Eyebrow waxing mistake - support & advice please

[Michelledug1983]

Hi,

I am a Level 3 qualified beauty therapist, i am literally just out of college after two years and have set up my own beauty business.

I never made any mistakes with my waxing whilst at college, my only problem was working to time but that has now improved with practise. Today i made my first ever waxing mistake and feel awful :sad:

I had a client come in for an eyebrow wax, i tidied both of her eyebrows and they were both looking lovely, i was a bit messy with my wax which i think was down to nerves but ended up getting wax on an area of the brow that i didnt want to. Instead of stopping like i should have i tried to work around it as i was on literally my last strip to complete the treatment and i waxed off a small chunk of the clients eyebrow. :sad:

I admitted my mistake, apologised and offered the treatment free. I offered to rectify the mistake but the only way to do so would have been to do her brows quite thin which she didnt want.

The client handled the mistake well, still wanting me to wax her lip and paying for that part of the treatment despite me offering it free of charge, however i still feel completely gutted and a failure - how do i overcome this?!

 

[Petit Basque]

You need to forgive yourself and move on. We all make mistakes and this is how we learn and improve our techniques.

I can assure you there is not a single geek on this site who hasn't made a mistake. The really key thing is that you didn't try to dupe the client and even offered the treatment for free. She cant have been that unhappy if she allowed you to carry on and paid in full!

I do loads of brows and still have the occasional off day when im tired but to be honest clients are still happy! I've come to the conclusion that we are our own harshest critics.

Try not to dwell on it and next time you get wax where you don't want it just shape round it and get the wax off with some oil.

Chin up pet!

PB
x

Sent from my GT-I9100 using SalonGeek

 

[Martin Duffy]

There is no overcoming this, you made a mistake, you can only chalk it down to experience, learn from it and move on. Everyone makes the odd slip of judgement in the beginning, and all therapists will have a horror story. What separates a good therapist from a bad one is recognising when a mistake is your own fault, feeling awful that you did it, apologising, identifying what you could have done to avoid it and endeavouring to make sure it doesn't happen again. In that respect, your behaviour in handling the error bodes well for your future in the industry!

 

[Kim Lawless]

Oh I do feel for you! It sounds as though it looked worse to you than it did to her, so put it down to experience and forget it (just don't do it again ).

You won't make that mistake again. Keep your chin up.

 

[shedunlop]

We have all done something that we feel awful for, that is how we learn. I guarantee you will never, ever, ever do it again. Like the others say, just learn from it and move on. Your client will be fine about it otherwise she would have taken you up on your offer to do her lip free of charge.

I remember watching a program on Channel 4 a few years back about a salon in Essex, I think, and one of the girls in this salon had used the same wax strip for both eyebrows, forgetting there was wax on it from the first and waxed the whole second eyebrow off her client! So in the big picture of things yours isn't anywhere near as bad as that.

Chin up my darling, tomorrow is another day!

 

[joe90]

Don't dwell on it sweetie, we all make mistakes sometimes.

I am sure there won't be a next time but just in case it happens to anyone else....... don't be tempted to remove wax if you have it somewhere you don't want it, apply some oil to the area and massage it in and then the wax should just wipe away once the oil has losened it a little, voila situation no longer a problem

 

[lizzy13]

OMG this brings back memories of a similar situation i was in when i first qualified 15 years ago.

I was so concerned about not having my wax too hot that when i went to do my clients eyebrows the wax was actually too thick and when i went to put on the wax strip the wax spread onto part of the brow that i did not want to wax. i felt sick to my stomach but luckily the client said she actually preferred them thinner, i sure learnt my lesson on that mistake lol

Its all a learning curve xx

 

[MisstyB]

Totally agree with the other geeks, take a deep breath and move on...I actually did this with hot wax the other day on myself.....what is the best thing to do, is there any turning back once the wax is on there?? xxx

 

[Tinxy]

Well yes... you can try to get most of it off with oil - it depends on what the mistake is and where...

I know I certainly have made my share of mistakes! So long as you learn from them And where possible learn from other peoples mistakes too if you can

 

[Beau-ty]

hi another tip to get wax off an area but not the hairs is pull the strip in opposite direction (the wrong way) with the hair growth instead of opposite it will take off the wax but not hairs x

 

[Kim Lawless]

hi another tip to get wax off an area but not the hairs is pull the strip in opposite direction (the wrong way) with the hair growth instead of opposite it will take off the wax but not hairs x

Sorry to disagree but that would still remove the hair.

 

[Deb Doyle]

I make all my new & newly qualified staff to Vaseline the brow hair that you want to keep. If wax is dropped or a strip applied incorrectly it won't remove the hair.

 

[Tinxy]

Sorry to disagree but that would still remove the hair.

Have to agree with Kim - especially if you use hot wax... it shrinkwraps the hairs and it doesn't matter much if you pull with or against - the hairs will come out!

Personally I go with the practise of initial shape with wax - fine tune with tweezers

 

[GetGlam]

I am also new to the beauty business and made my first brow wax mistake last week, with hot wax. The clients electrics were playing up and my wax heater had switched off without me knowing, the wax was stringy and got onto the clients brow. I took a few hairs out that I really didn't want to! I was so horrified and felt sick but the client was fine about it and laughed it off. I left her with an eyebrow pencil to fill in the little gap lol! I have learnt how to rectify the mistake now thanks to your post!