SMOOTH OPERATORS ARE SEEING GROWTH
A smooth body from head to toe is the new sexy. HELEN GRANGE looks at the thriving new wax-only salons
AXING is a fast-growing segment of the beauty industry, but unless you’ve ventured into a dedicated waxing salon, it’s hard to grasp how advanced – and popular – this hair-removal procedure has become.
There are already three waxingdedicated salon brands – WAXIT has branches in Lonehill and Douglasdale in Joburg; Naked Cherry has branches in Parkhurst, Edenvale, Milpark and Fourways in Gauteng; and Fast & Furious is in Northcliff, Pretoria and Green Point, Cape Town.
WAXIT is planning to open a new branch in Menlyn, Pretoria, and in Kyalami by the end of the year. It will venture into Durban and Cape Town next year.
Business is good and improving for all of these wax bars, largely due to the fact that it has taken off as a popular treatment for men as well as women. “About 35 percent of our clients are men, across the racial spectrum. Sportsmen are keen waxers, but every kind of man is so-called ‘manscaping’ these days,” says Michelle Royston, the owner of WAXIT, which specialises in male waxing.
Naked Cherry, which also specialises in male waxing, has a 70 percent male client base. “These men are mostly heterosexual guys, aged anywhere from 19 to 76, and from a whole variety of backgrounds,” says owner Karen Metsos, who started Naked Cherry in Parkhurst after returning from seven years in London working in a high-profile waxing boutique.
The elevated hygiene and no-fuss approach of modern waxing bars is an obvious drawcard. And although the porn industry has made waxing desirable, wax therapists downplay this association.
“Yes, waxing is linked to sexuality, but who doesn’t want to feel desirable?” asks Metsos. “Body hair removal is centuries old, and what we’ve done is offer a discreet, customised, professional hair removal service that meets a growing demand,” she says.
Certainly, the dedicated waxing service is a far cry from the traditional waxing job you obtained in a beauty salon. For a start, if you’re having just your eyebrows waxed, you can be in and out within 15 minutes.
And gone are the pots of sticky brown wax, with the therapist double-dipping into it with a spatula, that dries and cracks if it’s not stripped off in time.
Wax has evolved to a softer, more pliable wax that doesn’t crack when it dries, so is less painful to remove.
At WAXIT, it’s imported from France, and at Naked Cherry, the wax is blue-purple in colour and made by Metsos’s laboratory in Greenside “from ingredients I formulated myself that don’t contain parabens”.
Royston, who like Metsos honed her waxing skills over years living in fashionable London, says the quality of the wax used determines the outcome, and WAXIT has a special men’s wax made for tough, thick hair.
“For sensitive areas such as the face, chest and below the waist, the wax is hotter. We advise our clients to listen to music on the earphones, or read their phone or tablet, to keep their minds busy,” she says.
Each dollop of wax used is fresh, with these salons discarding all their used wax. “We throw away about 100 blocks (1kg) of wax a month. It is not harmful to the environment,” says Metsos.
When waxing intimate areas, gloves are used, and at Naked Cherry, each waxing room is equipped with baby wipes so that the client can clean up before the procedure, and there’s disposable paper bed roll on each bed.
“Clients, both men and women, are in the ‘gynae check’ position or lying in the recovery position, and the therapists are well trained to make it as comfortable and pain-free as possible. The rooms have TVs to keep the client distracted,” says Metsos.
At all the waxing salons there’s a long menu of options, including the Brazilian (landing strip), Hollywood (all gone), bikini, G-string, full body, full back, half back, full arm, half arm, chest, abdomen, nostrils, ears, eyebrows, lip, chin and underarms, but each has their own signature waxing offerings for the intimate areas.
Naked Cherry, for instance, offers the MANifico bikini (everything off), WAXIT offers the full moon (buttocks area), and Fast & Furious offers a vajazzle Swarovski (designs). A full-body wax takes about three hours.
“Body waxing is an art, and it keeps evolving,” says Royston. It used to be an afterthought for both clients and therapists, but now it’s a professional treatment done is a pleasant, hygienic environment, with products on offer that help to preserve the results.”
Metsos offers a range of her own Naked Cherry products, from a tea tree-based serum that prevents ingrown hairs to a gentle exfoliator that nourishes the skin and helps reduce bacteria.
The prices for treatments at all three waxing salons are similar, ranging from R65 to R70 for brows/ nose/ears or R1 050 to R1 200 for the male “full monty” taking three hours (less for women as the procedure is easier). A woman’s “Hollywood” costs between R225 to R255 and a male “Hollywood” between R340 and R355. Maintenance of one’s smooth bits requires once-monthly visits. WEBSITES