At Groom, his men-only salon on Castro Street, Caesar Jimenez offers facials, skin treatments and hair removal.
Sometimes he uses barber's clippers, but most of the time he waxes. It could be backs, brows, legs, hands, nostrils, ears or elbows - just about anywhere hair grows. He also does the "Brazilian"- sometimes called the "Manzilian" - which involves waxing the groin area.
Jimenez, 39, grew up in San Carlos and Redwood City. He lives near the Civic Center with his partner of 10 years, Tony Kushmaul.
"Does it hurt?" is everyone's biggest concern with waxing - particularly with the Brazilian. But a lot of times they come here and after the first strip, they say, "Oh, it's not that bad."
If you've got good technique, it shouldn't hurt that much. It shouldn't be torturous.
I worked in retail for many years. The last store I worked at was Max Mara, a high-end Italian clothing line. I wasn't very good at selling and persuading people to buy stuff. So I changed careers and went into the beauty industry.
I trained at Miss Marty's School of Beauty & Hairstyling at Seventh and Mission. Everything you need before you get a license.
Eighty-five percent of my clients are gay. A few weeks ago for Folsom Street Fair I did four Brazilians in one day. A lot of guys came in to get waxed for the fair. Gay Pride Week is also big - June is actually my busiest time because of that.
I'm starting to get more straight guys. A lot of them are swimmers and cyclists who come in to get their legs waxed. Recently, Burning Man is bringing in a lot of straight guys. It boosts their confidence when they get their hair removed. I get comments after a back wax, like, "Oh, I feel so much lighter."
A lot of times men come here who've had facials that gave them blisters, or a bad waxing job. It's very easy to rip off the superficial layers of the skin if it's not properly prepped. I've heard a lot of horror stories.
With waxing, I start by cleansing the area with a mild alcohol cleanser. Then I apply a body oil that protects the skin and creates a barrier between the wax and the skin. It's mineral-based with a little bit of jasmine.
I massage that in. If a guy is sweaty or has oily skin, I apply cornstarch instead of oil. A lot of aestheticians use baby powder, but I like corn starch because it dries the skin and coats the hair.
I look at which direction the hair grows, which is important because with waxing you apply the wax with the hair growth pattern. And you rip against it. Everything's removed at the root.
I use strip wax usually for large surface areas like the back, chest, legs, arms. It has the consistency of honey, and I warm it to body temperature - around 98 degrees. The strips are either muslin, which is a woven fabric, or pellon, a paper by-product. Muslin is good for absorbing the wax as the wax bonds with the skin. It's good for really coarse hair. But I prefer pellon: It works on every hair texture.
There's another kind of wax called hard wax. That's what I use in hard-to-reach areas. You apply it to the skin and as it hardens and cools, it literally grabs individual hair shafts. It comes off by itself; you don't need the strip.
It's an intimate thing, very much so. A lot of times the client considers it therapy. So they pour it out: relationship issues, job issues. I'm not much of a talker, but if a client's chatty, that's fine. They set the pace.
