The Waxing Studio - Milton Keynes

Did anyone ask what you put on your skin before your first wax?

The card covers the extra time and the gentler wax. This is the part that gets skipped. Before you undress, your waxer should ask what you use on your skin, including any tablets or creams from your doctor.

Wax grips the very top layer of skin as well as the hair. Strong acne tablets and some prescription creams make that layer thinner, and then it can lift away with the wax and leave a raw pink patch like a graze. It's the same reason a hairdresser asks if you've coloured your hair before they bleach it. They need to know what they're working with.

I'm Tracey, and after 20+ years as an intimate wax and advanced ingrown hair specialist in Milton Keynes, I ask this before anything else. If nobody asks you, bring it up yourself.

Follow along if you want to know exactly what to expect before, during and after so there are no surprises.

Did you google "does a first wax hurt" the night before your appointment?

Aftercare chats nearly always cover redness. Hardly anyone mentions the little red dots, so first timers get home, look down, and think they've been cut.

Each dot is where a hair came out with its root. Pull a carrot out of wet soil and you leave a small hole behind. Same thing, much smaller. A speck of blood can sit in that tiny opening for a few minutes, then it stops. The dots usually fade within a day or two.

Because the skin has those tiny openings, the tell I'd look for is gloves. Your waxer should put on a fresh pair in front of you, right before they touch you. If they walk over already wearing a pair, it's completely fine to ask them to change.

I've spent more than 20 years in Milton Keynes as an intimate wax and advanced ingrown hair specialist. I'm Tracey, and I'd rather you heard about the dots from me than worried about them at home.

Follow along if you want to know exactly what to expect before, during and after so there are no surprises.

Did you spot those dots and think you'd been cut?

Confession: I will never tell a first timer it won't hurt. It does, a bit more than next time, and I'd rather you walked in knowing that.

I'm Tracey. I've been an intimate wax and advanced ingrown hair specialist in Milton Keynes for over 20 years, and the second wax is easier for almost everyone.

If you've only ever shaved, none of that hair has been pulled out before. Every root is sitting there strong and settled. It's like a flower bed nobody has weeded in years. The first clear-out is the hard one. Once hair starts growing back at different times, there's simply less coming out in one go.

On that first visit, watch what your waxer does before any wax goes on. They should check the length of your hair and trim anything long down to about a grain of rice. Long hair wraps around itself and drags the skin with it. At the right length it comes away with a gentle pull.

Follow along if you want to know exactly what to expect before, during and after so there are no surprises.

How long did you put off booking your first wax?

Zero hairs. One very unimpressed face.

A Brazilian gets rid of the hair. It won't fix your Monday, and judging by this one, it won't fix your mood either.

What it can do is leave you smooth and calm, as long as the next day or two go gently. That's where aftercare comes in, and it's the part your waxer should actually talk you through, rather than just waving you out the door.

Right after a wax, the little openings where the hairs came out are empty and a bit tender. Heat and rubbing are what upset them. So skip hot baths and sweaty workouts for a day or so, and pop on loose, soft underwear. Some redness is normal and usually gone by the next morning, though sensitive areas can take up to 48 hours to fully calm down.

I'm Tracey, an intimate wax and advanced ingrown hair specialist in Milton Keynes with 20+ years behind me, and I've tested aftercare properly, over weeks, on real clients' skin. What you do afterwards makes a real difference to whether you end up with bumps and ingrowns.

A good waxer tells you what to avoid and roughly how long for before you leave. If all you get is "see you next time," ask.

Follow along if you want to know exactly what to expect before, during and after so there are no surprises.

Be real with me, what did you do straight after your last wax that you probably shouldn't have?

What does smooth actually look like after a Brazilian?

Not "mostly done." Not a few wiry stragglers along the edges that you only spot in the mirror that evening. Smooth means smooth, which is exactly what this card is saying, just a lot cheekier.

The tell is in the last minute of your appointment. Before you get up, a good waxer puts a bright light on the area and picks off any strays with tweezers. It's like stepping back after painting a wall and catching the one patch you missed. You only see it if you look.

I'm Tracey. I've spent 20+ years as an intimate wax and advanced ingrown hair specialist in Milton Keynes, and nobody leaves my couch without that final once-over. Tweezing the odd stray is far gentler than sending you home wondering whether you should have said something.

If nobody ever looks over their work before you leave, that tells you something.

Follow along if you want to know exactly what to expect before, during and after so there are no surprises.

Have you ever found a missed patch at home and been too awkward to go back?

Hair doesn't grow straight up out of your skin. Every single one leans, and around the bikini line the lean can change direction every few centimetres.

That's the whole reason some hairs come out whole and others snap off at the surface.

Pull the wax off the same way the hair is leaning and it folds over and breaks. The root stays behind, and that broken hair often grows back curled under the skin as an ingrown, the sore little bump nobody wants. Pull it off against the lean, low and close to the skin, and the whole hair slides out, root and all.

Ingrown hairs are my speciality. I'm Tracey, I've been an intimate wax and advanced ingrown hair specialist in Milton Keynes for more than 20 years, and plenty of the ingrowns I see started life as hairs that snapped because every section got pulled the same way.

What to look for: before each new section, a good waxer checks which way your hair is growing. You'll see them look closely, or run a finger lightly over the hair to feel which way it lies. If they never check and every strip comes off in the same direction, expect more snapped hairs.

Swipe through, the drawings make it click.

Follow along if you want to know exactly what to expect before, during and after so there are no surprises.

Were you today years old when you found out hair leans?

A Brazilian can be dozens of small pulls. Every single one should finish the same way, with your waxer's hand pressed flat on the spot.

It's the last thing on the card, and it's the one most people have never clocked.

The pull sets the nerves off. Firm pressure straight away settles them, the same reason you clutch your shin after cracking it on the coffee table. Without it, the sting just sits there while they get the next bit ready.

I'm Tracey. I specialise in intimate waxing and advanced ingrown hair work in Milton Keynes, and I've pressed after every pull for 20+ years. Two seconds of pressure, and the sting has mostly gone before you've finished wincing.

Keep an eye out for it next time. Does a hand go straight down, or do they just reach for more wax?

Follow along if you want to know exactly what to expect before, during and after so there are no surprises.

Own up, have you ever sneakily pressed your own hand on it because your waxer didn't?

Confession: the breath holders are easy to spot. Shoulders creep up and the room goes very, very quiet.

Holding your breath feels like bracing yourself. What it really does is tighten everything, and wax coming off tight, tense skin stings more than it needs to.

So breathe out slowly as it comes off, like you're cooling a spoonful of soup. Your body softens and the skin sits flatter.

Half of what I do as an intimate wax and advanced ingrown hair specialist is keep people relaxed enough that their skin stays soft. 20+ years of waxing in Milton Keynes and I'm still watching shoulders. I'm Tracey, hi.

And that's the thing to look for in your waxer. Are they watching you, or just the wax? If you've gone rigid, they should stop for a breath with you before the next pull, rather than pushing on through.

Follow along if you want to know exactly what to expect before, during and after so there are no surprises.

Go on, which are you, breath holder or nervous chatterer?

Waxers love telling first-timers "it always hurts the first time." Handy line. It covers up a lot of rushed technique.

What I'd rather you watch is the hand that isn't holding the wax.

Before every single pull, it should be pressed flat on your skin, right against the edge of the wax, holding it tight. Rip a plaster off a squishy, loose bit of skin and it stings like mad. Do it on skin that's held firm and it's over before you've registered it. Waxing works exactly the same way.

When someone tells me their last wax was agony, that spare hand is the first thing I ask about. I'm Tracey, and in 20+ years as an intimate wax and advanced ingrown hair specialist in Milton Keynes, loose skin has caused more unnecessary pain than anything else I've come across.

So if their other hand was resting on the bed or holding the pot, that wasn't you being a wimp.

Follow along if you want to know exactly what to expect before, during and after so there are no surprises.

Be honest, have you ever blamed your own pain tolerance for a wax that was just done badly?