Age:
Under 20….5
20s….50
30s…. 28
40s…. 8
50s…. 6
60+…. 1
Do you consider waxing, manicures, etc. to be necessities?
Yes…. 62
No…. 31
How often do you get manicures?
More than once a week…. 1
Once a week…. 22
Once every few weeks…. 40
A couple of times a year…. 25
Never…. 11
How often do you get pedicures?
More than once a week…. 2
Once a week…. 7
Once every few weeks…. 46
A couple of times a year…. 27
Never…. 17
Do you think it’s okay to talk on your cell phone while you’re at a nail salon?
Yes…. 44
No…. 55
When was the last time you had a facial?
Within the last week…. 2
Within the last month…. 16
Within the last six months…. 27
Within the last year…. 12
Longer…. 18
I’ve never had one…. 25
How often do you get massages?
More than once a week…. 1
Once a week…. 5
Once every few weeks…. 15
A couple of times a year…. 49
Never…. 29
Do you prefer a…
Male masseuse…. 11
Female masseuse…. 38
Doesn’t matter…. 42
Do you get bikini waxes?
Yes…. 51
No…. 48
What kind?
Regular…. 17
Brazilian…. 23
Everything off…. 10
Do they ask you to “turn over”?
Yes…. 17
No…. 34
Any horror stories?
“I had a new employee who brought her mom with her.”
“No, just lingering pain.”
“I ended up bloody like Steve Carell in The 40-Year-Old Virgin.”
“Once I tried doing it myself and bruised everything.”
Have you ever gotten electrolysis?
Yes…. 9
No…. 90
Do you get your lip waxed?
Yes…. 21
No…. 78
Your eyebrows waxed?
Yes…. 43
No…. 56
Your legs waxed?
Yes…. 12
No…. 86
Do you have loyalty to your …
Nail salon…. 37
Waxer…. 31
Masseuse…. 7
How much do you talk with the people who do your waxing/facials/nails?
Not at all…. 5
Barely at all…. 29
We chitchat…. 58
We have personal conversations…. 4
What’s the most personal thing you’ve ever told a waxer/manicurist/etc.?
“That I was getting a divorce.”
“Details of my sex life.”
“ A story about a friend who thought she might have herpes.”
“Boy troubles.”
“Child-raising issues.”
“About my date the day before.”
“That I was getting the wax for my boyfriend.”
“That my mom has cancer.”
“Why I don’t have children.”
“Marriage details.”
“Since most of them don’t speak English, probably my occupation.”
“That I was pregnant—before I told anyone else.”
Do you ever get paranoid about what the person doing your treatment thinks of you? If so, why?
Yes…. 18
No…. 79
“I feel fat and out of shape while they’re waxing me.”
“I feel like they’re talking about you in a different language.”
“Sometimes my legs are hairy during pedicures.”
“I think about myself in comparison to other women.”
“I think everyone worries about what other people think.”
“I get paranoid that they’ll rip my eyebrows off.”
“Only if they’re Asian, because I’m Asian.”
“I think my waxer thinks I waited too long.”
“Once the woman giving me a pedicure started making fun of my toenails. She said, ‘Who cut these? Your boyfriend?’ I said that I didn’t have a boyfriend and that set her off laughing.”
SEE ALSO:
• A Revealing Look at the Spa Industry
• The Manicurists’ Heroine
* Not all numbers add up to 100 because not everyone answered each question.