The same should be said for her hair removal around the bikini area. Somehow this detail gets overlooked until the last minute or there isn’t enough information about how to care for the area pre and post wedding.

In order for a Brazilian Wax to be as painless as possible, stop shaving the area at least two weeks before the Brazilian Wax service takes place. If you are someone who never shaves, the Brazilian Wax service should be even more tolerable than expected.

Plan your first Brazilian Wax five months before your wedding. Consider these visits “dry runs” before your trip down the aisle. Then schedule two more visits approximately six weeks apart. You should have three visits total before your wedding. The last visit should be five days before the wedding takes place. Each wax appointment will get easier than the last one.

Wax preparation before each wax appointment:

~Avoid caffeine the day of your Brazilian Wax service. It may increase redness on your skin or make you jittery and nervous thus more sensitive when feeling the sting from each pull.

~Your highest pain threshold is later in the day around 5pm. If you are able to plan the wax later in the day, this may work in your favor.

~Do not schedule a wax if you have been taking antibiotics for a cold. It may cause skin lifting.

~Try not to schedule the wax right before, during, or right after your period. It tends to make you more sensitive to the pain.

~If your bikini area has been growing for some time and you are unsure of how long it needs to be, trim it with small scissors until the puffiness of the hair is shortened and the hair lies flat. Small ‘mustache scissors’ work fine when trimming this area. You’ll find them in the beauty section of the pharmacy near where the tweezers are sold.

~Avoid using an electric trimmer on the bikini area. It will only toughen the hairs into nubs or spikes making the wax more painful. If you use an electric trimmer on this area, you will need to let the hair grow out another week until it is long enough to be waxed.

~A secret some of my clients have shared with me is that they take an Ibuprofen before the wax service. They say it helps diminish the pain felt during the service. However, please check with your doctor before popping pill(s) prior to a wax appointment. This is a suggestion our clients have mentioned to us and I’d rather you get clearance from your doctor before doing so.

~Breathe when each pull is performed. Exhaling with each pull performed by the waxing technician will help to lessen the pain that is felt.

~Part of the service will take place while you are lying on your back. The positioning of your body may vary when removing hair from in between the cheeks. Some technicians have you throw your legs over your head. Others have you turn over in the “downward dog” yoga position in order to remove all of the hair. The latter is the way we position the client for hair removal around the buttocks. It allows all of the hair to be removed and we are able to reach the top of the cleft as well.

Plan your next two visits before you leave. You’ve spent good money on this service and you don’t want to end up shaving the area all because you were not able to get an appointment at the last minute.

The skin around the bikini area will evolve into a smoother surface. You should not rely on one Brazilian Wax appointment just days before your wedding to prepare the area for such an intimate and important event. This way, you are not raw or in shock when you leave the spa all because you planned your lone Brazilian Wax appointment at the last minute. You will not be waddling down the aisle hoping your thighs will not chafe because of how uncomfortable it feels.

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Skinny Cookies from Canyon Ranch’s recipe book on spa cuisine are featured at Body Restoration Spa.

Ever wondered what the recipes in the Canyon Ranch book on spa cuisine taste like? Body Restoration will feature spa cuisine prepared by Chef Sue Clair taken from the Canyon Ranch recipe book as well as other healthy spa creations. For those of you who may not be familiar with Canyon Ranch Spas…they are award winning for helping their guests to make important lifestyle changes through exercise, holistic therapies, spa services, and healthy cuisine. We will offer nutritious creations on select weekends at the spa. You will be able to sample incredible gourmet recipes that will enable you to live a healthier, longer more vibrant life.

The cost is $15 to be a model and receive a facial from an esthetician who is being educated on the use of the spa’s skin care line. You will experience a spa facial just like any guest at Bodyrest. You’ll have a robe, pair of slippers, heated massage table, warm towels, tea and snacks. You  will need to complete a skin care profile about your skin history. We will  follow with a skin consultation, skin analysis, product selection, steam, massage, and extractions (if needed).

Allow an 90 minutes in your schedule for this service to be performed. We may add other dates to the training schedule.

Please call the spa to book your appointment at 215-569-9599.

The blue indicates what area will be waxed.

As we come into 2012, Body Restoration Spa needs women who are willing to be participants in receiving Brazilian waxes. An expert waxer (Cara) will be present as we train new staff.

We have availability on the following dates:
Friday January 27, 2012 from 12noon-7pm
Saturday January 28, 2012 from 4pm-8pm
Sunday January 29, 2012 from 12noon-7pm

The cost is $15 to be a model and receive a Brazilian wax from an esthetician who is in training.

Allow an hour in your schedule for this service to be performed. Your hair needs to be growing for two weeks in order for it to be long enough to be waxed. Please do not book if your hair is not long enough.

We may add other dates to the training schedule.

Please call the spa to book your appointment at 215-569-9599.

Experience a Brazilian wax using the Cadillac of all wax products at a fraction of the cost.

By August 2011, Body Restoration started to get calls from people looking to use their Eversave coupon. When we told them we were not running any deals with Eversave, they didn’t believe us. The exchange of words between the desk managers and the callers with these Eversave coupons was becoming testy.

I discovered that the male massage therapist who sent his resume back in June had opened a massage center on the same street just three blocks from our location with the exact use of the name “Body Restoration.” He had copied and tweaked a good chunk of Body Restoration’s web site content. He proceeded to sell a ton of Eversave coupons under the guise of our spa’s name.

I called him and informed him that the name “Body Restoration” has been trademarked since 2001. He agreed to change the name of his business and decided to go with something else. I thought, “ok, let’s see how this goes.” People are still confused by this and are purchasing his deals and calling us to secure their appointments.

Reading his bio on his web site is vastly different than the resume he sent me in June 2011. There is no indication that he has been in business since 2004 as a massage therapist.

In fact, there is a Yelp badge on his web site’s home page that says, “We have 37 five star reviews on Yelp.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Yelp lists about  five or so reviews on his place.

A loyal client of Body Restoration arrived for her appointment and told us she would like to use the Eversave coupon we are running. She took out her phone and showed me the panel where the promotion is listed. I had to reassure her three times that it was not our promotion. She seemed completely blind sided, disappointed and in disbelief.

When purchasing (from these deal sites) spa treatments at rock bottom prices, please remember:  if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

There is only one Body Restoration Spa in Philadelphia. Any like-sounding spa names in center city, Philadelphia are meant to confuse the public into purchasing deals.

When a caller asks this, my instincts are usually correct. They are looking for an erotic massage and want to make sure that we provide that before they make their appointment. Without making any assumption, I go into the commercial and explain that we massage hands, feet, back, legs, arms, face and scalp. Then they probe deeper. “Y’all massage d****?” They cannot believe that for $80, a 1-hour massage will not include a happy ending. If I had trusted my instincts, I would have replied, “We offer non-sexual therapeutic massage” in the first place.

As a spa, we need to set boundaries. Screening callers and informing them they need to complete the medical form or Client Profile as we like to call it should give the caller a hint that this is not a place for adult entertainment.

“What kind of massage do you do?” Once again, I cut to the chase with my usual reply, “Non-sexual therapeutic massage for women and men.” The caller, who sounded like a middle-aged male, responds, “That’s exactly what I was looking for.” He quickly ends the call. His feathers are obviously ruffled by my response. If he were a regular massage goer, he would have asked for a 1-hour massage for specific reasons, i.e. relaxation, pain relief.

Body Restoration Spa is located on a third floor and clients are buzzed in. Spas are safer on a second or third floor without the riff raff that may wander up from the street. We make every effort to attract and maintain a clientele looking for a place to unwind and heal.