Anyone who's seen me in person knows how fine my hair is. When I was in college, one of my blockmates randomly patted the top of my head and freaked out about how he was scared of piercing my skull. (As if!)
My pony tail is around only an inch in diameter, and no matter how long I grow my hair, I never form a bun bigger than a tennis ball. If I put my hair up in a bun right now (and it is about three inches below the bra strap) my bun would hardly be bigger than a kiwi.
 |
| My friend. Photo from Weareveryday |
But I'm not immune to unwanted hair. My boyfriend is anal about my lady stache and I have embarrassingly ugly armpits, further uglified by crappy pit hair.
The lady stache, I can deal with- I can easily thread it off. I have been having a hard time grooming my pits since giving up the razor. Even though the thinness of my hair means I can buy some time in between appointments, I still hate going out to have my pits waxed.
And speaking of my usual waxing salon, I never saw anything as well-designed as the brand-spanking new Wink Laser & Wax Studio in Taguig:
 |
| Wink Reception |
I made an innocent appointment to cash in on my underarm waxing voucher from my June BDJ Box and got a free half leg wax for kicks*! I was off to meet some friends in the area and I thought I'd sneak my appointment in as well. I didn't want a repeat of my Sample Room purchase where my Wink voucher expired 'cause I couldn't find the time to venture on over to Taguig.
I've been a cold wax user for the whole of my non-razor life.
I was a little scared because Wink uses hot wax and my pit hairs were
My place is the best, everyone else's will scar/infect/hurt you. - Every Waxing Salon
Take it with a grain of salt and listen to what your pits tell you. You might be surprised- as I was.
THE WAXING:
It was a very soothing experience. I was informed of all the do's and don'ts, told exactly what was going to happen and informed of all the juicy, hygienic highlights. They leave no room for you to question if you're taken care of.
Waxing is a pretty quick chore for me. I never stay for more than five minutes, except if I'm waiting in line. I used to think that was fast, but holy hot potatoes! If five minutes with my old place is fast, Wink's is like a blitzkrieg.
Wipe, pat, peel x 2. Repeat on the other armpit.
And my pit hairs were like, nasty long (should I even be saying this? I DON'T CARE! You have no proof!)
The legs were similarly easy breezy, but I was told cold waxing it takes up to four people and soooo much longer. Knowing how cold wax works despite never having my legs done, I can imagine that this is closer to the truth than mere black propaganda.
Just to clarify: I was prepared for a Before, During and After post of my underarm waxing but backed out of posting the photos due to my pits' sheer ugliness. The leg wax was a spontaneous offer so I wasn't prepared and forgot to take a Before picture.
THE JUICY, HYGIENIC HIGHLIGHTS:
I'm a waxing veteran so I don't really feel like kindergartening this up and re-hashing all the do's and don'ts. Wink will give you a leaflet anyways. I just thought I'd take note of all the aforementioned juicy hygienic highlights.
The room IS SO CLEAN. My old place feels like you have to stand on your tippy toes and sanitize afterwards. I always wear a sleeveless shirt going there and never get anything more than my pits and brows done. I don't really think I'd be comfy having my naked skin touch the greying bedsheets and threadbare towels. ICK.
 |
| Wink Waxing Room: Clean and Spacious! |
The leather-lined, padded bed is laid out with a disposable sheet to ensure your dainty parts only come into contact with a sanitized area. The room is so wide I actually think we can have a little salsa party over there!
They use disposable wooden spatulas for small to medium areas, and reusable plastic ones for large areas. The wooden spatulas are very light in color and disposed in front of you, so you're sure they're not reused nor simply washed.
 |
| My Used Plastic Spatulas (off to be cleansed!) |
I pretended to go off of "blogger-factotum mode" as I was dressing up just to see what the attendant was going to do. She spritzed the whole countertop with their disinfectant, and the leather bed with a different disinfectant, using the clean side to wipe the remaining liquid off.
 |
| Trying to catch her wipe the bed, and failing. |
GUYS.
This is the ultimate germophobe's dream!
RECAP:
I loved my sesh! Did I ever tell you guys that I got a call from Wink two days after the session, reminding me to exfoliate my legs? It's so I can avoid developing ingrown hair. I would have never remembered and it's a pretty sweet way of them to make sure every client gets the best waxing experience possible.
I love that even the super fine hair at the edges of my armpits were removed. It normally gets left behind with cold waxing and sometimes, the attendants don't really care about taking it all off since my hair "is so fine anyways." Sidenote: I absolutely hate when service people decide to give you a low quality of service just because they're cool with having errant pit hairs, uneven dye jobs or patchy mani jobs on themselves!
Another thing to love is that it's VERY clean. They take hygiene so seriously and considering that you're basically ripping off hair and bits of skin attached to the follicle, it's a certainly a worthy investment. Though personally, the location and price is a huge factor in tipping my decision towards the NO side.
 |
| Visible Sterilizer. So you know they ain't kiddin' about hygeine. |
Since I received complimentary treatment, I thought the more fair way of looking at things was through an acid test...
ACID TEST: Would I buy this with my own money?
Waxing is regularly done so it's not really wise to burn your budget on it. I don't think it will be a worthy investment to go to Wink for my underarms, which my old place does an okay job of clearing. It hurts more with cold waxing at the old salon and is sometimes patchy, but once I factor in the location, regularity of sessions and the price (Php 170 at the old salon vs. Php 330 at Wink,) I would probably only go for a Wink underarm wax if I was already in the area.
However, for any of my limbs and DEFINITELY for Brazilian, the hygiene and effortlessly quick service at Wink will definitely all be worth it! Can you imagine cold waxing your entire leg? QUE HORROR!
Personally, I'm more interested in their Diode Laser Hair Removal/DLHR listed at Php 2500/session, and guesstimated at 4-6 sessions for me.
To put this affordability in perspective, Let's Face It offers the less effective IPL LHR for Php 2800/session, based on this Kikay Exchange post I checked out. Online, I saw hospitals and dermatological clinics list Diode LHR at the Php 4000 - Php 5000 range.
The numerous daytime spas i see in malls are so seedy I'm afraid of coming out with burns if I have my LHR done there. Their trick is not to indicate whether their LHR is Diode or IPL, and it's almost always IPL. Basically, IPL is less painful, cheaper and less effective. It's like a watered-down method of LHR, the way I see it. Diode is the true-blue, surefire way of getting rid of hair. But I have heard that there is a painful, pinching sensation to it :-s
I am just saving up a little bit of money (and courage) before I finally set my first DLHR appointment. I'm so ready to say bye bye to my underarm hair!
 |
| We shall soon meet! |
Underarm Waxing:
Php 330
Inclusions: Cleansing, Waxing and Aftercare (hydrocortisone cream, leaflet)
Lower Half Leg Waxing (ankles up to above the patella:)
Php 450
Inclusions: Cleansing, Waxing and Aftercare (hydrocortisone cream, leaflet, exfoliation reminder)
Wink Laser & Wax Studio
3rd Level, C2 Building
Bonifacio High Street
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
8087158 / 0917 303-WINK (or 9465)
Got you interested in Laser Hair Removal? Check out Wink's IPL vs. Diode infographic here.
Like Wink's Facebook page to get updated on their constant promos.
Learn more from Wink's website at winkstudio.ph and book your appointment from there.
Quick link to the complete pricelist here.
*Disclosure: I was not paid nor expected to write this review. Liz Lanuzo, Wink brand manager, invited me to get a free half leg waxing to compliment the underarm waxing voucher I received from a self-purchased BDJ Box. She did this in behalf of Holly Chang, owner of Wink, who was a former blockmate of mine in college.
My opinions are based on my five years of cold waxing experience, and not the personalities connected to Wink. I have had no previous experience with hot wax.