I bet you're wondering what changed my mind about waxing. Well, I went for a long time not really caring about how I was feeling or looking after I no longer had a significant other. I still went through the motions of getting myself through the day and I did it very well. I'd do all of the things that I'd do before out of routine, but I didn't really feel like it. The things that would easily go unnoticed remained undone, such as shaving my legs from the very end of the summer to the end of the spring. I mean, I would do it like once a week, as opposed to once a day (my leg hair grows fairly quick). I wouldn't go for pedicures or manicures, I'd just clip my nails and call it a day. I was sad and I made an occupation of wallowing in it. To my defense, I really couldn't help it. I felt pretty shitty daily and I planned on embracing it. When you're a mom, you have to do a great deal of hiding with your children. After all, they shouldn't have to suffer because of your lifestyle changes.
However, there were those few occasions when I had somewhere really nice to go and I wanted to feel like the lady that I actually was. I didn't want to feel like half a wildebeest. At one point, I felt like I was competing with the men that grew beards for No-Shave November. When I had to go out, I'd take hours fine tuning and grooming everything on me. I did this one Sunday for no reason at all and I felt great about myself and that is when it really hit me, that I'm not doing this for other people. I'm doing it for me. I started studying myself. I was aging daily, but I'd take care of every little thing from here on out. Including shaving regularly.
This created a tiny problem though. The more I shaved my bikini area, the more it became slightly discolored and would occasionally get little ingrown bumps when the hair would grown back. Also, the area that I shaved, made the hair thicker and they grew slightly outside of the space where I shaved. I dreaded tweezing them. Something must be done.
I received a gift card to Bliss Spa, which is pretty popular here in New York City. I had held on to it for a long long time. Over the summer when I had some quiet time to myself, I decided to make an early Saturday morning appointment and try waxing again. It was a beautiful day. I got great parking right out front of the location in SoHo. I was one of the first clients there. It was a truly relaxing experience. I changed out of my street clothes and into my robe and had tea and treats in a dimly lit room until my Head to Peel massage (which I also scheduled) began. May as well treat myself. In actuality, the treatments should have been scheduled the other way around. It would have taking the edge off the sting to have the massage done after the wax. Micah was my masseuse and Basey was the lovely lady who gave me the wax. I learned my lesson from last time and only had two things done - a Brazilian and my lower tummy.
I was escorted into a room just off of the area where people were having their nails done. I realized that I wouldn't be able to yell out in this tranquil place and I prepped myself accordingly by breathing deep. Basey welcomed me to sit on the table in the brightly lit room. I felt like I was at the doctor's office. We said our hellos and had small talk. She took one look at me and said, "Not enough hair and you cut." To make it easier I told her that it was my first time. She said, "Okay honey, it's fine. It will be fine. Open your legs and put the soles of your feet together." I did as I was told while she put little medical gloves on her hands. Then she rubbed oil all over Pretty Please and my tummy (which I wasn't prepared for). She really rubbed it all over. She explained to me that waxing is very harsh and that it can sometimes remove skin along with the hair. My eyes opened wide. She said, "Not to worry hun. We are taking the proper precautions with the oil." She then laid a strip of very warm purple putty like wax on a small area asked me to hold my skin taut and then pulled. I forgot just how excruciating this procedure was. I prayed for God to give me the necessary strength. She must have seen the tiny beads of sweat form on my upper lip, because she said usually something like a Brazilian takes about seven minutes tops, but she was taking her time with me so it would be more like fifteen. She did not lie. She also said that the rear was the easiest and that it was. Before I knew it. I was all done. My body did go into shock at one point and I shook just like I did the first time, but she rubbed and patted my leg telling me that it was okay and that helped.
When it was all done, she said, "You did it! Not that bad, huh? You have very good skin. I'm going to tell you how to take care of it until the next time you come back." She warned me to come back in about five weeks. I promised that I would. She also gave me a lollipop and her card, which made me smile. I thanked her profusely. I felt numb and tingly, but she made me feel brand new again and was extremely polite about it. She then took me through a few steps to take care of that area for when the hair grew back. First thing's first, I had to purchase a couple of products. One being the Bliss Ingrown Eliminating Pads. There are 50 saturated pads in a jar. They help prevent ingrown hairs. I was instructed to rub the area once a day, after a shower for the first two weeks. The other product that she said I'd need would be a scrub of my choice. I chose the Bliss Blood Orange+White Pepper Sugar Scrub. This product, I was told to use for the last three weeks (externally of course) before I return for my next wax. I also purchased the Blood Orange+White Pepper body butter and I don't regret it.
I am about three weeks in, this Saturday will make the start of my fourth week. I haven't had but one ingrown hair and my skin looks great. My hair is still growing in sporadically, but this time it's not bothering me as much because I know what to expect. In about a week or two, I will prepare to have the sweats and the shakes again. Until one day they won't be around anymore, because it makes me feel excellent for five weeks straight. The treatment at Bliss was far better than that of Uni K and they have a regular client in me. Shout out to Basey. :)
