Clients come to your salon expecting a certain experience. Whether you only provide waxing services or provide multiple services including wax, your waxing clients have specific expectations for their appointment. While every esthetician hopes to meet and surpass expectations, we’re all humans who make mistakes. Some mistakes are avoidable though. Keep reading to learn about the four common mistakes to avoid with professional wax.

1. Failing To Communicate

Perhaps the most essential part of the waxing experience is communication. You need to communicate with your client before, during, and after the wax appointment. Beforehand, you must tell them how to prepare for their appointment. Remind them not to shave for the weeks leading up to the appointment and to come with clean skin and loose clothing. Even if they have experience with waxing, it’s for their safety and yours that you communicate pre-waxing procedures before their first appointment with you. If they’ve never gotten waxed before, then this communication is doubly important.

During the appointment, whether it’s their first ever wax or just their first wax with you, you need to communicate with them. As a profession, you probably feel that all wax and waxing appointments are pretty much the same, but this is still a new experience to them. Tell them where you’re putting the wax, how long it will be on, and where you’re moving next. This will help them stay comfortable throughout the appointment.

Afterward, remind clients that they need to wear loose clothing, avoid sweaty activities and water, and exfoliate in the next few days. Write these directions down so they don’t have to keep track of everything. Even if they say they know what they’re doing and are experienced with wax, these reminders are important since it will protect their skin and help them turn into repeat customers.

2. Forgetting To Care for Yourself

You’re probably thinking that this article is supposed to be about professional wax. What on earth does taking care of yourself have to do with it? Well, you’re the one administering the wax, so caring for yourself is an important part of the waxing process.

Firstly, you need to remember how to drink coffee before waxing appointments. Experienced estheticians often think that this doesn’t matter since they’re used to the caffeine and their procedures for the day, but caffeine can cause slight jitters and shakes even after years of consumption. The last thing you want to do is tremor and apply wax in the wrong place on a client, causing them unnecessary pain.

You also need to remember to move as ergonomically as possible. Waxing appointments will require you to bend, twist, and stand in awkward positions. If you have back-to-back appointments, you can end your day in a considerable amount of pain. Pain can make you make mistakes, like leaving wax on too long or applying it in the wrong place, which no one wants. Focus on your posture and try to find comfortable angles to work from so that you can protect yourself and your client from disaster.

3. Waxing in the Wrong Direction

All careers have basic knowledge. There is a correct way to apply and remove wax. But if you’re a new esthetician, you can still get confused and accidentally wax in the wrong direction.

Remember to always apply wax in the direction of the hair growth and remove it in the opposite direction. This is best policy for hard wax, soft wax, and other forms of hair removal like sugaring paste. While you may find it difficult to discern the direction of hair growth in certain areas, especially around the bikini line, taking time to figure out the direction and apply the wax appropriately will make the waxing experience better for you and your client. If you’re unsure which direction their hair grows, ask your client. It’s their body, and they’ll prefer that you ask questions than make assumptions and end up making a mistake.

If you still end up waxing in the wrong direction, you may have to go over the area again. You also may have problems with hard wax breaking since you’re pulling it in the opposite direction that you’re supposed to pull from. Most likely, you’ll have to reapply wax to the area, which may cause some irritation for your client. Therefore, it’s important to know the hair direction before applying wax.

4. Forgoing Proper Technique

After you’ve worked as an esthetician for a while, you’ve probably developed your own way of doing things. While your personal work style should accommodate proper technique, some professionals start to slip and perform their job however they want as long as they get the desired results. Results are important, but following proper technique is also important.

Two proper techniques you must understand no matter your experience level are to use both hands and to pull quickly. Experienced estheticians may think they can pull wax off with just one hand, but if you don’t use the other hand to hold the skin, then your client can end up in more pain than necessary. You also run the risk of the hard wax breaking off in your hand before you’ve fully removed it. Using both hands will help you avoid these problems.

You also need to remember to pull with the right amount of speed. New clients may ask you to remove the wax slowly. If you’ve done a lot of waxing in a day, you may feel tempted to pull it off a little slower than normal to save your wrist and arm. But removing the wax quickly helps pull the hair out more efficiently and saves your client pain, just like ripping off a bandage. Failing to remove the wax quickly can leave some of the wax on the skin, which means you’ll have to remove it again.