Waxing and Waxed Wax Bar

For a long time,  I have considered myself something of an expert on Brazilian waxes. I’ve been submitting myself  almost religiously, once a month, for over seven years.

The most fun I ever had in university (academically speaking, of course) was writing a paper for actual credit about my personal experience with Brazilian waxes. It was also about restrictive beauty standards as a tool for the oppression of women, but that was exactly the kind of fun I was looking for as a precocious 19-year-old feminist.

Rereading that paper in anticipation of writing this article was almost as much as fun as writing it was four years ago. In some respects, I have come a long way, and in others, I am right where I was then. I still go in for my monthly Brazilian. I just don’t really see it as a burden anymore. Actually, I now love it.

At some point along the way I stopped seeing it as an embarrassing but obligatory thing I did for others, and I started seeing it as a marker of my place in the always evolving discourse of femininity. I also started talking to all my friends about it. I became fascinated by peoples attitudes and personal preferences regarding something so universally thought about, but so rarely talked about.

Because of my proclivity for bringing the topic of down-there-hair into casual conversation, my friends are always recommending things for me to try. I am still a die-hard Brazilian wax fan (I just can’t get on board with trusting my own shaky hands with a razor near all that precious real estate, and I have had nothing but bad experiences with those creepy depilatory creams), and I am always getting recommendations about where to find the best wax.

I have had a few extraordinarily great waxes, and a few terrible ones. To qualify that, for me a good wax is relatively painless, comfortable, fast and cheap. It is also great when I find a place where an appointment can be booked on short notice.

I once had a five-minute Brazilian wax at a hole-in-the wall room in Montreal that was so good I considered moving to the city. Another time I had an excellent wax at Stripped Wax Bar in Vancouver, which was my first time trying out a waxing-only salon. Then again, I had one of the worst waxes of my life  at a waxing-only salon recommended to me by a friend in London, Ontario. (There was only a translucent curtain dividing me from the the next client. Enough said.)

Despite Toronto being my home city, I have yet to find a waxing spot here that I have wanted to brag about as much as either the one in Montreal or Vancouver. This is why I was so excited when I got the opportunity to review a brand new waxing salon in Toronto.

Before even walking in the door of Waxed Wax Bar, I was already super excited about one thing: they accept walk-in clients. That is a frustratingly uncommon offering among places that offer high-quality Brazilian waxes, and it can be oh-so-necessary for the busy (or disorganized) among us.

The place itself was elegantly decorated and very clean, the importance of which cannot be overstated when you are stripping down and entrusting your most private of parts to a stranger. The wax wasn’t particularly quick, but it was surprisingly painless and not at all uncomfortable (as getting almost naked in front of someone you barely know can sometimes be).

There is a candy bar in the lobby, if a quick hit of chocolate or sugar is what you need to get you through a waxing experience. I refrained from the candy since I was bikini-bound that week, and instead followed up my Brazilian with a desperately needed eyebrow wax.

The brow wax was where Waxed Wax Bar excelled for me. It was very personal and the results were exceptional. I was given an in depth consultation, and my very stubborn brows (They grow in ringlets. Seriously.) have never looked better. The brow wax takes place in a comfy reclining chair in the main room, a lot like a hair salon. That set up created a fun community vibe I had never before experienced in the usually stuffy higher-end spas I have frequented.

(For those at all concerned: Don’t worry, the Brazilian took place behind closed doors!)

I will definitely be hitting up this laid-back but professional waxing spot over and over again.