The Male Waxing & Shaving Blog

Archive for the ‘News’ 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.

At the moment only 33% of salons offer Male Waxing, so why not build up your male client base before your competitor does? If you are already qualified in waxing you may not feel confident in waxing a man, they are generally a lot hairier then women and what is the best way of doing it?

Well now you can come along and spend a day with Mathew O’Marah, owner and therapist at Waxing for Guys, and learn from his years experience in waxing the male of the species. The training is very hands on, you will spend as much time as possible during the day waxing a male model while discussing tips and tricks to make it as positive experience for your clients as possible. The course covers A&P recap, trimming hair for those clients who don’t want to go all the way, and waxing. It includes using the latest types of hot non-strip wax for areas such as the Speedo line.

The training is also accredited by the Beauty Guild so you will qualify for CPD points, and will be fully insurable. For more information about our training please get in touch.

In July the Beauty Guild published the results of its annual Beauty Industry Survey, and it makes for very interesting reading. The survey was first undertaken in 1995, and has been run every year since to monitor the state of the industry. While the survey doesn’t include every business in the industry it does cover a lot, approximately 34,500 businesses which is a 3.8% increase on the previous year, and over 71,000 therapists working in those businesses.

One of the most interesting facts for me was the type of business people are running:

• 33% Home Based
• 31% Mobile
• 22% High Street Salon
• 7% Hairdressing and Beauty Salon
• 7% Other

Nearly two thirds of our industry doesn’t have a high-street presence, so while there is demand for the full salon experience this shows that a lot of clients like the privacy of a home based private practice or treatment within their own home.

The three most popular treatments continue to be waxing, facials and massage closely followed by manicures. Waxing also remains the most commonly available treatment with up to 70% of Salons offering some form waxing service, while 66% offer facials and 81% offering manicures. Waxing is still highly sort after, but only just over half that have waxing (36%) also provide Brazilian / intimate waxing services.

Within the survey male waxing and male intimate waxing are two separate treatment categories, and this really shows how the demand for this is growing the figures below show the 2010 availability with the 2009 ones in brackets:

• Male Waxing: 33% (36%)
• Male Intimate Waxing: 6% (7%)

The number of salons offering this as a percentage has decreased over the past year, but this may because their are more beauty businesses so the market share as dropped but the number of businesses offering these services may well have increased.

But this does go to show, that even with the press coverage on male grooming etc waxing services for men still remains a very niche market, particularly intimate male waxing. So if you own a beauty business should you be offering male waxing? Absolutely – there are many men who want to get rid of their hairy backs, and many clients who are actively looking for a salon to treat them. And to treat them with respect and offer and professional high standard of service. Male intimate waxing is a very specialised treatment, and those salons offering it are building up a very loyal customer base.

So yes, Male Waxing is definitely worth it and with price a increase of 8% from 2009 to 2010, and 11% for intimate waxing it is a very lucrative service to offer in the salon.

Just when you thought you couldn’t get any more metal into a razor it turns out you can! In American ShaveMate have just launched their Titan 6 … the first razor to include 6 blades!

With each new razor comes more blades. With each one the claims of a smoother, closer shave with less irritation make it better then anything we’ve had before. Surely more is better? Personally I don’t think so, the closest, smoothest and best shaves I’ve had and seen have all be done with a single straight-edge razor. Just to check I picked up the razor earlier to count the blades: One.

There is going to become a time when ShaveMate, Gillette, Schick / Wilkinson Sword won’t be able to fit anymore blades into a disposable head. What will they do then? They’ve spent millions on telling us with each additional blade comes a better shave … can they really turn around and say “oops, sorry guys turns out we were wrong … this new razor with less blades is even better!”

There are some interesting quotes from Mark Sproston of Shave Doctor in this post in the Seattle Times and this one in the Washington Post. Mark has surveyed approximately 14,000 men on their shaving habits so has learnt a thing or two along the way.

In the article he says that multi blade razors peaked at three, and I agree – personally I only use a three blade disposable for everyday shaving. The only difference I notice about those with more blades … they cost more.

Just to say that in the coming weeks I will making some announcements about how you can save money on your regular waxing with Waxing for Guys. And I will also be adding a new treatment to the menu … keep popping by to find out what it is!

The Carlton Institute has added a new hair removal course to its list of training available at its training centres across the country. This new technique – the Alexandria Body Sugaring method is fronted by Lina Kennedy who is president of Alexandria Professional, and known as the ‘Sugar Queen’ in Hollywood circles.

Using the Alexandria Professional™ painlessly extracts hair in its natural direction of growth and does so when the hair is still in the early growth stage, eliminating breakage, unnecessary discomfort, irritation and ingrown hairs while exfoliating dry skin cells. The result is smooth, beautiful skin without the discomforts of other hair removal techniques.

I’m quite excited about this, sometimes its good to do stuff that’s a bit crazy in the name of a good cause! Waxing for Guys is a Primary Sponsor for the Birmingham Twestival that is taking place at the end of this month!!

On Thursday 25 March 2010, people in hundreds of cities around the world will come together offline to rally around the important cause of Education by hosting local events to have fun and create awareness. Twestival™ (or Twitter Festival) uses social media for social good. All of the local events are organized 100% by volunteers and 100% of all ticket sales and donations go direct to projects.

The event this month is to raise money for the charity Concern.

Concern Worldwide was founded in 1968 to meet the needs of people living in extreme poverty, for whom every day is a fight for survival. Concern is a non-governmental, international, humanitarian organization dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of poverty. Their mission is to help people living in extreme poverty achieve major improvements in their lives – improvements they can sustain without ongoing support. Concern meets the needs of these people in a caring and personalized manner, respecting their human and cultural dignity. They are committed to reaching the most vulnerable, even in the most difficult of circumstances.

Concern’s work is informed by a vision for change and their education programs target the poorest people in the poorest countries in the world, with particular emphasis on reaching out-of-school children such as girls, orphans, street children, working children, children affected by conflict, children affected by HIV and AIDS, and children with disabilities. Concern’s education programs currently reach over 700,000 people in 25 countries across the regions of Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Please follow @concern on Twitter to get a glimpse of their staff tweeting from around the world; including their efforts on the ground in Haiti.

I’ll post some more details in the coming days. But in the mean time, check out the event website and come along! You could even win a free wax and shave!!

Just when you thought the razor was fairly standard now, Shick – owned by Energizer (them of the bunnies) have come out with a “complete reinvention of the razor”.

A complete reinvention of the razor, the Schick Hydro results from years of testing and consumer collaboration, making it the most thoroughly researched product in the brand’s 87 year history.

Over this extensive development period, thousands of consumers provided their insights into the shaving experience and their feedback on prototypes, models and technologies. Consumer testers included men and women of all ages, from all walks of life, and with a wide range of sensitivity to adjustments in razor technologies.

“We had conversations with thousands of men, and what we heard, in short, was the shaving experience needed to be refreshed. They told us the potential for irritation kept them from feeling good during their shaves and that they wanted something that would refresh and rejuvenate them,” said Dan Kinton, senior brand manager for Schick. “With Schick Hydro, we knew that if we could create a shaving line that actually made men feel better, we’d be able to return shaving to its rightful place as a refreshing daily ritual. Our goal was to create a razor that gives back the hydration other razors take away.”

Read the full press release or checkout the new website.

It is launching the US in April, and I’m not sure of a UK date yet – but they sell under the Wilkinson Sword brand.

King of Shaves recently launched the latest version of their Azor Razor … the Azor M Alloy System Razor.

Designed and manufactured in the UK and tipping the scales at 47g, compared to the 17g Azor, the Azor M is perfectly balanced and ideally weighted for maximum control and comfort whilst shaving. The Azor M utilises King of Shaves’ internationally patented “Bendology Technology” flexible hinges which allows the Azor’s head to bend and follow every contour of your face whilst pressing the blades progressively closer onto the skin for a superbly comfortable yet close shave. The unique wishbone shaped head design provides greater visibility when shaving.

The latest addition to the award winning Azor line-up also introduces the new v2 slim blade cartridge, that makes shaving under the nose and other hard to reach places even easier. The tactile handle features side creases for improved dexterity and grip, trim guides for shaping and styling facial hair, a larger skin pre-tensioner (reducing the risk of unwanted nicks and cuts whilst helping to prevent in-growing hairs) and an improved soft-touch cartridge ejection mechanism making it even easier to change blades – not that you will be doing that very often as our Endurium coated blades last longer!

The razor has a RRP of £6.99 with blades costing between £0.81p and £1.25 depending on the pack size. Very competitively priced, and a very different design … so how does it compare? Well this will naturally be a part of the Big Razor Test to compare.

I’m a bit late picking this up, but a few days ago Procter & Gamble Company announced the latest product in the Gillette shaving range, yes they have done it again and designed a razor that is better, smoother and more comfortable then all their previous razors that were better, smoother and more comfortable then all their previous razors.

As is the way now for Gillette this will come in the standard and “powered” varieties.

So there you have it, the best a man can get just got better! This new razor is launching in the US in June 2010 and around the world at some point after that, yet to be announced. But as soon as I can get hold of one I’ll bring you a full review and my own opinion of it.

One thing that I think we can be sure of … it is going to be expensive, the current Fusion Power blades cost upto £2.51 a head!!

For the corporate view here are some bits from the press release.
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