Went to the Spa for a brazilian bikini wax for the first time today, having just joined the gym at Swiss Cottage. They were friendly, competitively priced, running to time, and the treatment rooms are nicely done, but that's where the good stuff stopped.
I have had regular waxes at my last gym and a couple of other places, and while never fun they have always been tolerable. Usually I've been given paper pants/thong to wear, but the girl here just asked me to go commando - a bit unnerving but not the end of the world. However she then overheated her wax and initially burnt me with it.
It obviously needed time to cool, but instead of saying 'Sorry, here's a robe and a magazine, I'll be back in a few minutes' just left me there spreadeagled for 15 mins (initial wax still on) while she frantically stirred it and blew on it and tried it again repeatedlly ('Yes, it's still too hot!!!').
Once the temperature was just about bearable, the technique she then used was more painful and fiddly than I'm used to; paper strips that kept tearing rather than fabric ones (apparently they tore because I was sweating - seriously I think anyone would have been sweating by this stage!), and she did large areas at a time which made it impossible to keep my skin stretched properly, so it really hurt and everything is a lot redder than usual. She didn't offer anything to clean off the residual wax, so I had a sticky walk home, and then to cap it off she accidentally called the next person in after me before she'd cleaned the room, and had to usher them straight out again!
She was a very nice person, just seemed a bit inexperienced and obviously got herself flustered, but I definitely won't be going back. read more