Your guide to finding the best Brazilian wax training
“I never learned how to do a Brazilian in school.”
When I was in school, the only Brazilian training we had was watching a video. We weren’t allowed to practice them on each other or clients, which is probably a good thing. I can see now how unleashing a bunch of untrained students on the unsuspecting private parts of strangers might not be the best idea. But at the time I felt slighted, like I wasn’t learning everything I was supposed to learn to do what I wanted to do.
I learned later that I wasn’t alone. 99 percent of licensed professionals never learned to do the Brazilian in school. And, contrary to popular belief, it’s not the school’s job to train us to perform a Brazilian at all. The school’s job is to teach us the information we need to pass our state licensing exams that will allow us to perform the Brazilian if we so choose. Getting the advanced education needed to execute the Brazilian properly is all on us.
The Brazilian is by far the most intimidating of all waxing services. And with good reason, because there are so many things that can go horribly wrong if you are not properly trained. Almost all of the horror stories you’ve heard of skin bruising, lifting and tearing, or of clients going home covered in wax because the technician couldn’t remove it happened because that person was not properly trained.
“If Brazilian waxing is your goal, then advanced education is needed.”
Some waxing services are just harder to do than others and therefore require more advanced training. A back wax, for example, has a lower degree of difficulty. The back is a flat surface with hair growth patterns that are easy to see, so it plays well to the basic skills we learned in school, which were “apply the wax in the direction of the hair growth and remove against it.” Just about anyone could pick up a waxing stick and perform a successful back wax with very little training.
The Brazilian on the other hand has twists, turns, loose skin, cavernous areas and hair that grows every which-a-way. It’s a higher degree of difficulty requiring a skill set above and beyond the basic techniques learned in school. Proper training and education in the art of the Brazilian will increase your skill, technique and confidence, along with your ability to analyze the skin to determine when to wax and when not to wax. Performing a proper skin analysis is key to preventing undesirable side effects.
LET’S TALK TRAINING
If Brazilian waxing is your goal, then advanced education is needed. Modern technology is a wonderful thing. There are ways to learn just about anything from the palm of your hand. As you surf, search and binge watch, when looking for education and training keep these things in mind.
1. Just because someone can perform a Brazilian doesn’t mean they can teach you how to do it. Knowing how to do it and teaching others require two totally different skill sets. Someone may be great at performing the service, but lack the communication skills necessary to train another person.
An experienced educator;
• knows how to communicate verbally and visually so the student can easily understand and repeat the instruction.
• is able to adjust his or her training and communication style to suit each students individual learning style.
• provides constructive feedback and technique adjustments allowing the student to feel a sense of accomplishment and confidence.
2. Just because your friend taught herself the Brazilian by watching a YouTube video doesn’t mean you should. There may be some valid videos out there, but you have to go through a lot to get to them. Your time is more valuable than that. When there are videos where people are double dipping, not wearing gloves, and not holding the skin taut it speaks to their credibility as an educator. If you learn from an experienced educator from the start, you can hit the ground running with all of the right skills and none of the bad habits.
3. You can’t learn to do a Brazilian in five minutes. An all too common post on social media begins, “Help I have a Brazilian in 15 minutes and I’ve never done one before, how do I do it”? The answer is always, “You don’t. Refer them to someone who does Brazilians then get yourself trained to do them properly”. You can’t talk someone through a Brazilian and have it be successful. The only sure thing in this scenario is that someone will go home crying.
4. Do your research. Advanced education is an investment, so do your research. Look for an educator with a proven track record. One who has developed and implemented a training formula that gets results. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, and make sure the answers make sense and speak to what they can do to help you with your specific waxing goals. Check out their social media reviews and ask other Estheticians for referrals.
5. Know your learning style to choose the best training option. Do you feel you learn best by watching, listening or doing?
If you learn best by watching, you may benefit from videos, online training or live demonstration workshops. These formats allow you to see each step clearly, so that you can duplicate it and put it all together at your own pace.
If you learn best by listening, video or online courses may the option for you as they allow the opportunity to replay the lessons over and over so that you can listen to the instruction as many times as you need in order to formulate your plan of attack.
If you learn best by doing, private or group hands-on training would be a great option. These types of classes offer the opportunity to get your hands dirty and perform the Brazilian on live models. The greatest benefit of hands-on training is that you get real time feedback to improve your technique in the moment. This helps to ingrain the correction in your muscle memory. There’s nothing like immediate feedback and correction to speed up the learning curve.
6. You get what you pay for. If you want the best training, it may come at a higher price. In general, the more one on one attention and alone time you want with the educator, the higher the fee. Most educators will offer several ways to work with them (Private training, online training, group classes, videos etc.), so you can choose the option that fits for both your needs and your budget.
It might help to know that everyone that performs the Brazilian is scared out of their wits the first dozen or so times they do it. It’s definitely not for everyone. But, if the only reason you’re not doing them is because of fear and lack of confidence, that can be addressed and corrected. When you know how to properly apply and remove the wax to provide the cleanest and most comfortable waxing experience, while inflicting the least amount of pain it’s a powerful feeling. When you have the formula for executing an awesome hair removal service time after time, there’s no need to worry. It is possible to get over the fear and build the Brazilian business of your dreams, or at the very least not want to run and hide when you see a Brazilian on the books.
