These stories don’t just make for great spooky campfire fodder at your next beauty therapy camp; they’re a stern warning about some of the often overlooked dangers of improperly performing a Brazilian…
1. STDs lurking in wax
If you thought your clients were safe from picking up STDs at your salon, think again. If you’ve ever double-dipped into the wax pot, you could have inadvertently spread bacteria from one client to the next, even STDs, as New York beauty editor Maddie Rubin learned when she developed molluscum contagiosum, a skin infection typically transmitted through sex.
2. Near-fatal consequences
There’s another serious issue few therapists consider before giving a client a Brazilian: their immune system. As one 20-year-old Melbourne woman learned the hard way, immune-compromised people should avoid Brazilian waxes.
After suffering some bleeding post-wax, the woman developed a near-fatal infection that left her fighting for her life in hospital due to a compromised immune system as a result of poorly managed diabetes. The case was noted in the journal of Clinical Infectious Diseases, which stated, “Our case is notable, because it illustrates the infectious risks of pubic hair removal in a patient with diabetes.”
3. Flesh-eating bacteria
When 25-year-old New Zealand woman Charlotte Scott fronted up for her bikini wax, the last thing she expected to leave the salon with was flesh-eating bacteria; but just days after her wax, Scott discovered a huge, painful abscess on her vulva which quickly spread, turning her pubic region purple and causing such severe pain the salon client was unable to walk.
In hospital, Scott’s doctors diagnosed her with necrotising fasciitis, a flesh-eating bacteria which can enter the body through small wounds, such as those experienced in clients who bleed after a wax. The Kiwi salon regular had five operations to remove infected tissue and receive skin grafts from her thigh to cover the area lost from her groin, telling New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, “Even when I was fighting for my life, I always had that Kiwi attitude of, ‘She’ll be right, mate”…I’m just grateful to be alive.”
4. It burns like hell
Infections aren’t the only consideration to make when you’re performing a Brazilian. Connecticut woman Debbie Becker received a $100,000 settlement after suing her beauty salon for burning her labia during a wax. The salon client was treated at an urgent care facility post-Brazilian after experiencing severe pain during urination, sitting down and sexual activity, and sued for coverage of her medical bills and pain and suffering.
Have your say: Have you ever had a client have a bad reaction to a Brazilian wax?