The Male Waxing & Shaving Blog

Archive for the ‘Stories’ Category

I read a rather interesting story recently about an award winning salon that specialises in treatments for pregnant women and new mums. Cupcake, a Professional Beauty Awards winner in 2010, is a London based spa and wellness centre. Their website explains how it came about – “… as our girlfriends made the journey from fun-loving singles to motherhood. They needed a place where they could reconnect with themselves and other like-minded women while experiencing the joys of being a new mum.”

And they have built up a great reputation and loyal following, but why am I talking about a spa for pregnant and new mums on a blog dedicated to male waxing and other forms of hair removal for guys? Well it turns out that the mums wanted it for their husbands and boyfriends.

“We introduced back waxing because one mum came to our monthly focus group and pleaded with us to introduce it so her husband could have it. I asked the therapists if they could do it and they could so that was easy,” says Karen Hastings, owner and founder of Cupcake.

And so, after a change meeting with Gentlemen’s Tonic owner, Olivier Bonnefoy, the two companies are now getting together to offer a range of male treatments with Gentlemen’s Tonic training the Cupcake therapists in their range of signature treatments.

I was recently lucky enough to experience an amazing treatment at the Mandarin Oriental Spa in Barcelona. They use the fantastic product range from british company Espa, one of the best range of professional skincare products available in my opinion.

At the end of my treatment I was discussing some suitable products for my skin with my therapist and she gave me a small brochure outlining the full product range. One of the products was the Skin Balancer: 24 Hour Balancing Complex which has the description below:

A light and non-greasy cream/gel moisturiser which helps to calm and purify oily, congested or combination skin. White thyme, sage and lemon actively work to soothe, cool and correct the effects of skin imbalance leaving your skin feeling clean, smooth and hydrated. Even skin prone to oiliness can become dehydrated, so it is important to use a balancing complex in order to regulate oil production and keep the skin healthy and supple.

Having had this used in my treatment the description really did sound wonderful, and I considered buying it … but at €53 I decided against it. I was looking through the brochure, and in the general (ie for women) section there was another product that looked interesting, a 24 Hour Balancing Complex:

A light moisturising blend of natural skin balancers and antioxidants which calm irritation and rebalance congested skin. Lavendar oil helps to regenerate and repair skin cells, whilst sage oil stimulates blood circulation and tones the skin. Essential oils of chamomile and Vitamin C-rich lemon soothe, purify, nourish and reduce stress. The perfect treatment for purifying oily, combination or slightly dehydrated skin.

Both of these products are a 24 Hour Balancing Complex, but they have just been described very differently to appeal to the different markets. The first would immediately appeal to guys, those with razor burn / irritation would be interested. They may not think so much about toning or reducing skin stress, whereas for women more detail about the individual ingredient benefits. It is a really good example of how to describe products and treatments to appeal to guys.

Another example of this comes from The Shave Doctor products, unlike most shave ranges this doesn’t include a Moisturiser product. Instead it has a product named as a “Moisturazor” as a lot of guys may not like the idea of moisturising but using a product as part of their shaving routine wouldn’t be a problem.

Interesting article in the Guardian a few days ago – Learn to wax your body hair

The article goes through the procedure for home waxing as opposed to having it done professionally. I know many people prefer to DIY rather then pay the extra to have it done professionally, and of course my preference is for people to pay us Pro’s to do it.

My experience? I’ve had a lot of clients who have told me the horrors of home waxing, and before long I’m sure I will hear stories from their neighbours about the screams.

They then get in touch with me about having a professional wax. They come along, and the difference is staggering … they don’t scream. They leave with smooth skin and not blood and bruises!

So why not find yourself a good place that offers professional waxing for men and see the difference!