HipMamaB San Diego: Make Sure You Are Ready For Summer With European Wax Centers

If you've been reading my site for awhile you know that 18 months ago we moved...we moved a whopping 6 miles that changed almost every aspect of our world. One of those aspects was that with that six miles, I ended up moving about 20 minutes away from my waxer. While 20 minutes may not seem to far to drive for a good wax...it just became more difficult. And unfortuntately, I've had a year of giving up things that make my life more difficult than it needs to be. That's when I discovered the European Wax Center in Bressi Ranch (Carlsbad, CA). 

I'm a busy mom with a very, very insane schedule that changes - a lot. I often say I can't plan things more than 4 days in advance, because really, no matter how hard I try, things are always changing on me. European Wax Center (EWC) has really great hours, and 7 days a week there is someone there for an emergency wax job. No matter how I try to plan, there are always those last minute "Hey want to go to the pool tomorrow?" crises when you are 3 days out from your scheduled wax. And even better, if I can't make my appointment it's NOT a problem! I don't need to give them 24 hours or be charged a fee, and I can almost always get a make-up appointment same day or when I need it. 

And honestly, they just do a really good job. I've had a few different estheticians at EWC over the past year and they have all done equally great jobs. While no waxing will ever be totally pain-free, EWC's process is MUCH more comfortable than most. EWC is very unique in that the wax that they use was exclusively developed in Paris for European Wax Center, contains no alcohol, is 100% natural beeswax and the finest polymers and as a result there is much less pain, irritation and redness. Also, there is no double dipping/recycling of the wax they use, so it is very sanitary. Additionally, they also offer a line of their own products to help minimize hair growth between visits and stop pesky ingrown hairs. 

Quick. Easy and the prices are good. I'm a total convert. 

While I've been going to EWC for over a year now, a few weeks ago they asked me for help promoting their services at their San Diego and Temecula locations with a giveaway to my readers. While EWC has more than 241 salons across the nation, this giveaway is specific to my local readers in San Diego, CA and Temecula, CA (sorry everyone else!).

So let's get ready for summer with a giftbasket that includes the following! 

- A Wax Service of YOUR Choice (valid at any EWC San Diego or Temecula, CA locations)

- Slow It Body Wash

- Slow It Body Lotion

- Ingrown Hair Serum

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck and happy waxing!

*Disclosure: While I have been paying to go to EWC for over a year, and all the opinions are my own, I was given a free wax and free gift basket of goodies in return for hosting this giveaway. 

Hurtin' for a Merkin - Is down there hair coming back into style?

Style is a pendulum. You know when a trend swings so heavily in one direction, it's bound to go back to the opposite sooner or later. Take all the NEON we are seeing for Spring. Didn't we all swear off of those hues in 9th grade? Over the past few years, one of the most radical changes we've seen in beauty and female maintenance has been the acceptance of the Brazilian Bikini wax. Once reserved for porn actress or crab infested Victorian-era prostitutes, a hairless (or almost hairless) va-jayjay is now the norm for most women.

While one can argue that modern media and the popularity of Howard Stern, Sex and the City, and The Girls Next Door has brainwashed women into sexifying themselves for male approval, the argument has been made that in our current society, we just don't need pubic hair. And its removal has quickly become a multimillion dollar business industry. When Holly Madison made the comment about the old days of Playboy, "when girls had fur bikinis," women across the country took note. Fashionable, modern women do NOT have hair down there... or at least not a lot.

But now that the thought that less to none is more, is the style going to change? Just like the thickness of eyebrows have switched back and forth over the years, are pubes now going to be all the rage? Some evolutionary experts think that hair that comes with puberty, such as underarm hair, male chest hair and pubic hair, helps secrete pheromones, making one more sexually attractive to others. And while hairless vaginas have been popular - is it because it was considered "naughty" or risque' when women first started doing them? And now that they are the norm, will the hairy beaver make its comeback? Is it like the belly piercing phenomenon? At first it was deemed wild and crazy, then 16 year olds and 50 year olds started getting them and they lost all their appeal.

Ad from American ApparelIf you follow a basic rule of fashion and trends, then yes, bushes will be back.

Take the latest scandalous ad from American Apparel that shows a model's pubic hair through a pair of lace panties. Admit it - when you look at this ad you are shocked. But why? Victoria's Secret shows see-thru lace underwear all the time, but there is neither hide nor hair of, um, well...hide or hair to be seen. If this picture did not have a dark spot where we are (now) used to seeing a flesh tone - would you even think twice about this ad?

What about famed waxer and "real" NY "Housewife" (who's not married and is a working woman, so how she qualified for that title escapes me) Cindy Barshop trying to bring back the merkin? While these are not your 1800s hooker vag toupees, these modern merkins are brightly colored and made of REAL fox fur. Yes. You read that right. She is selling not only the application of bright fox fur and feathers to a woman's cooch (post wax of course, homegirl still needs her bread and butter money) but she is actively promoting this as the next big thing to hit your nether regions. For only $225 the hippest of the hip can now you can now have a Merkin to go with their Birkin.

You can watch the G rated video demonstration of the process here...

The moral of the story is that bald may not be beautiful anymore. And while we (hopefully) will never go as far back as to the unmaintained wild bush woman days, maybe we'll think twice before having it all permanently removed.

What do you think - will pubic hair make a comeback? And are you willing to grow yours out under the guise of fashion?