Sticky situations

Top: New Look (Similar here)

Skirt: ASOS (Similar here)

Shoes: Aldo (Similar here)

Bag: Y-3 (Similar here) | Ring: Lovisa (Similar here)

Earrings: Vintage (Similar here) | Sunglasses: Karen Walker

In a bid to not be mistaken for a yeti, I've been through various hair removal processes since I was 20 years old, I think. It's been so many years of torture that I can't even really recall when it started but here I am, at... a certain age... a near-hairless ape.

It started with waxing, where a therapist would apply hot wax to various bits of my body, then lay on a fabric strip, let it cool and RIIIIP the hair right out. I went to Strip since it's one of the larger and more well-known chains. I have to commend them for their professionalism, cleanliness and efficiency. Eventually, instead of waxing, the therapist started up-selling IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) hair removal where they basically shoot lasers pew pew at your skin and your hair dies at the root (after a few sessions and depending on the thickness etc etc and all that science stuff I don't know).

Doing IPL is waaaaay better than waxing because you don't have the hot sticky wax applied to your body and it doesn't hurt the way it does when you freaking rip hair from your body, although some warmth and tingly laser sensations are to be expected in IPL.

But even though Strip wasn't ripping hair any longer, I felt like they were ripping me off because their packages weren't exactly cheap and as hair regrowth really varies from person to person, I ended up needing maintenance packages even after the first 8 sessions so I felt like I was bleeding money.

Several bloggers were promoting Datsumo Labo so I thought I'd try it out because it was known to be more affordable.

Datsumo Labo packages do appear to be much more affordable and they have quite a few packages catering to your hair removing needs. They are a no-frills kind of place so the layout is basic with no fancy interior design, you're expected to come in for your appointment having already shaved yourself beforehand (although you can pay for them to shave you too), get zapped, then leave, no magazine-reading-while-sipping-hot-tea-while-you-wait kinda thing.

No fancy tea and magazines!

Sweet. Free 1 ply toilet roll.

My first session there gave me quite a shock, I went in, removed my clothes, put on the protective eye gear and lay down on the bed. All of a sudden, maybe three or four therapists came in and stood around me to begin the process. As two of them slathered the ice-cold gel, likely gathered from the jelly mountains of the Antarctic, onto my shivering body, another one started up the IPL machine and started zapping away on the areas that had just been covered by gel, and yet another therapist would start scraping the gel off the areas that had just been zapped, wiping it down, and then laid cold wet towels on my body. I felt like I was a test subject in a production line of alien experimentation and it was bizarre.

I'm from the future.

Obviously you can't always expect the four to one body ratio, I think it depends on the number of available therapists for the day but having so many therapists at once was good in that it shortened the amount of time I needed to lie there exposed so I was done in about 15 minutes or less. However, one thing you'll realise is that each room is separated by curtains, and between two rooms, I think they share their IPL machines mid process. So I'm lying down and so is the lady next to me, and maybe they're zapping my leg, then moving the machine across and zapping her crotch. That's weird right?

Lie down and PEW PEW PEW!

Anyway, once you're zapped, they leave you in the room with the cold wet towels on your skin and leave the room and you are allowed to rest a few minutes (maybe recover from the icy shock) after which you get up, try your best to wipe your sticky self down, and get dressed. I recall at Strip, they did a lot of wiping down for you, so it wasn't so sticky but Datsumo relies on more self-service so aside from coming pre-shaved, you also need to wipe your own body more thoroughly unless you enjoy being a sticky date pudding. Then you go outside and make your next appointment for about two months later, which allows you to almost completely forget all the weird sensations you just felt until your next appointment.

Bye bye hair

But at least I'm more or less hairless. I guess I'd recommend Datsumo Labo to those who are looking for affordable hair removal and who aren't that fussy about ambience. The therapists are all quite nice and professional just that you definitely get what you pay for.

Thanks for reading!