  2. 02

    Who will actually be treating me, and what license do they hold?

  3. 03

    How long have you been doing this specific treatment?

  4. 04

    Will anyone evaluate me before we treat?

  5. 05

    Can I see the product box and lot number?

  6. 06

    Where do you buy your product?

  7. 07

    If I have a reaction after hours, who do I call?

  8. 08

    What would make you say no to treating me today?

A good clinic has heard all eight before and answers without flinching. Number eight is the tell — a real medical practice sometimes says no.