Profile of a Waxologist: So how bad is it, really?

From November 8, 2019

On the crisp, white paper covering Liette Lacasse’s treatment bed, her clients quickly go from being total strangers to chatty friends baring it all.

Lacasse, a senior waxologist at Smooth Wax Bar, compares her time with clients to mini “therapy sessions.

As a waxologist, Lacasse regularly works with people in varying states of undress. What she didn’t expect, however, was how closely she would genuinely get to know them.

“I’ve had clients who I met when they were single. And eventually they’ve met someone, and they’re talking to me about the beginning stages of that relationship,” said Lacasse. “Then one day they come in and they’re like ‘I got engaged!’, and tell me about their wedding planning, or I’m doing their brows for their wedding photo.”

“There’s a little piece of you that becomes a part of their lives. And sometimes it’s physically captured in a photo which is really cool,” she said.

In the treatment room, cotton pads, wipes, cleansers and lotions line a nearby cart. Upbeat pop music flows faintly under the door from the bright, modern waiting room where clients sit patiently waiting for their appointments.

For each appointment, Lacasse will greet clients and lead them back to her treatment room. It’s important to clarify the service that you’re doing, she said. With something like brows, “you want to make sure that you’re giving clients the shape that they want,” she said. The most common waxing services that she performs are Brazilians, eyebrows, legs and—for men— backs.

“It’s pretty straightforward,” said Lacasse. “That’s the one thing that’s appealing about waxing is that you can focus on one thing and perfect it. When you do one thing, all day every day, it doesn’t take long to get a knack for it.”

A typical procedure involves preparing the skin with cleanser, applying oil or powder— depending on the type of wax that’s going to be used—warming up the wax, removing the hair, and then soothing the skin with cleanser and lotion.

Lacasse will soon be celebrating her five-year anniversary as a waxologist with Smooth Wax Bar. She usually works from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. for four days per week, splitting her time between the company’s location on Richmond Street and in Western University’s Community Centre. On average she services just under 100 clients per week, said Lacasse.

“The thing about our industry,” she said, is that “you’re working with your body, you’re doing a lot of repetitive motion all day every day. You really have to think long-term like ‘how can I work smarter’ and not necessarily harder.”

Waxologists do not get a pension, said Lacasse. But if you work hard, earn great tips and make a decent retail commission, then a waxologist with five years of experience can make a gross salary between $60,000 to $75,000 per year, she said.

When she was 18, Lacasse aspired to become a make-up artist. She completed certificates in make-up artistry, cosmetology and acrylic nail technique. When Lacasse first met Sandy Weir, the owner of Smooth Wax Bar, she was working at a nail salon and had no intention of becoming a waxologist.

“Waxing is intimidating, and I was kind of just sticking to my comfort zone and not wanting to go for it,” said Lacasse. But Weir “presented it as a business model that was fast, fun, and relatively painless,” which was unlike what she’d learned in cosmetology school, said Lacasse.

Lacasse has gradually taken on more responsibilities such as training new employees and representing Smooth Wax Bar at events in Toronto.

Amber Robert is a junior waxologist who was trained by Lacasse after Robert joined the team in July 2017.

“I love that I don’t hate it, and I can come in to work every day and have fun,” said Robert. She loves working closely with Lacasse and says that the two often leave each other notes in their shared treatment room.

For a waxologist, said Robert, “people skills are the most important thing.” She loves getting to know her clients and hearing about their lives.

A huge necessity of Lacasse and Robert’s role is the ability to interact with multiple client personalities in a day, while handling the pain and anxiety that many clients feel about waxing.

One of Lacasse’s favourite parts about the job is that “you get to make people feel better in their skin,” said Lacasse. “It’s not just the way their brows look, it’s not just how soft their skin feels, it translates to how they interact with people in their life. If their brows are done well, it’s a confidence thing in their job, it’s their best face put forward.”

From her experience as a waxologist, Lacasse says she has also become more comfortable in her own skin. She works with people’s bodies so closely every day that “it normalizes what our society tries to make odd or taboo. You look at people a lot differently, in a healthy way,” she said.

She adds with a laugh, “I can’t think of a better way to spend my days than to be connecting with people. And on top of that just making things look pretty.”