Royal F*** Ups

You can not be in this industry for almost a decade and not have some royal f*ck up’s. I'm honestly not sure how this client has stuck with me, I guess she couldn’t find anyone with better banter?

Let's set the scene, The temperature dial on our wax pot is on the top, which is stupid.  It gets clogged with wax and is hard to clean. If you aren't careful this can get bumped up or down, affecting the temperature of the wax.

On this day I had inadvertently bumped the dial-up to high, by the time I realized what had happened my client is on the table with her pants off waiting for me to get started on her braz. As soon as I dipped the stick into the wax and saw it pour off I knew it was too hot.  I decided to shut the pot off, pour more wax in to bring the temp down. Quickly stirring and blowing on it to desperately try and cool it down. Meanwhile, I've draped the towel back over my client, messaged my next client explaining I'm running late and trying to bluff my way through conversation while internally dying!

The wax finally gets to a temperature that I can safely work with. Relieved- I dip the stick in, chat away and start applying on her braz area. As soon as the wax sets, it immediately starts to crack and shatter right before my eyes. My stomach sinks as I realize I now have to pick each bit of wax off her fanny, piece by piece.

I had to own it and apologized profusely before painstakingly (for her!!) picking off bits of wax.

The best remedy for these situations is humour,  so we both joked our way through the session. Thank God, because there is nothing worse than silently working through something like that. I then had to empty the wax pot, reload it with fresh wax and start again. I'm pretty sure this was quite early on in our “relationship“, I honestly wasn't expecting to see this client again however thankfully she did return and has been with me for almost 7years. We still laugh about that day.

It has become one of the training stories I relay to my therapists on how to manage a colossal screwup.

• Own it

• Finish the job

• Do your best to rebuild trust and make them feel at ease

Another goodie was when one of my clients turned bright green after a spray tan.  Before any spray tan, we recommend not moisturizing, no deodorant/ perfume and exfoliating, so your skin is a fresh canvas! This client had used a particular perfumed body wash (Knight Castle off the top of my head),  and was adamant she had followed my advice.

After exfoliating the Shrek out of her skin and doing a second spray tan, we realised it was the body wash that was creating the reaction much to my relief. This was after I freaked out, calling suppliers, and seriously questioned whether I should still offer spray tans!

I also once had a client accuse me of giving her haemorrhoids. This client was quite a fluffy number, particularly around the back so I had to use hot wax and get stuck in, bearing in mind that when we wax the boo hole, we are south of the border. Hemorrhoids are usually caused by internal strain, trauma etc. It was Christmas busy week and she was meant to pay via internet banking but refused to pay until she had seen her Doctor who confirmed the two things were not connected. The waxing would have irritated the area, but not been the cause of the dreaded bum berries, so she finally paid up.

Then we have the opposite, with clients who have little “tags“/ hemorrhoids popping out and they're telling you to “Get in there! Don't be scared!“ It cracks me up, such a contrast. 

I have another beautiful client who came for a braz for years and would refuse to get her booty done, so she would lie there frog-legged pulling her “lips” open so I can get that last little bit down by her glory hole instead of rolling onto her side and showing her bum. I'm like Baaaabe, I can literally see what you had for breakfast it's so much more modest rolling onto your side. If you’ve had a braz you will know the positions I mean.

It was an exciting day when she did finally play ball and realized it was not nearly as bad as she thought it would be... For all parties!

Those are some lighthearted moments that definitely made me a better therapist, next week I'll be sharing my Top 5 What the F*** moments.

Trish Tucker