Waxers I have known...

[blue_lotus13]

Every time I go to get waxed, I think about writing a post about waxing. It's finally time to do it.
Let's go to the background. My mother is nearly hairless. I blame this on good genes and her ethnic makeup, as people of Asian descent tend to have very little body hair. My father, on the other hand, is mostly French German with a fair amount of body hair. The genetic mixture of them has resulted in yours truly, a rather hirsute person with dark skin and dark hair. As a child, I was teased about my hairy arms, and even refused to wear short sleeves for many years. In high school, I even shaved my stomach and my arms in an attempt to become less hairy. I don't do any of these things now, but I'm still a little self conscious.

At the age of 13, I had my first brow wax and I've been a practitioner ever since. It's embarassing to think about how many thousands of dollars have gone into taming my unruly brows. I was so terrified during my first wax that I nearly cried. Now, I almost fall asleep while they're doing it.

I have had many strange things happen to me while being waxed. At one salon, they ripped my skin which gave me bizarre slash marks above my eyes. Another time, the wax became too sticky and the poor esthetician had to practically scrape a piece of wax off the inside of my leg when it became stuck. This was a pretty humiliating experience, but I think it was worse for my waxer.

While I lived in Montreal, I had my first "too close" bikini wax. This was when the Brazilian was just catching on. Suffice it to say that I got the airplane runway, instead of the neat triangle. I've never had a Brazilian and plan never to have one as several people I know tell me that it is extremely painful.

In Indonesia, I attended a wonderful "all woman spa". Due to Muslim custom, men were not even allowed in the spa. Rooms were divided by bamboo and everyone got to walk around in beautiful batik sarongs. It is there that I experienced threading, which is one of the most painful procedures I have ever encountered. It felt like they were scraping hair from my eyebrows with a knife. I thought I was going to die. Never again. In this salon, I also had to fight not to have a Brazilian, which was difficult with my limited skills in Indonesian and the esthetician's limited English skills.

In Mongolia, I could not find anywhere that did eyebrow waxing. Instead, the brow was tamed with a little razor. At one place, a woman tried to buzz the sides of my hairline with this little razor and I had to practically fight her off.

Oh, the pains of beauty. Sometimes I wish I could just give up and do the Frida Kahlo, but I can't handle it. I can't even stop shaving my legs or pits. I've accepted that this is part of my routine and self pampering, and part of who I am.

Comments

[protoainsley.livejournal.com]

You think threading is more painful than waxing? Interesting. I wish I could afford to have my brows threaded regularly. I don't trust waxing or waxers to not make them too thin, plus, ouch.

[arwenoid.livejournal.com]

I found threading extremely painful. The reason I don't pluck is because I can't stand the extended pain. For me, it hurts the same amount, but plucking/threading just spreads it out longer. The first time my mother tried to pluck my eyebrows, I was nearly in tears, and made her stop every few seconds. Yes, I AM a giant wimp. Threading was just as bad, but because it was a stranger doing it, I couldn't break down and wimp out.

Rest assured, I will NEVER do that again. Waxing is SO much faster and less painful overall...

[suhl.livejournal.com]

You're so much braver than I. I tried waxing once, and the result required icing the afflicted area all night. I have a pretty distinct "happy trail" for a girl, but it used to be not so bad since it was almost always below the pants line. It's still all below the bellybutton, but pregnancy has made my bellybutton a lot further north!

[elf-chick.livejournal.com]

since i just got home from a lip and brow wax, i feel your pain (haha).
actually, i'm pretty used to it by now (several years). the only thing is that because i have sensitive and very pale skin, it's very obvious for about half an hour afterwards because i have a huge red swath across my upper lip that looks like, well, i burned myself. it always happens, and it's not a real burn, but it's not too convenient because i feel like afterwards i need to escape from the public eye (why do i care though, really?)

i have never had to actively hunt out a waxer since i go to my friend Dana (an aesthetician) or her former business partner Melissa, depending on who's available. i may have problems if/when i move...

and i must say that i have as yet avoided the dreaded bikini wax. i never swim these days (and my current suit is low enough in the leg that i could probably get away with it, or some minor trimming) and since nobody's visiting the downstairs apartment it's not really a big deal to me. but due to the aforementioned sensitive skin i'm worried for the future.

[donrickles.livejournal.com]

I've only had my eyebrows waxed once and nothing else. I have very hairy legs and an insane bikini line. Ugh. I was contemplating body hair just this morning as I shaved my legs for the first time in two weeks. I feel very torn about body hair removal. I feel like I shoudn't care about it, it's natural, but I do it still.

[arwenoid.livejournal.com]

Ditto. Why do I care that I have hair? Damnit.

I'm not as religious about it as some. I wax my eyebrows myself, and if they come close to matching, it's a freaking miracle and something to show off. "Look! My eyes match!" Yeah, it's not much, but it's mine and I like it.

I use this nifty tea-tree oil wax that doesn't require the cotton strips. It hardens and becomes the thing you rip all at the same time. Works pretty well. I've fucked up a few times and had weird bits from time to time, but hey, it grows back.

Legs... I went for 3 months without shaving my legs last year. (I'd torn a huge chunk out of my knee... and it STILL GREW HAIR. But I couldn't shave over the giant wound *owww*, so I said fuck it, and left everything.) Itchiest thing I've ever done. My mother bought me a razor for christmas. Think she was trying to tell me something? I gave in. (The knee had almost healed by then.)

I used to hate the fact that I have somewhat dark hair on the back of my hands. Looks a little monkey-ish when I'm in a particularly anti-hair mood. Or the hair on my second knuckle. I tried shaving my hands once. That was a mistake.

Now that I'm getting older, I get weird black hairs growing on my chin from time to time. It's ridiculously annoying. I've gotten pretty religious about doing a quick search in the morning (made more difficult by the fact that I'm quite freckly as well -- but I figure this helps disguise them when I miss 'em, too) and plucking away.

I hate having to pluck my chin. I'm 26! I should NOT HAVE EXCESS HAIR ON MY CHIN! Bah.

[donrickles.livejournal.com]

Have you experienced the joys of nipple hair yet? I just started sprouting a few obvious black ones a couple years ago. They're easy enough to get rid of but damnit, I don't want hairy nipples!!!

I think I'll investigate this tea tree oil method, sounds good.

[arwenoid.livejournal.com]

yes.

I don't want to think about them.

bleah!

[graphxgrrl.livejournal.com]

My mother has been doing electrolosis for YEARS to get rid of her random dark chin hairs, I started getting them in the last couple of years and promptly called to thank her for that genetic legacy. She said when she started tweaking her hormones when going through menopause she was getting fewer of them, I've thought about talking to my ob/gyn about a different mix of birth control that might cut down on that fun hair problem.

[sarcasma.livejournal.com]

This was totally fascinating. Thank you! I wish I had time for a more interesting reply. All I've got is: you would think that "wax this bit -- DO NOT wax this bit" or "wax from here out, and ONLY from here out" would be fairly easy to communicate without a common language. How scary to be in a situation where it wasn't!

[mirabillia.livejournal.com]

who do you go to for waxing here in van? my bikini line is in a sorry sorry state.

i thoroughly enjoy getting my eyebrows waxed, although i have quite fine hair, so it takes awhile to grow in enough to wax, but in the meantime it still looks unruly. annoying.

the last time i got my eyebrows waxed, my esthetician dyed them slightly darker/richer brown as well. i was terrified, but it actually looked nice - very subtle, and the patchy bits were evened out.

[kelly-yoyo.livejournal.com]

I will be eternally bitter that the hair on my arms is blonde, legs are brownish but my facial hair is black as sin.

And I'm with you on pit hair -- I can't stand the thought of letting it grow. Grosses me out to no end. *shudder*

[sarcasm-queen.livejournal.com]

I now only get my eyebrows professionally done, but I used to get my pits too (now I use one of those epilady type things, but I've been seriously considering laser hair removal). Despite the thin blond hair on my head, the rest of my body is not so nice.

I started waxing my brows in college, but had issues with breaking out afterwards. Finally a few years later I found a lady I loved and we worked out a system so I didn't break out at all, and she got to know my brows (which like to behave rather strange) so well. I was spending $10 on hair cuts twice a year, but $25 to get my brows done twice a month.

Unfortunately I just can't take the time to dive back there twice a month since I moved last year. I was fearful of finding a new place and the break-out issue, so I tried threading at a place super close to my house. They don't do as good of a job as the other lady did, but the price ($8) and location make it worthwhile.

Personally I don't find threading to be that painful. It is more drawn out, and waxing is probably better because there is only a few moments of pain, but in my experience threading is totally bearable. It really helps to hold the skin taught.

Hairless Life

[zocalo.livejournal.com]

I love this blog entry! Hair, Mongolia, Indonesia, French-German, bikini runways, Asian genes, and more hair! I must tell you my side of the story. I confess to being a stereotypical Asian who has very little to almost NO body hair! That's cool if I were a girl, but as a guy I hated it when I was growing up! As a teenager, I was petrified of other people seeing my pits because they were hairless. Even my sister has hairier arms than me! Even in my early to mid 20s, I hated being hairless. I even had a fascination with hairy men (chest and legs specifically). I remember being mesmerized by Tom Selleck on Magnum PI. I even wondered about medications and lotions that could make body hairs sprout!

It wasn't until recent years that shaving became a craze in both str8 and gay world that I've learned to appreciate being hairless. Nearly all the guys I've dated hated having to shave daily (I shave maybe 2x a week). All that time in the morning shaving, all that money, accessories, and irritated skin, I can do without! I also no longer have a fixation with hairy chests (seen it, been there, done it, can be a hassel to deal with!). I hope one day you accept being hairy! Just don't be like one of those Eastern European women on Olympics crossing finishing line with hairy pits for world to see.

(I had no idea you are bi/multiracial. Maybe now I remember you from that party! You know JadedBitch from Rice Paper and you brought your white husband to the party?)

Re: Hairless Life

[blue-lotus.livejournal.com]

You're thinking of Hanako. She's biracial with a white husband. I'm quarter Chinese, French, German, Scottish and English and my boyfriend is Taiwanese/Chinese.

My brother can identify with you and your hairless life. My brother is First Nations (he's adopted) and he has very little body hair. I used to tease him about his hairless legs. He rarely has to shave, and only has a few hairs on his upper lip. The head on his head is gorgeous, though, thick and black and curly.

My last ex and the current bf are both of Asian descent, and sometimes I forget that some men have to shave every day.

Re: Hairless Life

[(Anonymous)]

ah yes I'm thinking of Hanako then. Maybe you came late to party and we left soon after? Very cool mix blood you have!

Your brother sounds more hairless than me! I do have to shave a few times a week and my legs are hairy (for an Asian at least).

Re: Hairless Life

[zocalo.livejournal.com]

oops that was me

Re: Hairless Life

[angharad.livejournal.com]

As a randomly ethnic datapoint (which I might've told you before), gragathaz is German/Polish/Belgian/?, and it's only in the last few years that his goatee is as thick as it is. He's never had to shave to create the goatee. Apparently his dad was in his forties before his full beard really came in.

[wright.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the honesty.
I am a hairy girl. Somedays I'm ok with it and some days I'm not...
I've got hairy arms, hairy legs, a dark fuzzy belly and lower back... the 'stache and random chin hairs are getting worse as the years go on.
Sometimes I don't shave for months and sometimes I shave all the time...but I never stop bleaching.
*sigh*
I've seen women with full-on moustaches and wispy beards and I think they rock. I could never ever do that, but I'm glad they do.

[blue-lotus.livejournal.com]

I feel the same way about that! I love women with beards, but I could never have one. I love JT Samson's mustache too.

[applehangover.livejournal.com]

Wow, I've never really thought about this before. I am pretty hairless (thanks, mom!) and it's pretty funny when I try to let my arm pit hair grow. It's like there's ten wispy hairs there. It's laughable.

I have about 5 stray eyebrow hairs (either side, take your pick) that I will pluck. I have to be very careful with the eyebrows. My mom and one of my sisters did crazy eyebrow stuff and they never really came back. They have to pencil them on forever. No way will I do that.

[donrickles.livejournal.com]

My eyebrows are the same way. My grandmother had no eyebrows and when asked why that was, she would say she "lost them in the war". I never knew what that meant but I suspected that she overplucked them. That was until my dad lost all of his brows except for two crazy long curly hairs over each eye! He never plucked! I'm scared!

[applehangover.livejournal.com]

My mom and my grandma shaved all their eyebrows off and drew them back on with pencil. Guess that was the style, way back in the day. Of course being from pretty hairless stock they took the risk and it never really grew back. Grandma had no eyebrows left and drew them on until the day she died. My mom has half eyebrows.
My sister's only half breed like me, but also pretty hairless. She's pluck-happy, though. Woman cannot stop plucking. That thin brow Gwen Stephani doesn't work on everyone!

I never wanna mess with my eyebrows like that. Too risky!

I know if I were a boy I would not be able to grow a beard and probably no chest hair, either. I think most of the men folk on my mom's side are hairless like that.

[applehangover.livejournal.com]

PS- if you lose your brows, get creative when you draw them on! Experiment with creating different moods. Angry? Worried? Draw it on! :)

Of course you could draw one up and one down if you want to look like The Rock.