Colorado does not license med spas. That single fact governs everything on this page. The state licenses physicians, advanced practice nurses, registered nurses, and physician assistants — individually, by name and number — and the Colorado Medical Board's Rule 800 treats the work most med spas in Denver actually sell as the practice of medicine: injections of any substance into the body, and the use of Class IIIb or higher lasers, intense pulsed light, and radio-frequency devices that alter human tissue. A storefront cannot hold that authority. Only a licensed practitioner can, and only a licensed practitioner can delegate it downward to the nurse or aesthetician who may be the person actually holding the device.
Denver readers have a new lever here. House Bill 25-1024, signed 7 April 2025 and titled Medical-Aesthetic Services Delegation Disclosures, requires practitioners who delegate medical-aesthetic services to unlicensed personnel to disclose that delegation to patients. Because of that law, 2026 is the first year in which the chain of medical responsibility behind a Denver med spa is meant to be visible to the person sitting in the chair rather than buried in a corporate structure. This ranking is built on the same premise, applied one step earlier: before you can evaluate a disclosure, you have to be able to name the physician it points to.
So every practice below had to clear one gate before anything else was considered. It must publish the name of its medical director or supervising physician, and that person's Colorado licence must appear as active in the Division of Professions and Occupations' own licensee record — the file DORA publishes through the Colorado Information Marketplace, which carries licence type, licence number, status, first-issue date, and expiry. Six physician licences and one nursing licence were confirmed that way. Practices whose medical oversight we could not attach to a named, currently licensed individual were dropped from consideration entirely, however visible they were in search results. Nothing on this page describes results, outcomes, or price.
How We Evaluated Denver Med Spas
The Top 5 Med Spas in Denver
2026 Rankings · Denver Metro
Rejuvenate MedSpa
Rejuvenate is the only practice in this category that names two supervising physicians and stands behind both. Its medical directors page identifies Dr. Andrew Wolfe and Dr. Steven Vath, describes them as Denver plastic surgeons in practice for more than 17 years, and connects the med spa to their surgical practice, the Center for Cosmetic Surgery. Both names check out in Colorado's licensee record: Andrew Jeremy Wolfe holds physician licence DR 39229, first issued 7 December 2000; Steven D. Vath holds DR 42032, first issued 6 October 2003. Both are listed as Active with a current expiry of 30 April 2027.
One point of accuracy the practice earns and we will not smooth over: the medical directors page explicitly states that Dr. Vath received his board certification from the American Board of Plastic Surgery — an ABMS member board — while naming no certifying board for Dr. Wolfe on that same page. Ask for it directly if it matters to you. The practice is otherwise unusually plain about delegation, describing injectables as the work of nurse injectors, laser services as the work of certified laser specialists, and skincare as the work of aestheticians. That division of labour is exactly what Colorado's 2025 disclosure law is aimed at making legible, and stating it in public before being asked is the reason this practice sits first. Its own testimonials page displays a Google rating of 5 stars from more than 700 reviews.
ReDerm MD Medical Spa
ReDerm MD publishes the tightest single line of medical accountability on this list. Dr. Robert G. Fante, MD, FACS is named on the practice's own bio page as its medical director, and the same page places him at the Fante Eye and Face Centre in central Denver, where he practises oculoplastic and facial surgery. Colorado's licensee record confirms Robert Glenn Fante under physician licence DR 37140, Active, first issued 9 July 1998 and current to 30 April 2027 — the second-longest continuously held physician licence among the five practices here.
His bio describes him as double board-certified and as the current Secretary of Education for ASOPRS, the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, which is the subspecialty body for oculofacial surgery rather than an ABMS member board in its own right; his underlying ABMS certification is in ophthalmology. That distinction is worth carrying in your head, because a surgeon whose subspecialty is the tissue around the eye is a materially different proposition from a general aesthetic practitioner when the treatment area is the periorbital region. The device menu is broad — Halo and BBL platforms, Morpheus8, SkinPen microneedling, CoolSculpting, injectables — and the practice's own testimonials page displays a Google rating of 4.9 alongside a RealSelf rating of 4.6 from 19 reviews, a smaller corpus than the leader's.
La Fontaine Aesthetics
La Fontaine Aesthetics is owned and directed by the same person, which removes a layer of ambiguity that non-physician-owned med spas cannot remove. Dr. Ken Oleszek is named on the practice's own pages as owner and medical director, and Colorado's licensee record confirms Kenneth Gerald Oleszek under physician licence DR 32815, Active, first issued 15 July 1993 — the earliest first-issue date of any supervising physician on this page — and current to 30 April 2027. The practice's own site publishes a rating of 4.8 stars across 252 reviews, the largest review corpus any of these five displays on its own domain.
The site describes him as a Board Certified Physician but does not name the certifying board, and we are ranking that gap rather than ignoring it. What the practice does state is checkable and specific: a University of Colorado School of Medicine degree, an internal medicine residency completed in 1997, Fellow of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, and membership of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery and the American College of Physicians. Note that of those, laser medicine and cosmetic surgery are society memberships and fellowships rather than ABMS specialty certification. If board certification is a deciding factor for you, ask which board and in what specialty, and confirm it through the ABMS verification service before booking.
Mountain Med Spa
Mountain Med Spa is founded, owned, and medically directed by Dr. Rock Navarkal, and his bio is more forthcoming about training than most in this category. Colorado's licensee record confirms Rock Navarkal under physician licence DR 33552, Active, first issued 14 April 1994 and current to 30 April 2027. The bio names a University of Nebraska medical degree, a residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation completed through the State University of New York and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and an interventional pain and sports medicine fellowship, with practice in Denver since 2009.
The site calls him a board-certified physician, and unlike most it lets you work out which board: the societies list names the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, an ABMS member board. His ABMS certification therefore sits in physical medicine and rehabilitation, not dermatology or plastic surgery — a fact the practice's own pages support rather than obscure, since the bio is explicit that his practice for many years was pain management. The device training listed is equally specific: the Alma Harmony XL PRO laser and the Alma BeautiFill system, plus botulinum toxin and dermal filler injection. It ranks fourth for one measurable reason and not a qualitative one — the site displays 23 total reviews at a 5.0 average, by far the smallest published corpus of the five.
AOB Med Spa
AOB is the one practice here where ownership and medical authority genuinely sit with different people, and it is the reason it belongs on a governance-first list at all: it names both. Kathi Kotelko, RN is identified as clinic director, CEO, and owner-operator, and Gregory Buford, MD, FACS is identified as the board-certified plastic surgeon on the team. Colorado's licensee record confirms Kathi Lynn Kotelko under nursing licence RN 107670, Active, first issued 1 March 1995. It confirms Gregory Alan Buford under physician licence 39288, first issued 26 January 2001 and now held as a Compact Physician Home credential, CDRH 39288, Active to 30 April 2027 — Colorado remains his licensing home state under the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact.
Two things place it fifth rather than lower or higher. It is the only entry not inside Denver city limits — Greenwood Village sits at the south end of the metro, convenient from Centennial, Englewood, and Highlands Ranch and a longer trip from central Denver. And it is the only entry where the physician is not the owner, which makes the delegation relationship, rather than proprietorship, the mechanism holding the medical work in place. That is a lawful and common structure in Colorado, and AOB names the parties to it in public, which is the standard this page is measuring. Its own site states more than 15 years in business and displays over 400 five-star reviews; the satisfaction percentage it also advertises is a self-reported figure we could not independently source, so we do not repeat it as fact.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes a med spa in Denver "medical" under Colorado law?
Colorado does not issue a med spa licence. What the state regulates is the work itself. The Colorado Medical Board's Rule 800 defines medical-aesthetic services as services in the cosmetic or aesthetic field that constitute the practice of medicine — including injections of any substance into the human body and the use of Class IIIb or higher lasers, radio-frequency devices, and intense pulsed light that revise, destroy, incise, or structurally alter human tissue. Because those acts are the practice of medicine, they must be performed or delegated by an appropriately licensed practitioner. That is why the meaningful question about any Denver med spa is not what the business is called but which named, licensed clinician stands behind the procedure.
Who is allowed to inject Botox or dermal filler in Colorado?
Injections of any substance into the body fall inside the practice of medicine under Colorado Medical Board Rule 800. In practice that means a physician (MD or DO) or an advanced practice registered nurse may perform them under their own authority, and a physician assistant or registered nurse may perform them under delegation and supervision from a physician or APRN. Delegation is not a formality — the Board's framework requires personal and responsible direction and supervision, not oversight routed through intermediaries. A med spa where nobody can tell you which licensed practitioner is delegating the injection you are about to receive has not answered the only question that matters.
How do I check a Denver med spa's medical director licence myself?
Two routes, both free. The Division of Professions and Occupations runs a public licence lookup through DORA, where you can search by name and see licence type, number, status, and disciplinary history. Separately, DORA publishes the full licensee file as an open dataset on the Colorado Information Marketplace at data.colorado.gov — over a million individual and business records covering more than 320 licence types, refreshed nightly, searchable by surname. That second route is what we used for every physician and nurse named on this page, because it returns licence type, licence number, status, first-issue date, and expiry in one record you can read yourself.
Does "board certified" on a med spa website always mean the same thing?
No, and the difference is the single most common source of confusion in this category. Certification by one of the member boards of the American Board of Medical Specialties — the American Board of Plastic Surgery, the American Board of Dermatology, the American Board of Ophthalmology, the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and so on — follows an accredited residency and a formal examination. Many other organisations also issue certificates using the phrase board certified, including bodies in aesthetic medicine that are not ABMS member boards. The two are not equivalent and a website is not obliged to distinguish them. Ask which board, in which specialty, and check the answer through the ABMS verification service.
What did Colorado's 2025 med spa law change?
House Bill 25-1024, titled Medical-Aesthetic Services Delegation Disclosures, was signed by the governor on 7 April 2025. It requires individuals licensed to practise medicine, and advanced practice registered nurses, to make specified disclosures to patients when they delegate medical-aesthetic services to people who do not hold a health care provider licence. The practical effect for a Denver patient is that the delegation chain behind a treatment is meant to be surfaced rather than assumed. It does not certify any practice, it does not assess competence, and it does not replace checking a licence — it makes the question askable at the front desk.
What should I ask before a first appointment at a Denver med spa?
Four questions, all answerable at the front desk. First: who is the medical director or supervising practitioner, by full name — then check that name in DORA's licence lookup before you go. Second: which licensed practitioner will personally perform my treatment, and under whose delegation. Third: which device or product will be used, and is it FDA-cleared or approved for the specific indication being treated, not merely FDA-cleared in general. Fourth: what is the protocol if an adverse event occurs, and who manages it. Colorado's disclosure law is designed around the first two; the FDA's guidance on dermal fillers and aesthetic devices is the reason for the third.
Sources & References
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Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA)
Colorado Medical Board — Division of Professions and Occupations
The state licensing authority for Colorado physicians and the home of the public licence lookup. Backs every licensure and medical-director verification claim on this page. The lookup application itself blocks automated requests; verify by hand in a browser.
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Colorado Information Marketplace (data.colorado.gov)
Professional and Occupational Licenses in Colorado — licensee dataset
DORA's own licensee file, published as open data and refreshed nightly. This is the record we read for every licence type, number, status, first-issue date, and expiry cited in the listings above.
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Colorado General Assembly
HB25-1024 — Medical-Aesthetic Services Delegation Disclosures
The 2025 law, signed 7 April 2025, requiring disclosure when medical-aesthetic services are delegated to unlicensed personnel. Backs the delegation-disclosure framing in the introduction and FAQ.
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American Med Spa Association (AmSpa)
New Colorado Law Adds Med Spa Disclosures
The national medical spa industry association's analysis of HB25-1024 and of Colorado Medical Board Rule 800 on delegation to unlicensed assistants. Backs the Rule 800 definition of medical-aesthetic services used throughout this page.
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U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Dermal Fillers (Soft Tissue Fillers)
The FDA's guidance on filler regulation, approved indications, and the risks of unapproved or improperly administered injectables. Backs the FAQ point about confirming clearance for a specific indication.
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U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Aesthetic (Cosmetic) Devices
The FDA's overview of laser, light, and energy-based aesthetic devices and what clearance does and does not establish. Backs the device-related guidance in the evaluation criteria and FAQ.
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American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS)
Verify Certification
The authority for what ABMS board certification is and how to confirm it. Backs the distinction drawn on this page between ABMS member boards and other bodies using the phrase board certified.
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American Society for Dermatologic Surgery (ASDS)
Injectable Treatments — patient information
Specialty-society patient guidance on injectable treatments and on who should be administering them. Backs the practitioner-qualification guidance in the FAQ.
Our Recommendation
This page is not medical advice and cannot be used as a substitute for it. Nothing here evaluates whether any treatment is appropriate for you, and no listing on this page should be read as an endorsement of any procedure, device, or outcome. Aesthetic medicine carries real risk, that risk is individual, and the only person who can assess yours is a licensed clinician who has examined you. Consult one before booking anything described here.
Within that limit, the ranking says something narrow and checkable. Rejuvenate MedSpa names two supervising physicians and states in public who performs which category of work, which is the clearest governance structure we found in Denver. ReDerm MD attaches its med spa to a named surgeon's own practice. La Fontaine Aesthetics is directed by the physician who owns it, whose Colorado licence has been active since 1993, though its site does not name his certifying board. Mountain Med Spa names its board — the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation — which is more than most practices do, and lets you weigh what that specialty means for aesthetic work. AOB Med Spa is nurse-owned with a named physician medical director, and discloses both sides of that arrangement.
Do the check yourself before your first appointment. Ask for the supervising practitioner's full name, search it in DORA's licence lookup, and confirm the record comes back active. It takes about two minutes and it is the one piece of due diligence in this category that no marketing copy can substitute for.
Denver Dean's List maintains editorial independence. We do not accept payment for rankings or accept advertising from the companies we evaluate. This page is journalism, not medical advice. Rankings reflect publicly verifiable credentials and licensure records only; they make no assessment of clinical outcomes, treatment suitability, or safety. Licence status changes — verify any practitioner's current standing with the Colorado Division of Professions and Occupations before making a decision.