Help! Freaking out! Wax and double dipping

[SanguineParadise]

Hi,

I just went and got a wax (Hollywood & upper lip and chin). The salon I went to is owned by one lady, who seemed to be a very experienced beauty therapist - she has tons of 4 and 5* reviews all over google and Treatwell.

When I got there she was very nice, but she was double dipping and using the same wax for both my lip, chin and Hollywood! I was extremely uncomfortable and wish I’d said something at the time but I didn’t because I don’t like confrontation and now I’m freaking out that I could catch some sort of infection. What’s the worst that could happen? Have rushed home to immediately wash and shower both face and vagina. Help, I’m so so worried

Suppose it depends on what order she did it 😂😂😂

Do you have some sort of skin infection? If not there shouldn’t be a risk of cross contamination.

Usual practice in my experience is for the area to be wiped with alcohol/ tea tree/similar immediately prior in order to sanitise.

You shouldn’t have ashes your vulva so soon after waxing though.

Seriously? It's YOUR chin & YOUR foof. What do you really think is the worst that could happen?

Are you single?

It's perfectly fine 😂 it's not like she's using the same wax per customer.
Unless you have an infection you'll be fine 😂

You’re worried you’ll catch something from your own body?

Well it's likely she wasn't actually double dipping, often they use a different end of the spatial between dips and then a new one every second dip but do it so quick you wouldn't notice. If she wasn't though, it's all your body? Are you worried she's been using the wax on someone else? Or do you have a blue waffle situation going on in which case you shouldn't really have gone in.

Please can you guys be kind and not sarcastic. I have anxiety about health - catching infections, STDs, HIV and my mind is going into overdrive now - I’m panicking and can’t think clearly

She did my lip and chin first.

My bigger concern is that this wax was used on other women’s body parts - where she would have presumably also double dipped. She used a spoon / spatula with absolutely loads of old wax on it to stir the wax and I think even apply it to my skin at one point? I can’t remember because I was already freaking out in the salon and not thinking clearly about how to handle this.

I know I should have said something at the time but my mind was racing and I wasn’t sure how to handle it. I did ask her to stop but she was this motherly type of 50 yo Eastern European woman, who assumed I was asking her to stop bc I was scared of the pain, so she just sort of dismissed it and told me not to worry. I was too scared to say anything after that.

Unless you have some weird contagious disease on just one part of your body, I don’t understand?
I regularly get a full Hollywood and my armpits done and have never thought about her using the same spatula/wax

Unless you went somewhere dodgey she won’t have double dipped and used the same wax. Don’t worry!

She wouldn't have been trained to double dip. One dip per spatula, or end of the spatula. There shouldn't have been old wax on it.

Hot wax is heated to above 40 degrees, OP, so even if she used the same wax for you as for other people, most pathogens would have died due to the temperature.

What’s the worst that could happen?

Absolutely nothing will happen.

I have no idea how this works but does every client get their own wax presumably? Only ever have my eyebrows done.

For those who don’t understand my concerns - I’m worried she reused the same spatula and wax between me and previous/other clients. The spatula she used on me already had dried wax on it.

She may not have been trained to double dip, but she also admitted that she’d seen clients during lockdown. So she’s clearly not one to follow the rules.

I was such a stupid idiot for going there. I assumed from the numerous 5* reviews that it was a reputable place.

My other concern is she drew blood during the Hollywood (and continued using the same flipping spatula), meaning we’re not just talking about the potential for skin diseases, but also blood-transferred diseases here

www.google.com/amp/s/www.healthcentral.com/amp/article/waxing-for-hair-removal-dipping-into-danger

Apparently you should ask for fresh wax every time. Who knew?

You seriously will be fine.

"One older study showed that after 1 to 2 hours in tap water, only 10 percent of the HIV virus was still active. After 8 hours, only 0.1 percent was active. This shows that HIV doesn’t survive long when exposed to water." www.healthline.com/health/how-long-does-hiv-live-outside-the-body#in-water so if it wont survive in tap water the chances of it surviving in HOT wax are minimal

But the best news is "An ultra-short-time heating system was used to process blood plasma spiked with various viruses (HIV, vesicular stomatitis virus, encephalomyocarditis virus). Virus reduction and recovery of plasma proteins were measured at various temperatures from 65 to 85 °C. Processing at 77 °C and 0.006 s resulted in a high level of virus kill, including > 4.4 log(10) HIV, while maintaining protein structure and activity essentially intact." www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/462156#:~:text=Virus%20reduction%20and%20recovery%20of,structure%20and%20activity%20essentially%20intact. So how hot is hot wax? And even if it was not fresh wax the length of time would be more than 0.06 seconds.. so virus would be inactivated.

Please calm down, OP. You will be fine.

Are you getting help for your health anxiety?

Are you vaccinated for hep B? If you suffer from this anxiety you may have OCD like me.. Why dont you ring the woman tomorrow and ask if the change the wax between clients? I understand, I couldn't let a makeup artist use their mascara on me for my wedding... cant sit on public toilet seats.. nail stuff.. no way! Yuck!

I’m so sorry to do this to you but here goes...

I’ve visited four separate salons, for armpit wax and for Hollywood, all of them ‘respectable’ and all of them have doubled dipped.

I got thrush a week or so after every single Hollywood wax.
I didn’t make the connection at first.
Interestingly, I have never got thrush any other time....
I stopped getting Hollywoods but still went for an occasional underarm wax.

Then the manager of one of the salons, yes really! repeatedly ran the strip over my underarms.
I had to get cream off the doctor as I developed blisters.

And that was the last time I ever visited a salon!

@BigWolfLittleWolf

I’m so sorry to do this to you but here goes...

I’ve visited four separate salons, for armpit wax and for Hollywood, all of them ‘respectable’ and all of them have doubled dipped.

I got thrush a week or so after every single Hollywood wax.
I didn’t make the connection at first.
Interestingly, I have never got thrush any other time....
I stopped getting Hollywoods but still went for an occasional underarm wax.

Then the manager of one of the salons, yes really! repeatedly ran the strip over my underarms.
I had to get cream off the doctor as I developed blisters.

And that was the last time I ever visited a salon!

The thrush might have been due to the absence of pubic hair rather than the wax itself? The hair is there to help keep things healthy, removing it by any means does increase your risk of various health concerns.

The thrush might have been due to the absence of pubic hair rather than the wax itself? The hair is there to help keep things healthy, removing it by any means does increase your risk of various health concerns
I doubt it as I had been epilating most of it and shaving the inner bit for years prior so I was always sparse and short!
I only started going because my epilator was old and had started breaking the majority of the hair instead of pulling it out.

If you are not vaccinated for hep b, there is potentially a risk it could survive in wax if theoretically, an infected patient had a Hollywood and the therapist got blood on spatula. However " The prevalence rate is believed to be between 0.1% and 0.5% of the UK population. HBV infections are usually acquired in adulthood, principally resulting from sexual activity or injecting drug use" (hse.gov.uk) so that means 99percent to 99 95 percent of people dont have it? Ring your GP OR 111 and talk to a doctor if this concerns you.. and get hep B vaccine. One less to stress about.. I dont know bout hep c