Throughout history women have been finding ways to beautify skin and hair. Treatments using henna, oils, various plants, juices and pigments date back centuries.  Maybe in the beginning it didn’t cost much to spruce up our appearance but today it is big business. It may be the economy. Or a sense that we can do it all. Or it is effective marketing. But whatever the motivation, the fact is, more and more women are trying to be their own aesthetician or hair stylist.

Take waxing for example: Waxing yourself from eye brows to ankles is completely doable with store shelves carry a wide selection of products designed to render us hairless. I saw a commercial for Veets High Precision Facial Wax recently and was immediately drawn to the words “High Precision.” The use of these two words either instills confidence or is a red flag; you be the judge.

According to the Veet site I should be able to answer the question “What do your Eyebrows say about you?” I have to admit I have never worried about what they are projecting, but I think I know what other women’s brows might be saying, “I’m naked!”  Ladies the eye pencil does not fool anyone, you over tweezed or waxed to death your precious brows!

Then there is the bikini wax. I tried doing my own bikini wax and it was a fear provoking exercise that required internal coaxing to even open the box. I struggled first with the placement of the wax strips and because I knew the pain was coming I hesitated to commit fully to the pull. I even tried talking to myself during the process but I couldn’t stay interested in any topic. Needless to say, upon completion it looked like a poorly mowed lawn and I decided it was time to return to the professional. Leanne keeps me distracted with conversation as she rips the hairs from my skin. I find that more comforting. 

In asking for responses from other women on the topic of DIY treatments gone wrong, waxing took top prize.  Rhonda stated, “I stopped trying to do stuff at home. It was partly for fear my overtired brain would contribute to a dye job or cut that would scare even my dogs.  The other reason was the one time I tried to wax my legs; it took me 20 minutes to get up the guts to pull. Once I endured the excruciating pain, not felt by any proper spa job, I quit immediately. I have never had a single hair grow back in that one spot since.  No pain, no gain is not supposed to apply to basic beauty needs. Never again.”

Jesse, an aesthetician who works at Casbah Day Spa in South Surrey, BC has seen what happens when people try to take on their own treatments. “With waxing we have seen ripped skin, bumps and rashes as well as bad attempt at waxing their own brows. People also have trouble getting the wax off” says Jesse. You know what she’s talking about, don’t you? Skin and clothes temporarily and uncomfortably sticking with every move.

Equally disturbing is self pedicures that went awry. “We have had clients who have over cheese grated their feet,” Jesse went on to say, “Some people have difficulty doing a good enough job.” In other words, if you want it done right use a professional or at the very least, if you are set on doing your own pedicures learn how to “grate” without harm to self.

Beyond pedicures and waxing there are those at home haircuts. You look at your bangs and think “I can trim that.” Next thing you see in the mirror is something that resembles a valance on your forehead. For weeks, you try to pull the hair down from your hairline using any manner of product, to no avail. It is also hard to texturize your own hair. Hence, the blunt cut that screams “I thought I could do it myself.”

I tried to dye my own hair once. Standing at the bathroom counter, adjusting my glasses, I read the fine print. Feeling like the scientist Beaker from The Muppet Show, who always manages to have something go horribly wrong, I assembled bottles and chemicals.  First of all, doing your own hair is not relaxing and I soon realized why I pay a professional to do this.  After mixing, applying, rinsing and styling, the colour on the box was not what appeared on my head! In fact, there was distinct difference in colour depending on what area of my head you looked at, as pointed out by my dear friends’ child.

On the flip side, Lijana has been a do-it-yourself hair colourer for many years now and loves it. “I get to choose the exact time & day that suits me (in my pj's), without having to drive some place, listen to others gossip and have to leave a tip whether I thought the job was good or not.” That is exactly what is appealing about colouring your own hair. However, professional stylists everywhere can tell you about clients returning to their chair panicked by a cut or colour gone wrong. I was one of those clients.

Despite challenges people will continue to try and some will succeed with their own spa and hair treatments. We will dye, wax, polish, cut, slough and paint ourselves, carrying on the centuries old rituals of beautifying our bodies, satisfying cultural definitions, personal preferences, mate attraction and our need to defy aging. The multibillion dollar sales of beauty supplies will continue and chemical scientist will be thrilled to concoct a new and improved way for us to change or enhance our look.

For me, I will leave my treatments to the professionals as I’m too afraid I will walk out my door with orange hair, adjusting my clothes away from leftover wax, with one eye brow on my face.