Let's talk BRAZILIAN Waxing....anyone?
- Thread starter dmd
- Start date
lala1
Cathlete
OK, the other day my DD said that I needed a brazilian, I thought it was everything off the front, not knowing it was EVERYTHING LOL!
One question, is this something generational? I´m 51 and when I was younger I never thought of taking everything off, just shaving so that I could wear my swimsuit. Now my DDs shave or wax down there. I don´t care one way or the other, but it seems unusual to me, again no judgements, just thinking that maybe you all are younger than I or that maybe I´m just not up on all this.
Here is a funny link, but maybe you want to watch after the waxing ;-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKRKo113xwA
One question, is this something generational? I´m 51 and when I was younger I never thought of taking everything off, just shaving so that I could wear my swimsuit. Now my DDs shave or wax down there. I don´t care one way or the other, but it seems unusual to me, again no judgements, just thinking that maybe you all are younger than I or that maybe I´m just not up on all this.
Here is a funny link, but maybe you want to watch after the waxing ;-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKRKo113xwA
kathryn
Cathlete
>One question, is this something generational? I´m 51 and when
>I was younger I never thought of taking everything off, just
>shaving so that I could wear my swimsuit. Now my DDs shave or
>wax down there. I don´t care one way or the other, but it
>seems unusual to me, again no judgements, just thinking that
>maybe you all are younger than I or that maybe I´m just not up
>on all this.
I think it is somewhat generational.
I just wonder if the younger generations now think it's standard to get a brazilian or at least a ' narrow landing strip' wax job, and think of 'just removing the hair at the bikini line' as unsanitary or ugly?
I'm the same age as you, and a Brazilian doesn't interest me at all. I can't even imagine wanting to have someone rip the hair out of the more delicate areas down there. Wouldn't the newly opened hair follicles be at risk of infection or something?
Are we showing our age? LOL!
>I was younger I never thought of taking everything off, just
>shaving so that I could wear my swimsuit. Now my DDs shave or
>wax down there. I don´t care one way or the other, but it
>seems unusual to me, again no judgements, just thinking that
>maybe you all are younger than I or that maybe I´m just not up
>on all this.
I think it is somewhat generational.
I just wonder if the younger generations now think it's standard to get a brazilian or at least a ' narrow landing strip' wax job, and think of 'just removing the hair at the bikini line' as unsanitary or ugly?
I'm the same age as you, and a Brazilian doesn't interest me at all. I can't even imagine wanting to have someone rip the hair out of the more delicate areas down there. Wouldn't the newly opened hair follicles be at risk of infection or something?
Are we showing our age? LOL!
librarydiva
Active Member
Ah, well, we might as well have our fun where we can-- and glad my post was helpful!
I've been to several different salons and I have had some of the funniest experiences since I started waxing. Gee, I maybe could write a book and call it Adventures in Waxing-- think it would sell??
WARNING: more candor below. But we ARE talking girlfriend to girlfriend here, and some of this you need to know!
I forgot to say that different salons have varying approaches to the modesty issue. Some will cover everything except what is being worked on at the moment with a drape, you know, kind of like you're having surgery. Some will cover the half of you not being worked on with a drape, leaving the other half: yes, nekkid. I went to an amazing Lebanese waxing salon in Chicago-- Sisters in WaterTower-- man, the results are fantastic and they get you in and out in 15 minutes-- but it is not for the faint-hearted, as all they do is to place a strip of paper strategically in the middle of the area, and don't even give you a drape for when you were waiting for them to come in with the strip of paper! HELLO! What about those men I saw in the waiting room? I guess not an issue since the back of the aesthetician entering the room blocks all views of me au naturel?? I still puzzle over that one. But I can assure you, after 8 months of nothing but a strip of paper, I am *totally* over the modesty thing. My current aesthetician (Jenny at Spa Boudoir in Raleigh, NC) who is FANTASTIC, btw, doesn't even bother with a drape for me now. (Attention, anyone who was thinking of visiting Jenny: hold that thought! She has, and will gladly use, a drape on anyone! She is absolutely the best waxer ever. Seriously, you can hardly feel it.)
As to the menu question, you basically have 2 options with a brazilian. You can go totally bare front and back (I was shocked to find it was necessary to spruce up the back porch too-- WHO KNEW?!): that's the bare or stripped Brazilian. Or you can ask to have everything removed except for the so-called "landing strip" or a little triangle. The aesthetician will usually ask you what you prefer unless you've clearly specified "take it all off!"
The cleanliness issue is actually the reason I started getting the waxes in the first place. Working out as we do with our dearest whip-cracker Cathe, I certainly sweat a lot. With the brazilian, I find I sweat less *there* and I feel a lot cleaner. But that's just me.
Not to put too fine a point on it, biologists tell us that the purpose of well, what we get rid of with the Brazilian-- is to trap odor. Personally, I'd just as soon pass on that one. But again, that's just me! My aesthetician, Jenny, told me that waxed skin does tend to produce less perspiration.
And one final piece of advice, so you won't be shocked if it happens to you (not an issue for me): Jenny says that some women find there is more of a need to AIM in the bathroom once the state of bareness has been achieved. (LOL, maybe those lucky ladies have more sympathy for those pesky menfolk with less than perfect results hitting the target!) I wouldn't want you to go home and have a nasty shock, thinking, OMG-- they broke something!
HTH! Good luck, Deb! I think you will find the results of the waxing to be much more comfortable than your current approach.
Cheers!
-Karen
I've been to several different salons and I have had some of the funniest experiences since I started waxing. Gee, I maybe could write a book and call it Adventures in Waxing-- think it would sell??
WARNING: more candor below. But we ARE talking girlfriend to girlfriend here, and some of this you need to know!
I forgot to say that different salons have varying approaches to the modesty issue. Some will cover everything except what is being worked on at the moment with a drape, you know, kind of like you're having surgery. Some will cover the half of you not being worked on with a drape, leaving the other half: yes, nekkid. I went to an amazing Lebanese waxing salon in Chicago-- Sisters in WaterTower-- man, the results are fantastic and they get you in and out in 15 minutes-- but it is not for the faint-hearted, as all they do is to place a strip of paper strategically in the middle of the area, and don't even give you a drape for when you were waiting for them to come in with the strip of paper! HELLO! What about those men I saw in the waiting room? I guess not an issue since the back of the aesthetician entering the room blocks all views of me au naturel?? I still puzzle over that one. But I can assure you, after 8 months of nothing but a strip of paper, I am *totally* over the modesty thing. My current aesthetician (Jenny at Spa Boudoir in Raleigh, NC) who is FANTASTIC, btw, doesn't even bother with a drape for me now. (Attention, anyone who was thinking of visiting Jenny: hold that thought! She has, and will gladly use, a drape on anyone! She is absolutely the best waxer ever. Seriously, you can hardly feel it.)
As to the menu question, you basically have 2 options with a brazilian. You can go totally bare front and back (I was shocked to find it was necessary to spruce up the back porch too-- WHO KNEW?!): that's the bare or stripped Brazilian. Or you can ask to have everything removed except for the so-called "landing strip" or a little triangle. The aesthetician will usually ask you what you prefer unless you've clearly specified "take it all off!"
The cleanliness issue is actually the reason I started getting the waxes in the first place. Working out as we do with our dearest whip-cracker Cathe, I certainly sweat a lot. With the brazilian, I find I sweat less *there* and I feel a lot cleaner. But that's just me.
Not to put too fine a point on it, biologists tell us that the purpose of well, what we get rid of with the Brazilian-- is to trap odor. Personally, I'd just as soon pass on that one. But again, that's just me! My aesthetician, Jenny, told me that waxed skin does tend to produce less perspiration.
And one final piece of advice, so you won't be shocked if it happens to you (not an issue for me): Jenny says that some women find there is more of a need to AIM in the bathroom once the state of bareness has been achieved. (LOL, maybe those lucky ladies have more sympathy for those pesky menfolk with less than perfect results hitting the target!) I wouldn't want you to go home and have a nasty shock, thinking, OMG-- they broke something!
HTH! Good luck, Deb! I think you will find the results of the waxing to be much more comfortable than your current approach.
Cheers!
-Karen
goldenpath
Cathlete
Here is another personal question, when the hair grows back, is it not ichy and/or prickly? What about ingrowns? Does that happen there too?
Do not try this yourself. It is a recipe for disaster. It is also virtually impossible (unless you are a contortionist) to do a Brazilian yourself. Pain will be minimal if you go to a good, reputable salon/spa. Pain will be maximal if you attempt this at home. I can't recommend going to a proper place enough. It's not that bad, and you'll get over any embarassment you may initially feel. Trust me on this. I've been waxing for over a decade at this point - I'd be lost without my spa, that's for sure.
goldenpath
Cathlete
As I read this thread, I suggest as other have suggested - go to a professional and I also remembered an email that I received long ago... here it is:
One Woman's Tale of Woe
All hair removal methods have tricked women with their promises of easy, painless removal - the epilady, scissors, razors, Nair and now...the wax.
My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours: "Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet." So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom. It was one of those "cold wax" kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off. No muss, no fuss. How hard can it be? I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!)
So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. ("Cold wax," yeah...right!) I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin around it tight and pull. It works! OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skin extraordinaire!
With my next wax strip I move north. After checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet. Using the same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my "virginia" and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (Yes, it was a long strip).
I inhale deeply and brace myself....RRRRIIIPPP!!!! I'm blind!!! Blinded from pain!!!!....OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!! Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half the strip. CRAP!!! Another deep breath and RRIIPP!! Everything is swirly and spotted. I think I may pass out...must stay conscious...Do I hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe...OK, back to normal.
I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip. There's no hair on it. Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX???
Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair. The hair that should be on the strip. I touch. I am touching wax. CRAP! I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair.
Then I make the next BIG mistake...remember how my foot is still propped up on the toilet? I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down. DARN IT!!!!!!!! I hear the slamming of a cell door. "Virginia"? Sealed shut! Butt?? Sealed shut! I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and I think to myself "Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!" What can I do to melt the wax? Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!! I'll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered parts, and the wax should melt, and I can gently wipe it off, right??? *WRONG!!!!!!!*
I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit. Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub...in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax. So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cement-epoxied myself to the porcelain!! God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!!!!!
I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone.
It's a very good conversation starter "So, my butt and who-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!" There is a slight pause. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, "Are we talking cheeks or butt**** or who-ha?" She's laughing out loud by now...I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box. YEAH!!!!! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else's night.
While we go through various solutions, I resort to scraping the wax off with a razor. Nothing feels better then to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!! By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event. My friend is still
talking with me when I finally see my saving grace....the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax. What do I really have to lose at this
point? I rub some on and.... OH MY GOD!!!!!!!
The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend. It's sooo painful, but I really don't care. "IT WORKS!! It works!!" I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair....THE HAIR IS STILL THERE.......ALL OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts. I could have amputated my own leg at this point.
Next week I'm going to try hair color......
One Woman's Tale of Woe
All hair removal methods have tricked women with their promises of easy, painless removal - the epilady, scissors, razors, Nair and now...the wax.
My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours: "Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet." So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom. It was one of those "cold wax" kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off. No muss, no fuss. How hard can it be? I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!)
So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. ("Cold wax," yeah...right!) I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin around it tight and pull. It works! OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skin extraordinaire!
With my next wax strip I move north. After checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet. Using the same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my "virginia" and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (Yes, it was a long strip).
I inhale deeply and brace myself....RRRRIIIPPP!!!! I'm blind!!! Blinded from pain!!!!....OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!! Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half the strip. CRAP!!! Another deep breath and RRIIPP!! Everything is swirly and spotted. I think I may pass out...must stay conscious...Do I hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe...OK, back to normal.
I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip. There's no hair on it. Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX???
Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair. The hair that should be on the strip. I touch. I am touching wax. CRAP! I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair.
Then I make the next BIG mistake...remember how my foot is still propped up on the toilet? I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down. DARN IT!!!!!!!! I hear the slamming of a cell door. "Virginia"? Sealed shut! Butt?? Sealed shut! I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and I think to myself "Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!" What can I do to melt the wax? Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!! I'll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered parts, and the wax should melt, and I can gently wipe it off, right??? *WRONG!!!!!!!*
I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit. Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub...in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax. So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cement-epoxied myself to the porcelain!! God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!!!!!
I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone.
It's a very good conversation starter "So, my butt and who-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!" There is a slight pause. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, "Are we talking cheeks or butt**** or who-ha?" She's laughing out loud by now...I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box. YEAH!!!!! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else's night.
While we go through various solutions, I resort to scraping the wax off with a razor. Nothing feels better then to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!! By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event. My friend is still
talking with me when I finally see my saving grace....the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax. What do I really have to lose at this
point? I rub some on and.... OH MY GOD!!!!!!!
The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend. It's sooo painful, but I really don't care. "IT WORKS!! It works!!" I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair....THE HAIR IS STILL THERE.......ALL OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts. I could have amputated my own leg at this point.
Next week I'm going to try hair color......
By the way - one clarification. Brazilian is NOT the full-monty. (that would be the Sphinx). Brazilian is the "landing strip" or whatever you prefer in front, but the sides and back are wiped clean. Most salons will tailor your request to something in-between, as well. Personally, once you've had it done and feel how clean it is, you will do it again. It's like the difference between bathing and not bathing. Bathing feels better than being dirty. I just want to know who's going to be doing this for me when I'm in my 60s!!!
>By the way - one clarification. Brazilian is NOT the full-monty. (that would be the Sphinx). Brazilian is the "landing strip" or whatever you prefer in front, but the sides and back are wiped clean. <
Based on my experience and that of others I know, I respectfully disagree with the above... I ask for a brazilian and I get every single last bit of hair removed from the front, side and back. Every other place I know of (that friends go to) treat a request for a brazilian the same way, unless, of course, you specifically ask to have a landing strip or some hair left.
Based on my experience and that of others I know, I respectfully disagree with the above... I ask for a brazilian and I get every single last bit of hair removed from the front, side and back. Every other place I know of (that friends go to) treat a request for a brazilian the same way, unless, of course, you specifically ask to have a landing strip or some hair left.