My first time waxing… And other hair removal methods

Last Friday, I went to to STRIP @ Wheelock Place to wax my underarms… for the first time in my life.

I wouldn’t say that it didn’t hurt at all but it was definitely quick – didn’t take more than 10 minutes and I simply looooooved the yummy smell of the chocolate wax they used.

It’s been 3 days since I waxed my underarms and I am so amazed that no hair has grown back yet! This is so much better than shaving and IPL!

Speaking of IPL (Intensed Pulse Light – known as a semi-temporary hair removal), I signed up for an 8-session IPL session at STRIP Paragon late last year. It costed $1,400 and I finished all 8 sessions by about June this year and I think it was a waste of money altogether. I wrote them a letter of letter of dissatisfaction of service.

Here’s an excerpt:

“I am extremely disappointed with the results because I distinctly recall coming back every 4-6 weeks with dissatisfaction and doubt. By the 6^th session, I was not only seeing any noticeable changes, the reason for the lack of the result explained to me by the sales staff, was that the machine you previously had was not as good as the machine you had just brought in. (At this point, I’ve went for about 6 sessions using the ‘old machine’. I still had to shave because even after almost 2 weeks, hair was still growing back instead of ‘falling off on it’s own’ as it should be.)

At that point, your sales staff tried to up-sell the same package for almost half the price – to get the results that I should have gotten with the package I paid for, except this time, you had a “better” machine.

I believe this is very unethical because I paid for results and if those results are not apparent, I should not be subjected to pay more to get what I was originally promised. (Having a “better” machine is no excuse!)”

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I’ve asked for a partial refund but they have refused it because it was against their company policy. Instead, they offered 3 free sessions because they believed that even after almost 1 year of going for this treatment and spending more than $1400, it just wasn’t enough. To make the situation more tensed than it already was when I was there to explain why I wrote that letter, they (the management) asked me to go inside a room so my therapist could have a look at my underarms. The problem was, it wasn’t ONLY my therapist and myself ALONE, but 2 other therapists were there as well to have a “look”.

It felt like an interrogation more than any sort of evaluation.

After about what felt like about an hour of trying to explain why I wasn’t seeing the results I should have, I realized that they were trying to turn it around by making it seem like it was my fault for not religiously following the after-care of IPL treatments such as not shaving, staying out of the sun, making sure I come back within 4-6 weeks and also probably because I’m an exception of the rare occasions when just like every other customers, I have thicker hair follicles and need to go for more sessions. Yes, I guess there are people who spend another $600 even though they weren’t seeing results.

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Anyway, just because the IPL treatments that I got from STRIP did not (and perhaps will not) work for me, it is not my intention to boycott anyone or any company. While I will not recommend that treatment to anyone, I obviously still went back to STRIP for waxing because everyone deserves a second chance, and not all services that they provide are bad.

However, I do believe that they really need to practice better customer service and customer care. Instead of up-selling package ‘deals’, provide the details and pricing of these deals in clear print so your customer can at least take a moment of their own personal time to consider it.

If details like this do not come in fine print, how will your customers know that you are not changing the price around and what is the real value of the service you are providing?

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If you want to go for waxing, I say go for it. Go to STRIP because the chocolate hard wax ($19++) is something you should try at least once. It’s quite an experience.

Results can last 2 to 6 weeks depending on the individual’s hair re-growth. In most cases, hair growth is minimal during the first week or two and noticeably increases in the third and fourth week. Heat stimulates hair growth, therefore hair grows quicker in the summer than in the winter. With regular waxing the length of time between treatments will increase. Continued waxing results in sparse hair re-growth.

Excessive shaving and use of hair removing creams with severe chemicals are the major causes of dark armpits. Avoid shaving and hair removing creams. Waxing removes hairs from root and helps to remove the layer of dead skin. Tweezing is a no-no as it may irritate your skin, unhygienic and would take too much time! I haven’t tried depilating before but according to Melissa Faith Yeo, she loves it.

I may  try it one day.

But for now, I might want to try waxing other areas of my body…

Have you ever had any good/bad/funny experiences from waxing, IPL treatment, shaving, depilating or tweezing?

DO SHARE!