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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to think that Brazilian waxes are NOT the norm. Or am I deluded?

314 replies

GetOrfMoiLand · 31/10/2009 16:02

Article in the Times basically saying that it is an expectation nowadays that women will have Brazillians.

women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/relationships/article6893826.ece

Is this the case nowadays? I have never had a wax job down below and have no intention of. Sod that!

Particularly at this quote: "There is something hugely irritating about being forced to conform to an aesthetic ideal instigated and perpetuated by the porn industry, but...it is now expected. If your boyfriend has been conditioned to expect a tidy Brazilian, he may genuinely find anything else very off-putting".

Really? Or in actually still having pubic hair am I the modern equivalent of the wild woman of Borneo?

OP posts:
sarah293 · 02/11/2009 16:13

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mrshibbins · 02/11/2009 16:14

To all those ladies who say - Little girls are bare. Women are meant to have hair.

Can I just ask you: do you shave your armpits and legs? Adult women are meant to have hair there too, and the occasional chin whisker, but these are removed regularly by many women and nobody sees that as trying to look pre-pubescent - it's just a matter of aesthetics and personal taste, no?

Kerrymumbles · 02/11/2009 16:19

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

bellissima · 02/11/2009 16:27

Oh I see your point mrshibbins, and I must say that you could probably get from my neat triangle to a landing strip without too much extra effort. I also have down under waxed, at least before holidays. But, was contemplating 'everything off' whilst in the bathroom last night (am I getting obsessed??) and er, it's the hair that is like, really close to the sensitive bits... I mean, I'd be a bit scared to have that waxed, and as for shaving.... (I also don't see how you can shave down under between your legs without risk of injury to be frank). Also doesn't it just look a bit silly whilst its growing in, before you can have it waxed again?

I had everything 'across the front' shaved off before C sections but I'm not sure they got that fussy about the sensitive parts - or maybe they'd just put in the epidural by then! I suppose if you can face a catheter you can face anything...

bellissima · 02/11/2009 16:28

I think Kerrymumbles just answered my questions.

flockwallpaper · 02/11/2009 16:29

I have no clue as to what my friends do as i don't go to a gym or otherwise see them naked in a usual day!, but it wouldn't enter my head to pay some beautician good money to slap hot wax around my bits. Am I the only one that finds this a bit odd (haven't read whole thread)?

Who can remember a few years back when virtually everyone wore thong underwear, (regardless of arse size), and wearing pants with any cloth covering your backside was deeply unfashionable? Some people looked incredibly unsexy (I was a gym goer back then), but hey, it was what everyone did and underwear sales proably went through the roof. Right now beauticians are making a packet on the back of this trend. I would rather spend the money on something more interesting, and have DH do the trimming.

bettykitten75 · 02/11/2009 16:32

Me too..shocked about the queing up starkers in the gym shower room. It brings back horrible memories of school gym sessions and everyone mocking me for my hairiness.

flockwallpaper · 02/11/2009 16:44

Ohh, yes, school gym, cold showers, no fun at all...

Fizzfiend · 02/11/2009 16:45

I have a Brazilian but am finding it tough to maintain - hair starts growing back after a week. I do like the feeling. AND I hate the white hairs that are growing in (I'm 42).

One thing I did read...think it was in Joy of Sex...was that pubic hairs (obviously clean!!) trap your pheremones, so when I guy smells you he gets even more turned on. One reason to keep a bit of hair I suppose...

alysonpeaches · 02/11/2009 16:47

quote

ErikaMaye Mon 02-Nov-09 08:57:07
Not a bloody chance. Am wincing just at the thought of it.

A previous boyfriend once asked me to shave / wax entirely, and I found that down right disturbing in all honesty - like he wanted to be "doing" someone rather too young.

I used to think this before I had it done. I discussed it with DH and he said its nothing to do with looking young, it just makes oral sex easier and avoids the pube in the throat!

I found a full wax did heighten sensitivity too during sex and left my fanjo feeling lovely and soft.

It doesnt compare with a shave, shaves are rough and stubbly, and you end up with trapped hairs and inflamed follicles. If you have a decent beautician wax you, even if you have extremely sensitive skin like me, you get no problems with regrowth.

Morloth · 02/11/2009 16:48

Our gym does have shower cubicles but most people strip off in the changing room and walk to/from the showers naked. There are a couple of little curtained off rooms that some people prefer to use.

I love it, it reinforces for me that we are all just about average. Most women there are in their 30s and 40s and have had a couple of babies.

Nothing like teenage locker rooms .

Claire236 · 02/11/2009 19:49

I can't believe how judgemental some people are about something as ludicrous as other peoples bikini lines. I don't have a Hollywood in order to look like a porn star & my husband does not like it because it makes me look like a little girl because it doesn't. A grown womans bits look considerably different than a childs particularly as generally when dh sees mine I'm turned on.

bettykitten75 · 02/11/2009 20:28

I just think it's too much effort to maintain. I'd rather be doing a zillion other things than lying on a couch having my pubic hair ripped out by a complete stranger, although I imagine having it done by a friend would be worse.
It appears to me that the advantages (which are open for debate anyway)do not outweigh the hassle and pain.
I'll stick with being a hairy fairy. My OH couldn't give a rats what I do with my lady bush...Thank God.

Kitchens · 02/11/2009 21:15

Was out for a meal the other night with friends and the subject of male trimming came up, as it usually does after a few wines! Can't get over that one and my husband just laughs!

twoflakesanight · 02/11/2009 22:28

OK, I'm 34 and had a landing strip once after being persuaded by a canadian friend (apparently they're v. into it) and it was horrendous! Cost me upwards of £30, sheer agony and had to endure looks between other women in the swimming pool showers for weeks after! I was desperate to say 'I know! It looks ridiculous!' but then we'd all admit we'd be talking about my fanny which might be a bit weird...

That's the only foray I've had down there apart from a bit of trimming and I shave down the sides now (anyone else getting pubes on the backs of their lower thighs yet? Ha - just to counteract the bald patches on the calves).

BUT at a recent hen do consisting of late 20-somethings, it turned out ALL of them had full-on brazilians and hollywoods as routine! And so does everyone they know! So I think it's a recent shift - none of my mates do. I don't think. Christ - what if I'm the only one left? And now you all know about my thigh pubes!

twoflakesanight · 02/11/2009 22:33

PS when I had it done, I endured the AGONY of having absolutely everything smothered in hot wax and then ripped off while my beautician chattered away to her friend on the desk with the sliding door slightly open onto the waiting room and STREET! But then she said 'would you like me to do your other side?' and I was so gobsmacked and ashamed that I must have this terribly hairy arse that I obediently rolled over, pulled my bum cheeks apart and let her smear hot wax all over my brown star! With nary a murmur! At least with childbirth you know it's OK to make some noise. I just whimpered and died inside. What's the etiquette!?

twoflakesanight · 02/11/2009 22:35

£30 quid! I need to let this go. I didn't realise how traumatised I was.

miki43 · 02/11/2009 22:46

am posting something that made me decide against minge mowing of any kind lol

though it goes down well at college whilst learning to wax!

One Woman's Tale of Woe

All hair removal methods have tricked women with their promises of
easy, painless removal - The epilady, scissors, razors, Nair and
now...the wax.

My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner,
play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in
my mind for the next few hours: "Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out
of the medicine cabinet."

So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom. It was one of those
"cold wax" kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips
together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press
them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off. No
muss, no fuss. How hard can it be?
I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to
figure this out. (YA THINK!?!) So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its
two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them
together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it
to 1000 degrees. ("Cold wax,"
yeah...right!) I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin around it
tight and pull. It works! OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it
wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am
She-rah, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skin
extraordinaire. With my next wax strip I move north. After checking on
the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting
championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet. Using
the same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the right side of my
bikini line, covering the right half of my vagina and stretching down to
the inside of my butt cheek (Yes, it was a long strip) I inhale deeply
and brace
myself....RRRRIIIPPP!!!! I'm blind!!! Blinded from
pain!!!!....OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!! Vision returning, I notice that I've only
managed to pull off half the strip. CRAP!!! Another deep breath and
RRIIPP!!
Everything is swirly and spotted. I think I may pass out...must stay
conscious...Do I hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe...OK, back to
normal. I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has
caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to
revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the
strip!
There's no hair on it. Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX??? Slowly I
ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair. The
hair that should be on the strip. I touch. I am touching wax.
CRAP! I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is
now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG
mistake...remember my foot is still propped up on the toilet? I know I
need to do something. So I put my foot down. DAMN!!!!!!!!
I hear the slamming of a cell door. Vagina? Sealed shut! Butt?? Sealed
shut! I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to
do and think to myself "Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My
head may pop off!" What can I do to melt the wax? Hot water!! Hot water
melts wax!! I'll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get
in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can
gently wipe it off, right??? > WRONG!!!!!!! I
get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture
prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit. Now, the only
thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having
them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub...in
scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax. So, now
I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cement-epoxied myself
to the porcelain!! God bless the man who had convinced me a few months
ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!!!!! I call my friend, thinking
surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone.
It's a very good conversation starter - "So, my butt and who-ha are
glued together to the bottom of the tub!" There is a slight pause. She
doesn't know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her
laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located,
"Are we talking cheeks or hole or who-ha?" She's laughing out loud by
now...I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call
the number on the side of the box.
YEAH!!!!! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else's night. While
we go through various solutions. I resort to scraping the wax off with a
razor. Nothing feels better then to have your girlie goodies covered in
hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then
dry-shaving the sticky wax off!! By now the brain is not working,
dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need
Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event. My friend is still
talking with me when I finally see my saving grace....the lotion they
give you to remove the excess wax. What do I really have to lose at this
point? I rub some on and OH MY GOD!!!!!!! The scream probably woke the
kids and scared the dickens out of my friend. It's sooo painful, but I
really don't
care. " It works!! IT WORKS!! " I get a hearty
congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove
the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair....THE
HAIR IS STILL THERE.......ALL OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. So I recklessly
shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts. I could have
amputated my own leg at this point. Next week I'm going to try hair color......

bedlambeast · 02/11/2009 22:53

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WickedWench · 02/11/2009 23:16

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NoseyNooNoo · 02/11/2009 23:26

Miki43 - you've made me laugh like Mutley - and DH too! Thanks for that!

CheerfulYank · 03/11/2009 03:12

Oh cripes Miki, you poor dear!

I'm all about the neat triange, occasionally a landing strip. I'm not a five year old!

nooka · 03/11/2009 07:01

Lol Miki that's about how I feel about the whole thing (I would never put hot or cold wax on my skin anywhere though).

SexyDomesticatedDad your surgeon must have had a different procedure from my dh's I guess, my understanding is that shaving at least the front of the scrotum is pretty standard.

Re the c-section, I can't see any real benefit in having a brazilian, or that shaving/not shaving would make very much difference to the visibility of the scar. My scar is only just under the top of my pubic hair - for my first c-section (emergency) they just took off the top inch or so (for my VBAC I pre-shaved that area just in case). Whether you have hair down the sides or the area around the vulva would be pretty irrelevant.

girlsyearapart · 03/11/2009 07:26

Did that poster ever come back with 'the birthing norm'?

Olifin · 03/11/2009 07:45

WickedWench Can I ask which brand of wax you use? I have just bought some Parissa stuff (think that's what it's called) and hadn't realised you need a warmer for it. I think you can heat it on the hob but I'm guessing a warmer would be better.