Wax On......Wax Off!

I've been playing around with the idea of going for a wax for a while now. The only thing that was  thus far stopping me were the tales of immeasurable pain from wax survivors. I'm pretty sure if you walk through a cemetery you will happen upon one or two headstones with the following words on them:

Here lies John Simmons

 He thought he could survive a wax session

He was wrong

So naturally the idea of willingly submitting to torture made me wonder about booking a session. The premise seems right out of a horror movie; boiling hot wax slathered on the skin then left to cool slightly before being ripped off, taking hair and possibly skin right with it! Who the hell thought that this was a good idea for hair removal?! Some medieval torture master in a castle dungeon somewhere?! 

But then I heard from a few friends (who were possibly high on some sort of prescription medicine) that waxing is not that painful. And when a friend who owns a salon asked if I would volunteer for a session, I finally agreed. So we booked a session to remove some unwanted fluff from my back. Thankfully I do not fall into the gorilla category, so there wasn't too much hair to remove. But still I was quietly worried that I would make a complete fool of myself!

As I lay down on the bed I was getting extremely nervous! Especially when the wax was applied using a special roller. Then the paper strip that would be the forerunner to my suffering was applied to the wax. Visions of nuclear explosions, limbs being torn from bodies, Justin Bieber's latest album all flashed through my mind. I was about to experience all the suffering in the world! I would understand what it was like in a Vietnamese prison! With a quick yank the strip came off and.........I was slightly puzzled. I was expecting it to feel like someone had just poured lava onto my back, but no, while it did sting, it was not that bad. Maybe it was just a fluke, I thought to myself. Maybe the next one would cause me to pee myself and run away crying like a little girl. Another yank, some more stinging, but nothing that I would consider cruel and unusual. Yes, the intensity of the stinging varied depending on where on my back I was being waxed, but I still wondered why some guys turned into weeping fountains during waxing.

After the session was done and some soothing cream was applied, the redness quickly faded and my back was not all that sensitive. I do credit my friend's skill for most of this. But I also kept wondering what the fuss was about. Especially after chatting to a few guys who firmly stated that they would never submit themselves to this particular form of torture. Maybe I was just lucky, or maybe waxing isn't really that bad. We'll find out when I go back for my second session.........legs!