Spring-break season is almost upon us, so in the spirit of discovering what primping and prepping was most beneficial to me, I wasted no time in checking out what new-to-us European Wax Center (EWC) had to offer in the way of armpit and bikini waxes, the former of which I’d never experienced before.
Enter this cozy business, and you’re immediately greeted with the light and refreshing essence of Hawaiian orchids—a scent that quite deliberately mirrors the delectable fragrances of the salon’s body product line.
Red scrubs-clad Nicole, my wax specialist (all the gals here are fully licensed estheticians), graciously walked me through the process—a simple four steps that ensure the cleanest, most pain-free experience possible: a cleanser, a prewax oil to protect the skin, the exclusive comfort wax that truly is silky-smooth going on and off, and a rejuvenating ingrown hair serum to prevent those tricky regrowth issues. Maybe it was my natural curiosity at having my first hard-wax experience, but the service was over almost before I knew it. (I didn’t once employ my usual back-pinching technique to distract from the pulling sting.) And, let’s be honest, that’s rarely the case when it comes to a wax.
Why go hard-wax-only, you might ask? First and foremost, it creates a more effective pull, says Plymouth’s EWC owner and president Cindy Yared Turner. This means less pain and less residual skin damage than with a typical strip wax. EWC employs strict guidelines that include no double-dipping of the wax and no recycling of the bluish purple goo between clients, either.
The sapphire-toned wax is made of 100% natural beeswax and the finest polymers. It's made exclusively in Paris for use at U.S.-born EWC franchises.
As a first-time customer I was eligible for a free service, and if I pre-booked nine services I got two, you guessed it, free. Similar promotions are available in varying degrees year-round. I’d say that’s what stands out about the hard-wax-only boutique: the repeat client perks and money-saving opportunities are as abundant as my leg stubble once was.
In fact, you can get your first service—either bikini line, underarms, or eyebrows—free during February and March 2012. Men can choose between eyebrow, nose or ear wax as their first-time complimentary service. You can also participate in the referral program, with an unlimited wax pass, prepaid wax pass and guest rewards designed to save guests money.
Turner’s path to wax salon owner was perhaps as cathartic as the waxing experience itself: After her husband Georges died in 2008, she began to pick up the pieces of her home and their shared career in finances, all while engaging in the lives of her five adult children who were beginning to give her four grandbabies.
Somewhere along the line she decided she needed a clean break from her previous career, and having worked with few women throughout her life, decided to look into salon-style franchises. She investigated options for a year before settling on EWC.
“I loved the simple story of love and passion the founders had,” the newly-remarried Yared Turner says. “I’m an empty-nester, so these girls are my new family. That’s the goal of what we’re doing here—expanding on a great family-owned business.”
