Bikini wax - am I asking for the wrong thing?

[OiCatThatsMySeat]

I always ask for a high bikini wax - not interested in a Brazilian or anything like that. I just want no visible hair when wearing a swimsuit. But they ALWAYS leave hair underneath. It's not really obvious but it is there and I feel annoyed, having gone through the indignity of a bikini wax, to be left with a small strip of hair on either side of my pants and towards my bum.

Help me out, seasoned waxers. What am I meant to be asking for? (Or do I just need to find a new salon?!)

I go to a specialist salon that only does intimate waxing and I always get a Brazilian but they do ask if I want the underneath off as well, anywhere else I've been to has ended up like your situation. It would maybe be worth trying to find a specialist salon where you are - I have to travel 40 mins and it's a bit more expensive but absolutely worth it for the experience and end result!

I don't ask for a particular style , I just tell them where I want the hair removed from. So , a bit off the sides , a bit off the top and underneath please.

You definitely need to specify this, I had a Hollywood years ago when it first became a thing, they did everything g except an area on the front. Is that what you are aiming for?

Speak up and tell the waxer what you want.
They are not mind readers.

If they've not taken enough off- surely you just ask? They've already seen everything- I don't see why a conversation about the other bits you want whipped off is hard to do?

I probably should have asked...but she disappeared and said see you at the till! So having got dressed again I wasn't brave enough to announce it in front of all the other people waiting in reception.

So for the future - a high bikini wax doesn't necessarily mean the removal of all hair outside pants? I thought that was the minimum to expect for a bw.

I thought a Hollywood was everything off front and underneath.

Just found this
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/beauty-hair/g3225/bikini-wax-styles/

A Hollywood removes all hair.

I definitely don't want a Hollywood. I want everything off OUTSIDE my knicker line. But the rest left on.

Best to say this, then. Specify.

I did say this! My question is really, is a "high bikini wax" not what I should be asking for?

To be fair, even folks on here seem to be struggling a bit with what you want.

You said there is still hair underneath, which seems to suggest you want it removed totally from all your vulva and anal area?

But then you go on to suggest you want it removed only from outside your pant line, which would suggest you don't mind that area but want it just removed from the anything your pants don't cover?

Not having a dig, just trying to illustrate where the confusion might be coming from?

I think you are working too much on verbal definitions here. I have a full Hollywood so it is not an issue with me. But when you first go in, you should explain to the beautician exactly what you want pointing to specific areas. And, just as when you go to the hairdressers, when she has finished the beautician should ask whether you are satisfied.

If this is not happening, I think you should try another salon.

I said, I booked a high bikini wax because I want everything off outside the knicker line, and she said oh yes, tbh I always do a high bikini wax as standard.

So I thought, great, we are on the same page.

But I'm left with hair sticking out of my pants underneath so I'm wondering if a high bikini wax is not in fact the type of waxing I should be booking in future.

So you want a strip of hair all the way down and across your labia leading to your bum?

Umm.. I think so now that you put it that way! Maybe I need to save this phrasing for the future! And yes I can see that what I thought was obvious possibly isn't.

So does this kind of wax ("leave a strip of hair all the way down" etc) have a specific name? Or do I just literally need to say that next time?!

I feel like if I was 20 I would know this. But I'm closer to 50 and a bit lost. When I was younger there was the option of a tidy up and nothing else!

I think PP is right, explain what you need rather than use terminology. I get a Hollywood so there’s never any ambiguity on what I need, but it seems you’re after a halfway between a Brazilian and a high bikini wax. That Cosmo article called it a French wax, but I’ve never heard that term before.

https://www.instyle.com/french-bikini-wax-7484708

Like I said I’ve never heard of a French wax, so you may need to explain rather than ask for one!

Try another salon.

I'd do the 'this is a bit new to me and confusing, what would you call this' and then go into graphic detail about which bits you want bald and which bits left alone.

Apart from anything else, bikinis vary so that may be confusing! When I was a kid I thought bikini line meant the chest, because I was unusually hairy up there and after all half of the bikini is on the chest...

Thanks all!

To add to previous comments. You might want to consider taking your briefest bikini bottoms that you are going to wear with you and show the beautician exactly what you want.

It really is easy and less fuss to have "all off" in my opinion. I've been doing that for years.

What you want is called a Miami!

Source: specialist intimate waxer, who had to explain the different types to me because I was so clueless.

I think what you got is a high bikini wax.

You need to specify if you want them to take hair from the bum area.

Some salons use names for it, with descriptions - and corresponding prices. (It's more expensive to get a wax like that).

So I'd book an extended bikini wax & be really clear with the beautician, and check at the end.

I wonder if the issue is the beautician's own lack of hair - I had a spontaneous bikini wax when having my armpits done. She did the sides like I wanted then asked about underneath. I'm not hairy there so it hadn't even occurred to me. If I were your beautician I wouldn't have known that needed doing!!!