What You Need to Know When Waxing Menopausal Clients
Lisa Stone, Expert and Salon System Educator shares her tips on waxing menopausal clients.
With women predominantly being the biggest group of our clientele in our industry, you can guarantee as therapists we will see a wide range of age groups and one of those age groups will be around the menopause and perimenopausal age. With this group of clients, we must look a little more intently to the symptoms when it comes to carrying out our beauty services and treatments, especially when it comes to waxing.
Being in this group myself I can very much relate to these concerns, during menopause and perimenopause hormones decline, deplete and fluctuate and this can play havoc with our bodies both emotionally and physically, and some of those changes can dramatically affect our skin and hair growth.
With the drop in Oestrogen, we see a depletion of collagen and elastin production and the skin can become very thin, loose, and more fragile. Our skin becomes extremely dry, irritated and itchy, so our waxing services can suddenly become incredibly uncomfortable. So great care is needed, but we can take steps to reduce the discomfort and help look after our client’s skin.
Make sure you are educating your clients on the effects of menopause and perimenopause on their skin and advise them to be using a really good moisturiser or oil daily, or better still twice a day all over their body, this will keep skin well-nourished and help with waxing. Encourage your clients to exfoliate 2-3 times a week, and make sure they are carrying this out correctly and thoroughly all over their body, this will ensure their skin will be in better conditions prior to their waxing service, this will make great after care for post waxing also, as menopause can increase ingrown hairs due to the excessive dry skin.
A great tip for skin that is a little dry/sensitive is to apply a fine layer of Salon System Just Wax Expert Protect and Calm Lotion, with marshmallow root, green tea and bamboo this will hydrate and protect and even though it’s an after-wax lotion it won’t act as barrier to your wax. I love this product and like to use it in conjunction with the Salon System Just Wax Expert Cleanse and Prime Serum to clean skin before the treatment. Its gentle alcohol-free formulation will not sensitise the skin before a wax and has a beautiful cooling element upon the skin, too.
Look at your technique, we are always taught to stretch the skin when waxing and we should be doing this with all our clients but this is even more important, due to skin becoming looser and thinner and the risk of bruising increased the skin must be taught when waxing, so your positioning of the client, where you place your hands to stretch is imperative, work in small sections if need be to manage the stretch better, get the clients involved to help but please keep that skin tight!
Maybe look at your wax, one wax does not suit all, don’t just opt for strip. Look at alternative waxes. Salon System Just Wax Multiflex wax is a strip less wax (Hot Wax) and it’s unique formula means it isn’t a sticky wax and wont over stick to the skin, it works by shrink wrapping the hair, so reducing the trauma on the skin which makes it perfect for menopausal skin, especially areas like the brows, top lip, chin, jawline and neck, all areas that can be prone to strong, dark hair growth during the menopause due to fluctuation in oestrogen and testosterone. Yes, girls they will start sprouting almost overnight, what a joy! But the beauty of this type of wax means you don’t have to wait for a certain length, so you we can get those pesky little hairs out sooner, hairs remove well with little to no breakage and without causing excess pull and tug, redness and reaction on the skin… Hallelujah!
Be observant! You will be seeing and feeling parts of the body that maybe your client isn’t, if you feel or spot a lump or swelling especially when working around the armpit don’t be afraid to point this out to your client in a very gentle and tactile way. With an increased risk around this age group and use of HRT this must be checked and seen by a GP.
Lastly, be mindful of the situation, your clients can be experiencing hot flushes, and these can come on suddenly and be very aggressive, so try and keep the room cool, offer a glass of water, make the client feel as comfortable as you can, they may feel dizzy and even embarrassed, you may need to re-cleanse skin or bring in a fan to cool skin down.
At a time when our bodies are changing beyond belief, having hair thinning where we want to keep it but growing like weeds where we don’t, let’s try and be sympathetic, knowledgeable, and understanding of individual needs and boost feelings of confidence and self-esteem.
