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Tucked away in the Ballajura Shopping Centre is the Omega Skin Spa. The closed front door makes for a small and unassuming facade but once you walk in you forget the outside world altogether.

I booked my appointment for a Thursday afternoon, there were plans to go to the beach, so a bikini wax was in order. I called up first thing and made the booking for later that afternoon. It was a routine appointment and even though I arrived early, I wasn’t kept waiting. It was all straightforward, in and out in under half an hour. I have been to a few different spots for bikini lines and Brazilians and I’m not sure what the difference is but I found this one a lot less painful.

The staff are friendly and polite, and the salon has that relaxing ambiance to help you feel at ease. The music in the main entrance filters through to the treatment rooms, as do the voices. However the rooms for relaxation and massages are further back, away from the noise of the outside world. All in all it’s a lovely spot and I do think it will become my regular. The fact that it’s in a more suburban area means you’re not paying ridiculous prices and you don’t have to wait as long for an appointment.

Omega Skin Spa have something for everyone. If you’re wanting to indulge, make the most of the full body relaxation treatments, massage, exfoliations, soaks or Dermologica Treatment Facials. Perhaps if you’re just looking to look and feel good you can take advantage of the tanning, manicures, pedicures or waxing to get you ready for summer. They also do Bio Sculpture Gel Nails and make up for special occasions.

Omega Skin Spa

37 Ballajura City,
cnr Illawarra & Kingfisher Dr,
Ballajura 6066

Telephone: 9249 4957

Email: omega@amnet.net.au

Website: http://www.omegaskinspa.com.au/

Opening Hours :

Monday – Closed
Tues – 9:00 – 5:30
Weds – 9:00 – 5:30
Thurs – 10:00 – 7:00
Fri – 9:00 – 5:30
Sat – 9:00 – 4:00
Sun – Closed

Written by Liv, who is my lovely North of the River correspondent! You can expect many exciting articles from her coming up, including circus exercise, dietitians & more!

Been to this beauty salon? Leave a comment and let us know what you thought!

Be well,

xoxo

Treatments undertaken on: 10th, 17th, 24th November 2009

Aside from the obvious rewards of being on the Baskin Robbins email subscriber list which entitles me to one free icecream scoop per year, this is absolutely the most rewarding subscriber list I have found myself on: Ella Express.

I’ve long been an Ella Bache user, but in recent times have found it to be a little expensive for the contents of my purse. This is more a reflection on my own personal financial situation, but that is a can of worms that is best left unopened. Let’s just say that being on this particular database has been a lifesaver and a joy.

So anyway, back to the whole Microdermabrasion thing. Every so often, I’d get an email from Ella Express with some kind of special they are advertising. This could be a Napoloeon makeover session, waxing deal, facial special, whatever. All good and I’ve taken them up on a number of these. I’d been thinking about trying micro for a while but it was unfortunately out of my price range given that they advise you do them in a series of sessions.

Then I got the email: Half price microdermabrasion for the month of November. Hurrah! I promptly booked in for 3 sessions, each costing $60.

The first session was interesting as I’d never had the procedure done and didn’t quite know what to expect. Firstly she cleansed my skin, did the microdermabrasion, then popped on a soothing mask for about 15mins before removing and moisturising. It took about an hour, was quite relaxing and the beautician explained everything well. She also did a skin analysis under the black light and showed me my problem spots and what I could do about them. I was very happy with the result and my skin felt very smooth, clean and even had a glow to it.

The second and third sessions were done by a different beautician who did all the above with the only difference being that while the soothing mask was on, I was given a very lovely hand massage. This was a nice touch! Who would have thought a hand massage could be so relaxing?

The salon itself, was well-presented. The music was fine, your typical relaxation cds I guess and the room smelled all essential oil-like, which I love. The lighting was perfectly dimmed and the bed very comfy, to the point where I could have just rolled over and snoozed the rest of the day away. I don’t think that’s allowed though.

The whole experience was very positive from my perspective, my skin tone visibly improved after 3 sessions and I am eagerly awaiting the next email I receive alerting me to this half-price deal again. As much as I was very pleased with the experience and result, it still remains out of my price range for the time being, but hope that this won’t always be the case.

Editors note: I have personally viewed Sheridan’s skin & it indeed, was glowing after her treatment sessions! I was very impressed & am extremely keen to try this procedure myself – Annette

Sheridan is an enterprising lass who runs music quizzes around Perth, check out “The One Thing Quiz” for more details!

Essential details:

Floreat Forum WA
Floreat Forum Floreat, Western Australia 6014

Phone: +61 8 9284 9777

email: floreat@ellaexpress.com.au

Opening hours:

Mon – Wed & Fri: 9.00 am – 5.30 pm
Thursday: 9.00 am – 9.00 pm
Saturday: 9.00 am – 5.00 pm

Ella Bache products are available online at StrawberryNET!

After one of the worst waxing experiences I’ve ever had at a salon this weekend, I’ve decided to share some ways in which to minimize the chances of such unfortunate hot wax related pain and suffering happening to others!

The world of salon hair removal can be treacherous, we’re navigating the waxing waters of poorly trained staff, salons trying to cut costs and unhygienic practices…all in the hope that we will find the holy grail of beauty therapists.

And honestly, it’s pretty amazing how hard it is to find a good one in this town.

Many of my friends have never waxed before and go all wide-eyed when I proclaim it as a Godsend, three weeks with no underarm hair, I’ll take that opposed to daily shaving & stubble thank you very much!

So this advice is for them and also anyone who is not satisfied with their current therapist or timidly contemplating jumping into the world of waxing.

Without further ado, I present to you my advice.

“Everything you ever wanted to know about getting waxed at a salon but were too afraid to ask…”

– First up, recommendations recommendations recommendations! Ask your friends, your Mum, sisters, brothers’ girlfriend, aunties, that random woman on the bus who looks impeccable.

Word of mouth recommendations are one of the best ways to find a great place for people to perform acts of hot wax application on your sensitive areas. I’ve found that most people I’ve asked don’t wax, but 1/10 will have a tried & tested go-to, so that you can confidently jump on the bandwagon without too many heart palpitations.

– HOT WAX VS. STRIP WAX. Alright, now listen carefully. Here is where it gets important. There are some fundamentals of waxing and this one is King.

Hot Wax = thicker wax that is applied with a spatula to your more sensitive spots (bikini line, brazilian, underarms, sometimes eyebrows), when cooled it’s removed by hand. ie. the wax itself is pulled off and the hairs come with it. This wax hurts a lot less than strip, better on thick hairs, does a better job of keeping ingrowns at bay and is a bit more pricey for salons to purchase (important note for later).

Strip Wax = a thinner wax that is also applied warm/hot but removed by pressing a strip of cloth over the top, rubbing and then pulling off. Better for large areas such as legs and arms, quicker to apply and also cheaper for salons to purchase.

Then, there are subcategories for strip wax:

* Applied with a spatula

* Applied with a ‘roller’ (kind of like deodorant)

So we have three different methods we’re working with, which brings me to my next point:

– CALL OR ASK WHAT TYPE OF WAX THEY USE, BEFORE YOU GO!!! 99% of the time they should be using hot, peel off wax for your bikini line or underarms. I’ve spoken with other wax-ees and beauty therapists and this is the STANDARD PRACTICE!

However, there are a -lot- of beauty salons who will try and get away with using strip wax in these places, because it is about 1/3 cheaper for them & sometimes it works (however, the hair grows back faster, more prone to ingrowns, more pain for you). I urge you to not accept this and not to support salons that do this, you probably wont want to anyway because of the added discomfort.

Secondly, I and others I’ve talked with have found that the wax rollers provide a substandard wax compared with the spatula and strip method (for legs & arms).

The wax is quite temperamental, doesn’t come out evenly, has problems with being heated to the right temperature and as someone with sensitive skin, I’ve found it irritates my legs a lot more and I end up with red bumps, whereas with the spatula method I don’t.

In summary:

– Ask your friends where they go!
– Hot Wax + Bikini Line + Underarms = Good
– Strip Wax + Spatula + Legs + Arms = Good
– Anything Else Generally = Bad

Thus concludes the first part to this delicate topic! If you have any of your own advice, let me know in the comments, otherwise very soon you’ll find out some more vital info to know before you show up naked & hairy at your therapists door!

Be well,

xoxo

nvmen Complete Grooming Salon

“nvmen is the longest trading barber shop in Australia (established 1911) with almost 100 years experience they offer the great service of yesteryear with the modern day touch of fashion.”

Location:

33 Market Street
Fremantle WA
6160

Tel: 08 9336 7171

Email: nvmen@bigpond.com

Download the nvmen brochure!

4 Ever Waxing and Beauty Studio

Opening Hours:

Monday – Saturday: 9am-6pm
Thursday: 9am-8pm
Sunday: 12pm-5pm

Location:

Unit 24 / 27-35 William Street
Fremantle WA
6160

Tel: 08 9430 9270

Mobile: 0419 904 428

Download 4 Ever Brochure!