Wax On, Wax Off

It sounds scary: Ministry of Waxing – less beauty institute, more S&M House of Pain. So I was girded for agony the drizzly morning I crept in.

The Ministry specialises in waxing and has sister sites in Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Manilla and Dubai. Although it’s on posh South Molton Street, the décor is more suited to Camden. It’s nothing like a conventional salon, no clinical white surfaces here. Instead, the subterranean grey and black corridors resemble a labyrinth of caves and the walls display splodgy paintings of wax products smeared on canvas.

The publicity material is amusing: ‘Better latex than never’, ‘from muff to buff… in 30 minutes flat’, ‘one million bushes beautifully pruned,’ and so it goes. Apparently the Western founders were horrified at how Asian women could keep such unkempt front gardens and decided to help trim the hedge. Colonisation by Keratin – how very kind!

Every bit of the human body can be defollicled here, from the toe to the inner ear. But this place prides itself on its Brazilians and they do Boyzilians too: back, sac and crack. You can’t be shy or squeamish – if you opt to defuzz your intimates, they hoist you onto the couch as if they’re about to give you an internal.

My lady told me how satisfying she found waxing and we agreed it was as good as hearing the hoover scoop bits up – cleaning up the debris. Ministry uses chocolate hard wax on bikini lines and lavender soft, strip wax on expanses like legs. I was very pleased with my legs – smooth as skittles. And it didn’t hurt as much as I’d feared, thanks to the squeezy stressball pig.

At £38 a Brazilian, you may prefer a cheapo razor but there are some things, I think, best done by others.

Ministry of Waxing
17 South Molton Street
Mayfair
W1K 5QT

Tel: 020 7409 7343

www.ministryofwaxing.com

Also this week…

Living Well loves…Yu–Be moisturising skin cream: a seriously powerful medicated moisturiser from Japan which can be used all over the body as a face moisturiser, lip balm, cuticle cream, cracked heel salve, elbow rub – it even soothes burns. Perfect for winter. It’s really good value at £11.70 for 37ml, or £18.53 for an 81ml tub, and is available from SpaceNK or online at: www.nivenandjoshua.co.uk.

Treat yourself…: Blink Brow bars

What: Walk-in threading
How: The Indian art involves twisting and rolling thread along the surface of the skin to entwine and remove hair. It’s less painful than tweezing, quicker and more effective, and it even targets the shortest, thinnest hairs
Why: It’s a quick, fairly pain-free option to keep your brows in check. Blink Brow bars offer eyebrow, lip, cheek and whole face treatments and tinting
Where: Available at Selfridges, Fenwicks, Harvey Nichols and House Of Fraser, Westfield
When: Fit it in between Christmas shopping and a champagne brunch. Fabulous, dahhling
Price: Brows cost £17
Contact: www.blinkbrowbar.com