[Video] Shhh… confessions of a waxer

Getting up close and personal with clients’ bits day in, day out can lead to some awkward situations. Three brave waxers share their most embarrassing hair-removal horror stories with us and give us their top advice on how to stop the same situation happening to you. 

1. The unexpected visitor 

“Erections – they happen. People don’t like talking about it but if you’re a male intimate waxer then you can’t be in this business and never expect to encounter one. It has happened to so many of my clients – lying there, hands clenched, trying to make it go away,” says Andy Rouillard (aka the Wax Daddy), male waxing expert and owner of Axiom Men’s Grooming Salon. 

It doesn’t mean the client is getting off on the treatment or is on your bed for the wrong reasons. Some people are just incredibly nervous and because they feel anxious sometimes things pop up and say ‘hello’.” 

2. The brown stuff

“As a waxer, you’re going to be touching lots of body parts and be exposed to all kinds of secretions. You just have to deal with it and not let it gross you out. Something you can encounter, and it has happened to me before, is a bit of a ‘poo-bum Paula’ on your couch,” explains Sam Marshall, wax educator and owner of The Beauty Guru in Salford.

“I always give my clients and intimate wipe to use pre-treatment but there’s the odd time when they haven’t cleaned properly and ended up with the brown stuff there when I’m about to wax their bum crack.” 

3. The bald truth

“Early on in my career, I had a client booked in for an eyebrow wax and, during the consultation, she told me she had stopped taking a particular acne medication two weeks ago. Any kind of medication that treats acne thins the skin, but I didn’t know masses about it at the time and neither did my client,” says Jenny Hunter, waxing specialist and trainer for intimate waxing brand Waxu. 

“I thought it would be fine so I waxed her, but I completely skinned both brows and the skin in middle. She was so upset that she burst into tears. I felt so bad. Luckily, I spoke to her a few weeks later and her skin had healed up ok.”

4. Bottoms up

“Very early on in my career I had a client in for a full back, sack and crack. I had him up on the table, on his knees, leaning down on his elbows, putting the wax on to his bum cheek. As I go to pull the first strip off and the poor guy wasn’t expecting it and as a result jolted forward on the table,” explains Rouillard. 

“Me, with visions of him flying off the end of the table and smacking his head on the wall, did what any self-respecting therapist would do and rugby tackled him around the back of his legs. There was a moment where my cheek and his bum cheek connected, with wax still on his buttocks. I was stuck to his bum.”

5. The red wedding

“Once I had a bridal party in for a pre-wedding wax and one of the women was unfortunately on her period. She told me discreetly that she wasn’t able to use Tampax and asked if I would I still wax her. She wanted a full wax, so it meant taking everything off,” says Marshall.

“I put her on the couch and made sure she had extra tissue so she was nice and fresh. Plus, when clients lay down nothing really tends to comes out, so it ended up being a very clean wax. The bit of advice I’ve got is to say yes to most things that your clients need and work around it. It’s just normal and part of being a woman.”  

For extra laughs, check out these funny tanning mishaps from the industry's leading spray tanners. 

For more helpful advice and tips, visit Professional Beauty’s YouTube page.  

PBTV waxing tutorials not to be missed:

• 5 waxing mistakes to avoid
• Intimate waxing troubleshooting tips