Waxing The City

I've been a frequent client of Waxing the City, having visited their locations in Denver, San Antonio, and Dallas. While my previous visits were always pleasing, opting for the Brazilian wax, my most recent appointment in Dallas around August 2025 was by far the most distressing, painful, and retaliatory experience I've ever had at any waxing studio.

Upon arrival, the front desk staff greeted me with an air of coldness and condescension. Their demeanor felt dismissive and unwelcoming. Once I was escorted to the treatment room, I immediately noticed a change in the color of the wax being used. Typically, Waxing the City uses a darker, thicker wax suitable for Brazilian services.

This time, however, the wax was pink, a softer, lighter color generally intended for less sensitive areas like legs, underarms, or facial waxing. (The color and consistency of wax play a big part, especially for intimate services). I undressed and positioned myself for a full Brazilian wax (including front and inner backside). I'm no stranger to this service and know what to expect.

However, the esthetician barely communicated with me and seemed rushed. While she didn't taut my skin for a painless removal of hair, the pain was unbearable. Her technique felt aggressive and careless, and I had to stop the session midway due to the intensity of discomfort. When I expressed that I couldn't continue, she made a remark that implied relief, almost as if she was glad she didn't have to finish.

I had brought a friend with me to take advantage of their referral promotion, which promised $20 off and a spin-the-wheel prize if I spent $40 or more on aftercare products. I paid $65 for my friend's Brazilian wax. Not only that, but I was charged $85 for a modified wax that included a landing strip; it was essentially a basic bikini wax. Additionally, I was charged $25 for inner buttocks hair removal, though I don't recall the exact service name.

After our waxes, I purchased $40 worth of ingrown hair serum and exfoliating scrub for both my friend and I for aftercare. Despite the promotion signage, I was only allowed to spin the wheel once. I won an eye gel product, which I was told I could collect at my next appointment along with the $20 referral discount. Unfortunately, both my friend and I experienced significant post-wax trauma.

She was visibly pink and welted, while I was swollen, red, and in pain for days. Wearing underwear or pants was unbearable, and I walked like I had been riding a horse (bow-legged) for nearly a week to avoid friction.

To make matters worse, a week before my scheduled follow-up appointment, where I was supposed to receive my promotional items and discount, I discovered that Waxing the City had intentionally canceled my appointment without notice. This felt retaliatory and deeply unprofessional.

I'd been visiting the Waxing the City Ballard salon since early 2022 and had been seeing cerologist Alexa Mock (also assistant manager for this salon), for my waxing needs for nearly that entire time. My experience had been largely pleasant and it had been a fun experience for me to chat up with Alexa during our sessions and she did ensure a smooth service.

Accordingly, I had tipped her towards the end of each service and would set up each of my follow-up visits with her.

However, when I went in for my waxing session in the month of May 2023, Alexa went ahead and passed a couple of rude, insensitive comments regarding the appearance and health of my skin just out of the blue. One second, we were having a regular chat regarding how the week had been for each of us and in the very next, she began complaining loudly about the texture and overall health of my skin and started giving suggestions as to how it needed to be taken care of instead. All this while, I was trying to politely let her know that I was taking as much care as possible of my skin after consultation with my dermatologist - but she simply paid no heed. Her tirade continued for another 15 mins, well until the end of our session and was simply below the belt, insensitive and frankly stank of body shaming.

I left the session very disturbed and was unsure of who to reach out to, to report my experience. Nevertheless, I did my due diligence and consulted with more than one dermatologist. I was barely surprised when they asked me to continue my present routine and did not welcome any of the suggestions that Alexa had recommended with regards to my skin care needs.

Since I already had an appointment scheduled for the month of June I did come in for it and was hoping that my traumatizing experience from earlier was a one-off and would not recur. To my shock she greeted me in the same rude manner, leaving me with no inclination to pursue any conversation with her - so as to avoid any repetition of the same unpleasant experience as before.

Needless to say, I did not consider it apt to leave any tips behind on both those occasions just owing to the poor quality of service meted out by Alexa Mock.

What I found even more disgraceful was to receive an email from the salon some days back, explicitly demanding tips for a session or requesting me to seek service elsewhere.

This is without first enquiring as to what actually transpired with the customer and that caused them to behave in a certain manner. It is simply reprehensible and speaks to the poor quality of customer service both meted out from this particular salon in regards to the training provided to the cerologists on their payroll and the aftercare they claim to provide.

Trained aestheticians should know better than to provide flippant remarks regarding a client's healthcare needs and should know when to rein it in.