Honeypot Wax Boutique Liberates Men from Body Hair!

Waxing has always been synonymous to the fairer sex. Compared to shaving - an archetypal method of body hair removal or depilation – waxing is considered safe, with no bleeding occur. 

Oftentimes, it prolongs the re-growth of hair, resulting finer and barely visible body hair. Of course, men do like their women to be smooth and glowing (read: hair-free) like the marble statues of ancient Greek goddesses.

Speaking of men, I believe many of us have either forgotten or unaware that during the ancient Greek and Roman times, men were literally hairless, with the exception of those locks on their heads. 

Yet, as time changed, men began to abandon depilation in favour of hairy body, which many – especially women – deemed sexy and enticing. Of course, if you grew up or born in the 70s, you would have noticed that flaunting hairy chest was something fashionable to do back then — thanks to Tom Selleck and John Travolta!

Now that we are in the middle of a new millennium, it seems that having hairy body is more of bane than boon. Of course, there are still some women who prefer their men to look like beasts rather than normal homo sapiens, but the trend has changed. 

Many men have chosen to deforesting their body, especially gym buffs as their muscular pectorals look more prominent and shining like gilded armour without the presence of a single chest hair. Oh, what’s more, they – men magazines – even coined a term that sounds similar to the art of manicuring your garden and lawn: Manscaping. 

Albeit a relatively new trend in this part of the world, manscaping has been a part of grooming ritual performed by metrosexual men in Europe, North America and also in fashionable Asian cities like Hong Kong and Singapore. Manscaping can be done on any part of a man’s body. Even on the private parts!

Although it can be done DIY style using a normal shaver (as seen in Gillette’s interactive shaving video on Youtube, as well as another series by Nivea Men), waxing remains the best method to clear all of the unwanted hair from the body. 

What’s more, thanks to an invite from Honeypot Wax Boutique, a leading wax boutique in Singapore with branches in Jakarta, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, for the first time in my life, I finally got my first taste of manscaping.

Honestly, I was tad nervous at first, judging from the horrific stories of excruciating pain and tormenting screams I had seen on TV as long as I can remember. Nevertheless, the perception changed as I made my maiden entry into Honeypot Wax Boutique in 1 Utama - the only outlet in Malaysia that does male waxing service. 

Not only the ambience was classy, but the presence of luxurious chandelier hanging on the ceiling, as well as walls covered in signature damask leitmotif and the soothing music almost got me mistaken it for a manicure/pedicure salon or a spa. 

After filling in the form, I opted for underarms and back waxing treatments. Later, I was taken to one of the pink-hued private rooms, where all waxing sessions take place. Now, since I am only doing the upper body treatment, I took off my shirt and reclined on the bed with my both arms open wide. 

The therapist, Shima, immediately started the underarm waxing by cleansing the to-be-waxed areas, before applying warm, pink-coloured wax called Cherry Pie onto my left underarm.

Like its name, the wax smelled like real cherries. Being a professional and experienced waxing therapist, Shima asked me whether I had shaved my underarms in the past few days or weeks, I coyly admitted. 

According to Shima, shaving the underarms will cause ingrown hair to develop and at the same, darken the skin of the underarms. Therefore, it is best to pluck the hair rather than shaving it.

Three layers of wax were applied to my underarms and once they were set, she pulled them off without me, screaming out in gruelling pain. Alas, I was fooled by the tube. Waxing wasn’t as painful as what the movies depicted. 

In a whole, my underarms waxing and cleansing process took less than half an hour. Done with the underarms, I moved my body from front to the back for the second waxing treatment. 

For the back waxing, Shima uses white strips to strip the wax off. First, she cleansed my back thoroughly before applying the Cherry Pie hot wax. Prior to that, I asked Shima if I could doze off for a few minutes while she waxes my back and she had no qualms with it. 

Since my body hair was fine, the stinging sensation was subtle and barely felt. It took her more or less, about half an hour to wax my back. Trust me, when you’re dozing off with some hypnotic Brazilian music playing, what you have in mind is relax and sleep. You won’t even care if it hurts or not.

Aside from normal body part waxing, just like the ones I underwent, men can also have their privates and bikini lines (known as mankini) waxed. For those who like it clean and sexy, perhaps they can go for any one of these — crack, butt, mankini, the in-between, maximum Full Monty and PlayGal. There are also wax treatment for the facial area, as well as for the stomach, chest and shoulders, and even nipples. Ooh! 

I remember being told by Shima’s colleague that male customers can also choose to have their pubic hair waxed and shaped either as a landing strip or triangle. Too bad I have forgotten which treatment is that. Blame it on my head! 

The cost of a single treatment can start from as low as RM 20.00 for upper and lower lip (one fee at a time) and up to RM 168.00 for PlayGal. Unfortunately, there is no full body waxing service for men at the moment and male waxing sessions are only available on weekends – strictly by appointment. 

For more information and session reservation, call 603-77295598 (1 Utama outlet) or visit http://www.honeypotwaxboutique.com/. Hence, many thanks to Ms. Kalpana from Salina & Associates PR and Honeypot Wax Boutique for giving me a wonderful body waxing treatment.

*Photos courtesy of Honeypot Wax Boutique, malepubichairshaving.net (waxing man), dyannaspa.wordpress.com (abs profile) and planetskin.co.uk (chest front). Statue of David by Michaelangelo image courtesy of mysite.cherokee.k12.ga.us.

Honeypot Wax Boutique: S119B, 2^nd Floor, 1 Utama Shopping Centre, 1 Lebuh Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya; Lot S123, 2^nd Floor, Bangsar Shopping Centre, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur.