Stripped Wax Bar removes hair down there for the Underwear Affair

To coincide with the Underwear Affair on Saturday (July 9) and to celebrate its one-year anniversary, Stripped Wax Bar (1226 Hamilton Street) is having a waxathon today (July 8) from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The waxathon will donate 50 percent of services to the B.C. Cancer Foundation event, which is fundraising to combat ovarian, prostate, and colorectal cancer.

"We wanted to throw an event where we can give back to the community, and so when we were researching charities, we thought the Underwear Affair was the perfect charity because the majority of our business is Brazilian waxing and we do a lot of Manzilian waxings as well," Stripped owner Susan Vu told the Straight by phone today. "The Underwear Affair focuses on cancers below the waist, and so we thought it would be really fun for us to wax below the waist for cancers below the waist."

Waxing below the waist means Brazilians (completely removing the hair from female nether regions) and Manzilians (the Brazilian wax for males), which might yield the reaction (as it did here at the Georgia Straight office), "Wait, guys get waxed down there?"

"It's getting a lot more popular," Vu assures, who says that about 10 percent of Stripped's clientele are men. "I think it wasn't as popular before because there wasn't a lot of salons that did that service and it wasn't really marketed out, so we're finding the clients who are coming to us, they are happy that they actually found a place that services them."

A Manzilian wax rings in at $60, while Stripped's Brazilian service is $35. The price difference, Vu says, has to do with esthetician experience. "There's not a lot of estheticians who know how to do that service, it's a little bit trickier and it takes a little bit longer as well."

Stripped Wax Bar doesn't just focus on removing hair from down there—although that is their specialty. Their trained staff help clients get rid of unwanted hair all over the body. They've also offer some "fun" services, such as vajazzling, to keep the mood light.

"It's basically just little [Swarovski] crystals that are applied to your [freshly waxed] area for a little nice surprise down there," Vu, who learned about the art of vajazzling in New York, explained. "They come in various shapes, like you can get hearts, lips, bowties, anchors. They last about four to five days, and the cost of getting that applied is $30."

Those who want to get vajazzled will need to get a Brazilian first. While appointments are recommended, Vu says that walk-ins are welcome during the waxathon as well.

"We're fully staffed and we're just taking people in for Brazilians and Manzilians all day long," Vu says. "We've got a lemonade stand going, so it's just a fun feel down here."

You can follow Michelle da Silva on Twitter at twitter.com/michdas.