14 DAY TRIAL // One of the most acclaimed and celebrity-endorsed beauty procedures of our time, the Brazilian wax, is on the verge of being banned in New Jersey because of the cases of two women who ended up in the hospital following several complications. While the ban from authorities is still pending, this type of waxing is not even legal or certified by New Jersey’s Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling, several media outlets are pointing out.
Indeed, the Brazilian wax, which implies removing most of the hair from the nether regions, is not only painful, but also extremely dangerous if carried out by a waxologist not properly trained or not equipped with the necessary tools. It can lead to infection and prolonged bleeding, as well as massive swelling of the area, which is precisely why the Board is thinking of banning it, thus putting spa and salon practitioners out of job.
The two women whose cases prompted such a reaction were hospitalized briefly at the beginning of last week, and are now recovering. One of them has even filed a lawsuit, but in neither case it is known whether the blame belonged to the waxologist or to the procedure itself. Nevertheless, the Brazilian wax, as much as it is hailed as the only procedure to combine health and beauty in a perfect blend, is still dangerous, as countless studies have shown in the past.
For instance, as the Daily Mail informs, in 2007, an article in the medical journal Clinical Infectious Diseases analyzed the case of a 20-year-old Australian woman who had also ended up in hospital following a Brazilian wax. As it turned out, she had untreated Type One diabetes, which made her more prone to infection, but that also raised the question of the cleanliness standards of certain salons that practice the procedure.
“US beauty blog, Beauty.About.com, dedicated a column to asking Brazilian specialist Leonard Serrani just what clients should check for before having the wax done. He warned that many wax technicians fail to wear gloves when carrying out the treatment and that not every salon changes its applicator for each new client, increasing the risk of infection. Serrani also stressed the importance of ensuring that the technician has actually been properly trained to carry out the specialist wax. Even if you find yourself in a fantastic salon with an experienced and skilled technician, there's still the issue of just how painful it really is.” the Mail writes.
Enraged by the media backlash and the exaggerated reaction of the authorities, the Association of Salon and Spa Professionals has taken to the Internet to find a way out of this predicament. The association is currently gathering votes, in the hope that the procedure will not be banned when it shows to have so many supporters. At the same time, the association says, banning it would only encourage more untrained waxologists to operate on the black market, thus exposing clients, both women and men, to more health risks.