Let's face it: Any job that requires you to work with the public is emotionally taxing. To put it even simpler: It sucks.
Redditor dreamingofwealth––don't we all?––is responsible for today's burning question, which delves into another side of customer service jobs: "People who wax others for a living, what's the worst horror story you have of a client?"
"My nail teacher..."
My nail teacher told me this one:
A very large lady would ask for a Brazilian wax, which includes the butt crack. She already had strong body odour and when my teacher waxed the crack, the wax strip was caked in feces. She just about threw up on the client.
"She and her girlfriend..."
Not me, but this happened to a friend of mine. She and her girlfriend decided to get Brazilian waxes together. It was her first Brazilian wax, so she had no frame of reference for how much it was supposed to hurt. First strip, okay, few more, fine, then one more pull and MEGA PAIN. The waxer looked terrified, but then just smiled and just quickly made gestures for her to get dressed and come out front to pay (this happened in South Korea).
When she got home, she inspected the area, and the waxer had actually ripped her labia. She had to immediately go to hospital to get stitches to have it repaired. All my friend did was go back to the salon with her hospital bill and demand that they pay it and call the matter settled, which they did.
"I was a hairstylist..."
I was a hairstylist and we really only ever did facial waxing and offered to clients as an up-sell. A regular client of mine was traumatised by a prior waxing experience (with a stylist that was not my self years prior) and declined. Well, the stylist went to wax her brows and dropped a giant clump or of wax on her lashes! Then proceeded to take a long time to remove the wax (I think like an hour) with only water and no oil residue remover that would have made the wax side off instantly.
"Client story..."
Client story - went to a waxing studio I had never been to before and got a Brazilian done. The lady did this with bee wax (I think) which you just put on the skin, it dries quickly and you pull it off without a cloth/paper. You have to apply it at a certain thickness for it to work.
The lady begins and at first, everything is going well, she works her way to the "more private areas" but I can tell she works pretty hard (I have strong hair and this was after 2-3 months of growing). When she gets to the labia, the problems begin: she can't seem to rip the hair off.
Her solution is to apply more wax on top, but still no budging. More wax is applied and she starts slightly spreading it out too, so I am now covered in warm, thick wax almost everywhere, which feels a little like wearing a small harness.
I get a little scared and just hope that she knows what she's doing. She however chooses this moment to inform me that it's possible to rip off skin as well and to kind of scold me for having thick hair. Incredible people skills, so comforting. Luckily, she somehow managed to get it off. Never going back there though!
"I asked this question..."
I asked this very question to someone who was waxing me. Their worst is normally hygiene related, like a woman who'd clearly had sex at some point just before the appointment and hadn't cleaned out properly.
"Most stories..."
Most stories have to do with bad hygiene, some with clients attitudes or actions, and some will just be plain old problems getting the hair off. I haven't had a REALLY bad one in awhile, or maybe I just am not phased by it anymore.
A favorite of mine was the girl who came in for a brazilian and was shaking from nervousness before we even started. I'll spare you the details but it took over an hour to finish the service (usually takes 15-30 minutes, 45 is the MOST it should EVER take) and at some point she had a full on anxiety attack. I was being as gentle as I could considering I was ripping hair out of her body and after every pull she sat up, cried loudly, and then dropped back onto the bed. She got off the bed still half naked and started pacing back and forth loudly sobbing and hyperventilating.
I was trying my best to keep her calm but honestly, it was all in her head. Getting your hair ripped out always hurts but her hair SHOULD HAVE been an easy service, she let herself panic and the fear got to her. After she left I sat in the break room, took a deeeep breath in....and starting sobbing lol. I was so glad to be done with it. She was sweet otherwise, no smell, easy hair to work with, but God that was the most stressful service of my life. She actually came back a few more times after that and we finished in 20 minutes, no more incidents :).
"2 or 3..."
Giphy2 or 3 layers of skin came off with the hair, it was on a guys genitals and there was a lot of blood and yelling.
"A new client..."
A new client came in right after having sex, and leaked all. And she wanted me to finish the job, so cleaned herself right in front of me, completely nonchalantly! I couldn't look her in the eyes.
And another one, but service wasn't rendered. I was 18, working at my first salon, alone. It was this huge place in a really good area, but new so business was slow. This guy steps in, wearing a super nice suit, and asks for a back wax. I have him step into the wax room, ask him to remove his coat and shirt and lay down facing down. I go to grab some towels as extra precaution to lay over his butt so his pants aren't ruined. Come back to see him naked, and he's asking for a Brazilian wax.
Caught off guard, I just kind of stand there before realizing what a situation I'm in. I have no experience in that, and it's not a service we provide for men. I try to explain that to him and ask him to dress, and he tells me it's not a hard thing to learn, to practice on him. At this point I'm freaking out. I still have an advantage point of running out the front door as he's butt naked and we had two security guards for the plaza, but the situation kind of locks my legs together. I don't even remember how but he eventually listens and dresses and leaves. It kind of taught me about the risk of working alone in a building where I'd need to take clients into a room in the back. I made friends with the security guard that day and got his number in case I ever did need him to step in.
"In high school..."
In high school I had a friend who was smart but lazy. To get him motivated to get better grades, my friends & I made a bet: if he didn't meet a certain average then I'd get to wax his armpits. If I didn't make that same average, I'd have to do 50 push-ups on the cafeteria table.
He didn't make the average so I had a pool party at my house with my friends & him & we all gathered around to watch me wax his armpits. He was lying on his back on the family room ottoman & I was sitting beside him, leaning forward to do it all. We also recorded it on video. He spent the entire week hiding from his bigoted dad cause he was scared he'd get in trouble for having incredibly smooth armpits.
Fast forward to a few months after, when I had a school project that involved making a video. So I took the camera to my teacher to show it to her. This camera shows the history of most recent videos, so since the waxing video was the only video before my project, she saw the thumbnail of me leaning over my friend, lying on the ottoman, but you can't see what I'm doing with my hands....after freezing & seeing the confusion on her face I tried to quickly explain "myfriendlostabetsoihadtowaxhisarmpits." I stuttered & struggled a lot with that.
I don't think she believed me. That little thumbnail honestly looked like the intro to very bad amateur porn. I still got an A on my project though. I also never had to do push-ups in the cafeteria.
"A waxer..."
A waxer once told me that she had 'accidentally' waxed a girls tampon straight out. The string must have got caught in the wax. Neither of them said anything for the next 30 mins.
"Frequently..."
Not a waxer, but an eyelash technician. One time I had a client come in with crabs in her eyelashes which was obviously the worst thing I've ever seen. Frequently people come in for fills and haven't bothered to clean their eyes for 3 weeks thinking it will make the extensions stay on longer resulting in a nice layer of yellow crusties all along the lash line.
"My sister..."
My sister was an esthetician and refused to do 'LAs' (lips and @ssholes) because of issues with people's hygiene and how gross it could be. Her co-workers gladly did them though (better tippers, in general, when you're waxing their @sshole and don't hurt them too bad lol).
Sometimes people come in and their super sweaty, and it's hard for the wax to stick to sweaty skin, so, usually, they just pat some baby powder on them and problem solved.
One day a younger woman came in; she was super sweaty, so the esthetician decides to haul out the baby powder, dabs some on and turned to get the pot of wax to do the job...I should mention the woman getting the wax was on all fours on the table, as they usually are. So, esthetician turns to get the wax, woman on the table lets out a fart. Just a little slip, but still, baby powder went everywhere, all over the table, all over the esthetician, and was hanging in the air.
I asked if the girl was embarrassed, and my sister said that apparently she just played it off like she didn't drop a bomb, but the baby powder evidence told the truth. Plus, it reeked. But the esthetician was a total pro and didn't even phase her...that would have been the end of my waxing career lol
"A regular client of mine..."
Not so much a funny one, but a bit of a story nonetheless.
A regular client of mine that I had been seeing for about half a year came in for her Brazilian wax. Everything is going fine as normal and then I get to the labia and as I'm spreading the wax I notice a golf-ball sized lump deep under her skin. I remove the wax and investigate a bit.. not an igrown hair, nothing surface related. I let her know and she tells me she'll see her doctor ASAP. I never saw her again. Still wonder if it something serious :(
On a funnier note, had a woman come in for a Brazilian who clearly hadn't done any maintenance in a LONG time. I remove the towel that's covering her ladybits for privacy while we enter and leave the room and I actually out loud said "whoah". Hair had to have been almost 4 inches long. Not my most professional moment. Client laughed though.
"I went to beauty school..."
I went to beauty school for massage therapy and was talking to an esthetic student during lunch one day. She said a guy had come in for a back wax looking like a shag carpet. Being that there was so much hair and surface area, it took quite a while. He one-upped every conversation with his Dungeons and Dragons game and even after the service was over, kept talking her to death about it, and didn't tip. He also moved and got a quarter-sized drop of wax on his arm and just left it there the whole time.
"We laugh about it..."
Client story - not as dreadful or gross as the others here but...I tried a new place that promised to do full Hollywoods in 15 mins.
I walked about 10 minutes to the salon on a freezing cold evening.
The girl slathers on the hot wax all over my front garden and starts to pick off the wax. Only she can't. She laughs nervously and says it's probably because my skin is ice cold still. After 10 minutes of humming to herself nervously, she calls in the manager, who calls in another beautician. I now have 3 women all working together on my lower region while my legs are akimbo and I'm panicking thinking I'll be the laughing stock of the A&E. Eventually the manager just fucking goes for it without warning and rips it off in one piece. I scream "OOH FUCK OFF" and everyone is suddenly feeling a mix of relief and upset. They are devastated how terribly it went, I'm devastated because the original girl is still upset. I assure them they didn't rip off my labia and henceforth would not be leaving a bad review on Google. We laugh about it afterwards though. They gave me a complimentary treatment which went well and I've been a regular since.
"I'm a cosmetologist..."
I'm a cosmetologist so I am trained in waxing, but this happened to my instructor during school, not to me - although I was watching her demonstrate.
A woman came in for a Brazilian wax but was a little "unprepared". She said she'd just had sex with her husband right before her appointment and hadn't cleaned up afterward, so there was some...residue and some pretty gross smells going on. My teacher cleaned her up and began the wax, and suddenly the woman started moaning. She asked if she was okay or needed to stop the wax, but the gal said to keep going. Obviously she was getting off on it and with every tug of the wax strip, her moaning got louder and louder until she finally climaxed. My poor teacher was obviously horrified and just did what she could to get that woman of there as fast as possible. It was a ridiculously uncomfortable situation and to be honest, I would have told the client to leave if I had the courage to speak up. Totally weird and not appropriate.
"It was made even worse..."
Not an esthetician, but a client. I got a manzilian wax once and accidentally "leaked" a tiny bit of semen during the wax. I was horrified and it wasn't even my first time. I wasn't aroused or anything and it just happened. I apologized profusely and she said it was fine and that she'd give me a towel and step out the room to clean up. It was made even worse because I had just minutes before asked her about her horror stories. Now I'm hoping I'm not one of hers.
"It is not uncommon..."
It is not uncommon for clients to have dingleberries when coming in for Brazilians.
My personal story is a client who had WHITE blonde eyebrows. These things were impossible to see, and there was a LOT of eyebrow hair. She said she loved my brows and wanted hers like mine. I laid her down on the table (also note: she had foils in her hair as she was getting her hair done) and I get to work. I am a new esthetician and so I'm slower with my waxes. I am trying to be meticulous with my shaping and at one point I could feel my armpits get spicy and I think to myself "I can't fucking do this." I finished one brow before she had to have her hair rinsed out and another stylist finished her other brow. I am still ashamed.
Redditor Just_Pizzy wanted everyone to share about the places to avoid when traveling, so they asked:
"What city is extremely overrated in your opinion?"
In my travels I've been very satisfied.
But tell me where to avoid.
Ouch
will smith miami GIF by RomyGiphy"Miami. A city of narcissists and attention wh*res."
_kevx_91
"I swear Miami Beach is the poser capital of the world!"
Cetophile
Value
"Scottsdale, AZ would be a close 2nd."
TWOCHOPPAS
"I’m visiting here right now, and am seriously wondering why I’m here. If I want high end, there are a million ritzy suburbs that do it better. Scottsdale is a ton of neighborhoods that all want to claim the Scottsdale name to increase the real estate values."
"But only 5% of it is actually high end Scottsdale. The whole Phoenix metro area seems like one long expanse of concrete and chain stores. The only reason I can see that Pheonix has so many urban hikes is that the rest of the city is completely unwalkable. What am I missing?"
Seachica
What is This?
"Nothing personal, but Dubai. And I'm not a city designer, but I don't think you call it a 'downtown' when there's a 12-lane highway cutting through a bunch of skyscraper walls and that's it."
GreatNameLOL69
"This city is so stupid. Instead of creating the palm island, they could have dug into the land, it still would have looked amazing, except much easier to build."
"They started from scratch with unlimited money, they could have made an awesome city with Arabic style and culture, something different. Instead they took the worse cities (from the US) as an example, and built something stupid."
Arvi89
But it has Luck...
"Dublin is a complete tourist trap. I am Irish and I see people coming to Ireland expecting the full Irish experience in Dublin, when really all the good stuff is outside the capital spread out all across the country. They head up to Temple Bar for the Irish pub experience and pay 3-4 times more for drinks than anywhere else in the country."
"The city itself is a product of British occupation, same style of city you will find up and down England with Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian architecture along with generic modern design. Look, there are historic places and nice places to eat but nothing out of the ordinary."
"If you want to see the real Ireland go to the countryside, the unique landscapes of the ring of Kerry, the Clare Burren and cliffs of Moher, the Connemara and donegal mountainous areas along with tonnes off historical locations all across the country. If you want an Irish city experience go to Galway instead."
Historical_Line7109
Not the Happy Place
mickey mouse vintage GIFGiphy"I don't know if anyone but children and retirees actually like this city, but lawd I hate Orlando."
notafanofwasps
"My best friend moved from Seattle to Orlando for financial reasons. His parents live in Orlando and had to move in with them. A year later they said f**k this and moved back. Drove cross country both times."
SubduedChaos
Orlando isn't that bad. I've had fun.
Bad Queen
Muriels Wedding GIF by Sundance NowGiphy"Gold Coast, Queensland. It tries to be Australia's Miami, but really, it's a tacky over-developed sh**hole."
otherpeoplesknees
"It is really bad, I loved every place I went to in Australia but the Gold coast was terrible. Reminded me of the cities in Spain where PPL only go to to get drunk at the beach (Ballermann in Palma, Benidrom, Lloret….)"
trbo91
“trendy”
"Not a fan of the 'trendy' cities like Charlotte or Nashville. A lot of younger people my age are moving there and they act like going to a mediocre brewery and spending $30 on a craft beer and tiny cut of brisket is some type of unique southern cultural experience."
"Not to mention the cities are now barely affordable for the people actually from there and every other block is full of those cookie-cutter gentrified apartments that just look bland as hell. Both cities have some cool parts to them but to me they just aren’t as special as people make them seem."
yinzerthrowaway412
Sounds with Problems
"The worst city I’ve ever been to is Oklahoma City, which is rated appropriately. No complaints on the current rating."
Shut--Up--Bird
"I have traveled to Oklahoma City a good number of times over the past six years, usually for a couple of weeks at any given time."
"Some areas of the city are okay, and I was pleasantly shocked upon the sight of a functioning streetcar service downtown. That being said, parts of OKC and its suburbs are so miserable that I almost convinced myself that Grand Theft Auto had become real life."
wheresaldopa
Off Tune
"Nashville. It’s a bunch of honky tonks and bachelorettes. It’s just a big party town now. I might be salty because I live here and remember old Nashville that was quiet and civilized, where locals could enjoy going downtown and we still had Opryland instead of a giant mall."
iwishiwereonabeach
Bad Falls
hanna barbera animation GIF by Boomerang OfficialGiphy"Niagara Falls. Even if it’s poorly rated, that rating is still too high."
vanityfear
"It’s pretty cool to see once though. The area is just meh."
SparklyRoniPony
Go to Wendy's
"Vegas."
Calm-Associate-214
"I used to go there every summer for tech conferences. I always use the analogy that Vegas is a lot like KFC. It’s gross, greasy, and messy, and you wonder what possessed you to go there in the first place. 6 months later, for some inexplicable reason, you get the urge to go again. You remember what it was like the last time, but somehow you’re still drawn to it."
Ikarian
So many places in the world... NOT to go!
What destinations should we strike from our bucket list? Let us know in the comments below.
Redditor st_new34 wanted to hear about all the things men can learn from women, so they asked:
"What's a women's thing men should absolutely start doing?"
I'm interested in this list.
Aren't most things unisex now?
Smooth Surface
Silence Of The Lambs Skin GIF by Death Wish CoffeeGiphy"As a former cook and current welder; hand lotioning."
meatlazer720
"My dad refused to use hand lotion for a while and he kept getting big cracks in his knuckles. The cold would destroy his skin. He would only put lotion on when it was basically bleeding, by which point it can’t really do much help."
PM_CACTUS_PICS
Get Checked
"Getting checked out by a specialist. There’s a reason colon cancer has a higher mortality rate among men when it’s actually one of the most preventable cancers. The thought of having a colonoscopy done makes them squirm."
Color_Wasted
"In the US you can also arrange for a Cologuard screening, where you literally just mail in your poop and get tested for certain colon cancers. It shouldn't replace regularly scheduled colonoscopies, but it can be done between them."
Puzzleworth
"Problem with cologuard is screening is 100% covered. If it the cologuard positive, you have to get a diagnostic colonoscopy which is subject to deductibles and copays. If you go with a screening colonoscopy in the first place you pay nothing."
skidoo1033
Basics
"Sewing. Sewing is awesome. I learned basic sewing to make some bow ties for my wedding and it's an extremely rewarding skill that allows you to repair clothes, save money, and it's superb meditation."
DeepStatic
"Not only repairing clothes, but basic tailoring. I learned how to do it on YouTube and it’s a game changer as a guy with broad shoulders that make every shirt fit like a trash bag."
TheFunkyMonk
Work Comfort
"Putting a blanket on your lap while you work. It's life changing."
13inchmushroommaker
"A few days ago my wife brought a whole a** double duvet into the living room because it’s winter now. I thought she was mad but it’s cozy as s**t, I’ve got the dog under here."
magicalmysteryharold
"In my house we have an assortment of couch blankets. You really need more than one because you'll want to have one on the couch while the other is in the wash."
sleepydorian
Snazzy
Looking Good Feeling Myself GIF by CBSGiphy"Complimenting each other."
DEADINSIDE1880
"I do this with my co workers. 'Looking sharp today Phil' is all it takes to make a day."
cognitiveglitch
I love a good compliment.
Stretch
adam levine yoga GIFGiphy"Yoga, especially as you get older, wish I had started sooner."
needsmoreprotein
Pampered
"My husband never really did pedicures before we met and the fist time I did one for him he was in love with it. I used a scraper to get the dead skin off his heels (he calls them hooves haha) and he was horrified how much came off. He’ll even inspect my work now and say 'this toenail is a little jagged do want me to look a mess??' He likes being pampered and I’m happy to do it for him!"
Effective-Ad7068
Feels so Good
"I was trying on jeans for work the other day and I found this magical material that stretches but looks like denim. I was gushing over them and my wife laughed and said a lot of women’s jeans use that material and a lot of hers are the same. Men should discover these jeans!"
"Edit: A lot of responses are about the inferior quality. Fair enough but I work retail and am constantly squatting to fill shelves etc so I’ll take comfort over durability any day. Especially when I’ve got a bit of an a** on me, customers don’t need to be walking around the corner and catching a plumber’s crack unexpectedly!"
corny16
Feel It
"I work in a kitchen full of men and it's quite sad to listen to them tell each other that they can't cry. Or that they are not supposed to do so. I don't know who came up with this but I fight that 'concept' every chance I get. As a result, most of them feel safe to share their emotions with me. Even crying."
sem-fe
LOUDER!!
meg ryan love GIF by HULUGiphy"Make noise during sex. Not even dirty talk, any words of encouragement would be enough."
jennicarrz
Well, that is a lot to process.
Men... take notes and start breaking some of these 'norms.'
Do you have anything to add? Let us know in the comments below.
Curious to hear what some of these examples could be, Redditor DrDecane asked:
"What's the smallest thing that made someone unattractive for you?"
These Redditors found it challenging trying to make awkward romantic situations work.
The Silent Partner
"I once went on a date with a man who literally only spoke when responding to a question, answered as briefly and evasively as possible, and offered no reciprocating questions or remarks."
"At the end of a 45 minute struggle when we parted ways, while I was still trying to figure out why a person with such crippling social anxiety would subject himself to an interaction so far outside his ability to handle, he asked if we could see each other again sometime."
– willingisnotenough
Bad Taste
"They were a bad cook. They didn’t use SEASONINGS! It’s not an allergy thing either. They made good money too it’s not a poverty thing. Literally they liked plain chicken breast no seasonings and dry as bone. He made me a 'taco' that consisted of only unseasoned hamburger in a plain ( not even warm) taco shell 🌮. No salsa , no cheese, no cilantro.. greasy meat in a room temp shell."
"I’m not cooking 3 meals a day for 2 people for the rest of my life and I sure as sh*t ain’t eating his satanic creations."
– Winter-Ad1853
Annoying Catchphrase
"I dated a girl that had a catch phrase. I think she uses Reddit and the catch phrase is very distinct so on the off chance she sees this I won’t say it. It didn’t make a lot of sense, think if someone were to say 'If you’re there, then you’ve made it!'”
"Except she would say it in response to all sorts of random situations where it wasn’t at all appropriate. Whenever someone complimented her or me, if you talked about plans you had. Just randomly tossing it out on conversations."
"It became a turn off so quickly because I just could not wrap my head around why she said it so often. I got sick of hearing it from her. Legitimately one of the biggest reasons we broke up."
– validusrex
Some dates are just unkisseable.
Gross Deposits
"White stuff in the mouth corners."
– gardenomette
Exaggerated Masticating
"Went to dinner, they started chewing kinda loud with their mouth open. I have misophonia, so it's probably even worse for me when someone does that. Immediate no."
– Erenalianon
The Sloppy Friend
"My husband’s best friend can’t eat without getting food all over his face and making gross noises while chewing. He also is a SUPER loud drunk. And walks out of the bathroom and back to the conversation while still simultaneously zipping/buttoning his jeans and buckling his belt."
"Really sweet, funny guy and a wonderful friend to both of us. But I cannot even imagine dating him. It would probably end in murder."
– meegcabre
Food Flinger
"Jesus, I dated a guy who ate like a bird...there was food EVERYWHERE by the time the meal was done. Flinging it around somehow without me actually seeing him do it. A sneaky flinger. Picture a parakeet beak deep in a food tray filled with seeds. Just chucking the seeds. Dig, eat, fling, nope, don't like that one bite, fling over the shoulder..."
"Dude cringed when I brought out a beach towel and put it on my new couch before we started eating dinner. As I was spreading the towel, I looked him dead in the eyes and declared, 'if you damage my new, $2,500 couch, you are dead.'"
– 37-pieces-of-flair
Unsolicited texts and photos aren't always the way into one's heart.
Not The Way To Start The Morning
"He sent me selfies every morning with his good morning text."
– Witch_on_a_moped
Now What?
"Yesssssss. So awkward. Like, am I supposed to send one back? Every day?"
"We hadn’t even met in person yet."
– LeotiaBlood
It took a vacation for these Redditors to realize they were not with the kind of people they'd want to ever share a life with.
Realization During A Vacation
"On a trip to the islands. HE WAS STEALING BATHROOM TOWELS and putting all the sugar and tea packets into his bag. He was telling me to hurry and stock up as well😐 I asked him if he really planned to steal 'thousands of a** towels..' he stopped packing. This was an eye opener to me. I was turned off and we are no longer together.😎"
– Law_Yer7
Demeaning The Workers
"They went from an 11/10 to a 0/10 because they decided to berate and belittle the people who were helping us with our luggage as we got on and started our boat cruise. The rest of the trip was awkward af"
– WorstLuckChuck
At the risk of sounding shallow, years ago I briefly dated a tennis player whose winsome personality won my heart.
However, I noticed something really peculiar about him. Every time we were out walking, I noticed he had the tendency of leaning into me whenever I was on his left side while walking in tandem.
When I casually asked him about his frequent need for getting awkwardly close, he explained that his gait was affected by a condition that left him with one leg shorter than the other.
After we completed that day's rendezvous together, I subsequently ghosted him.
Okay, I fully admit my shallowness in that situation.
I'm not proud of it.
