Most of my clients have been coming to me for years for their monthly Brazilian wax treatment. Some have come for their very first Brazilian wax treatment, and then there are also others that come to me because they were referred and would like to try a treatment with me. Often the clients from the last group come to me because they have had a nasty experience with a Brazilian wax treatment elsewhere in the Netherlands or abroad (Yes, believe it! .. i get clients from all over the globe!). Every woman who comes to me for a Brazilian wax treatment has her own unique story. However, today I want to talk about one of the many horror stories I have heard from customers. And I will give you tips on how you can try to prevent this from happening to you.

A few years ago one of my regular clients had her Brazilian wax treatment done at another salon during my vacation. Shortly thereafter, she suddenly fell ill. She had a fever and she had a lot of itching, redness, blisters and more around her vagina. In addition, she also suffered from vaginal discharge.

After a medical examination, she discovered that she had contracted herpes, a highly contagious disease. Since she was not yet sexually active, she soon suspected that she became infected during the wax treatment at the other salon. Because, apart from the lady who had carried out the treatment, no one else had 'touched her there'.

She told me that the lady did not wear gloves during the treatment and that she also applied the wax with the same spatula over and over again. She found the whole procedure of the treatment very different from what she was used to with me.

Unfortunately she couldn't prove her suspicion because it was her word against the waxer's. She could therefore not hold the salon liable. And she had no choice but to accept the situation and carry on with her life.

After hearing her story, I also thought it was very likely that she contracted the infection during the wax treatment. However, it is not up to me to go into that further, to confirm suspicions or to draw conclusions from it. After all, I am not a doctor. And I don't think it's professional nor neat to talk about other people's work.

During my training in Brazil, I did learn a lot about disease symptoms and about the risk of infections and infectious diseases. Out of curiosity, I have also gained a lot of knowledge about the human skin.

But, secretly I always listen with great interest to these kinds of stories. So that as a professional Waxpert I always stay sharp and can protect myself from ever making the same mistake.

Once she had finished telling me her story and I had shown her my sympathy, I gave her advice about how she can try to prevent this kind of nasty experience in the future.

Following this story and many others, I have described below the 5 most important hygiene tips that can help you choose the right waxing salon. If you think I'm missing an important point? Let me know in the comments below.

The general hygiene in a salon can be an indication of how hygienically the treatments are carried out. A clean salon is not always a guarantee for a hygienic wax treatment. A dirty salon, on the other hand, is often a sign that hygiene is not important (enough).

Things to look out for:

• Does it smell fresh in the salon or does it smell stale and stuffy?
• How clean is the floor? Are there normal signs of use that can occur during the course of a day or does the floor look as if it has not been cleaned for days.
• Take a look at the toilet, I often find the toilet room a good indication of how important hygiene is for a salon.
• Take a look in the treatment room at the trolly, the resin heaters and other used instruments. Do they look clean or are there resin, hair and used products or materials everywhere?

It seems absurd but the reuse of wax is more common than you think. To save costs, many beauty salons reuse their wax. The used wax is collected separately during the day. To be reheated once in a while so that the wax becomes liquid again. The wax is then sieved to remove the hair from it. This process is then repeated as many times as possible until the wax can no longer be used at all.

In some countries, such as Brazil, these practices are prohibited by law. In the vast majority of other countries there is no legislation for this.

What may be indications that wax is reused:

• Are there hairs floating in the wax? Take a look in the wax-heater, often it is not possible to sift out all the hair.
• Take note of the trash. Is the used wax 'disposed' separately? Then there is a good chance that the wax will be reused.
• Does the wax always break during removal? Does the wax not come loose as a whole?
• Does the (natural) wax have a light color or is the resin very dark?
• Does the wax appear less elastic or does it take longer than you would expect before the wax solidifies?

Unfortunately i regularly hear from customers all over the world that it still happens that they have been waxed by someone who did not wear disposable gloves. Please do not take any unnecessary risk and always make sure to be waxed by a waxer who wears disposable gloves, a mouth mask and preferably also a hair net during the entire treatment. If the waxer tries to convince you that it is not necessary, I would immediately abandon the treatment and look for another salon.

There are still many salons that use metal spatulas. This is very unsanitary and a major health risk. The spatula comes into contact with the skin of the client, after which the spatula is dipped back into the wax. The same spatula is then used on a subsequent client, whereby often the wax is also applied from the same wax heater. Fortunately, more and more professional salons are switching to disposable wooden spatulas. However, sometimes due to ignorance and often also to save costs, the wooden disposable spatulas are not used correctly.

The correct process is as follows:

1. The practitioner picks up an unused wooden spatula.
2.  A quantity of wax is scooped out of the wax heater with the spatula.
3.  The wax is applied with the spatula to the part of the body to be waxed.
4.  The spatula is thrown away and NOT dipped in the wax heater again!
5.  The waxer picks up a new unused spatula.

This process is repeated until the waxer proceeds to the after treatment. If, during treatment, you notice that the waxer is not following this process because and dips the spatula back into the wax heater, I recommend that you do not continue the treatment. After all, double-dipping has probably already contaminated the wax.

A treatment table must be cleaned and disinfected after each wax treatment. It does not matter whether the salon uses paper, sheets, synthetic cloths or towels. These must always be replaced after each treatment. If nothing is used on the treatment table, the table must be disinfected.

If you are unsure whether the treatment table has been changed, ask the waxer to do so in front of you. A true professional will always understand this and comply.

Finally, if you book a treatment somewhere for the first time, or you have 'an emergency' and you cannot go to your regular salon, or you are traveling / vacationing and you walk in somewhere without references. Then you can always book a small treatment (for armpits, for example) to be sure.

Does the salon look nice and clean? Is the treatment room in order? If you experience the small treatment as pleasant, hygienic and safe, you can still book a (Full) Brazilian Wax.

Our vagina is our best friend, and a good friend must be treated well!

Let's face it, if there's something wrong with it "down there" then it doesn't make us happy, right !?

Lots of love,

Cristina 😘