1. Create a personalized Mother’s Day Gift Basket, choosing from over 10,000 fabulous gift ideas.
2. Give your mother the ultimate shopping experience by bringing her into Total Beauty Experience to shop for her favorite Mother’s Day gift products.

Need Help Deciding What to Give Your Mother this Year?

It was tough, but we’ve narrowed our selection down to 3 favorite product lines that mothers are sure to love…

Opening a gift of Lady Primrose always brings a thrill! Remember your  mother, grandmother, wife, sister, daughters and granddaughters this Mother’s Day with something special from Lady Primrose. 

Which objects does she desire…Body Luxuries? Candles? Cosmetics? Parfum? Tokyo Milk has something special for your mother, grandmother, sister, wife, and daughter. Surprise them this year with the objects they desire most – a Tokyo Milk Gift!

Spa Blends Botanicals is the pioneer of the spa body care industry. This Mother’s Day get her the finest products made with only the best ingredients available. Indulge the senses of your mother, grandmother, wife, and daughter with refreshing scents and body creme that inspires relaxation and peace!

Now that’s how you give her the most fabulous Mother’s Day ever!

Find these products and more at Total Beauty Experience!

There will be chances to win free gifts every half hour, drawings for gift baskets, but that’s not all…

Manufacturer representatives will be present to answer all your beauty product questions. There will also be Secret Sale Merchandise on several product lines from our many departments.  And our make-up artists will be doing holiday make-up demonstratons.   Refreshments will be served.

Come celebrate the holiday season with Total Beauty Experience – December 4th & 5th from 11:00am to 7:00pm.

Hair Removal & The Caveman

 
Neanderthal men were very resourceful at hair removal. They pulled, scraped, and even plucked hair from their bodies. They used sharpened rocks or flint blades to “scrape” hair off their faces and plucked facial hair with two sea shells held together. Reasons for hair removal during prehistoric times include the benefit of having less mites on the body and keeping warring clansmen or vicious animals from having claw and handholds.

Hair Removal in Ancient Egypt

 
Ancient Egyptians may have revolutionized hair removal procedures. A very ritualistic culture overrun with conformity, hair removal may have been highly significant, making advanced to hair removal methods important. We know Egyptians used and were probably the masterminds of bronze razors. Such razors have been found in Egyptian tombs dating back more than 3,000 years. The ancient Egyptians were known to have used a method of depilatory called sugaring, a possible advent to modern day waxing. A sticky paste (bees wax was sometimes used) would be applied to the skin then a strip of cloth was pressed onto the paste and yanked off, removing the hair. Because of the extreme heat, both Egyptian men and women practiced hair removal on their heads.

Hair Removal in Ancient Greece & Rome

 
Ancient Greeks and Romans paid vast attention to beauty, hygiene, and body appearance, believing smooth (like marble) bodies was a civilized practice.

Still modeled by ancient Greek and Roman sculptures, hair removal played an important role for both women and men.  The Greek sculptures of women are polished, shiny and all, and there is no pubic hair at all, whereas the sculptures of men do show pubic hair.  The Greeks thought pubic hair on women was ugly and upper class ladies removed it. The Romans did not like pubic hair either and young girls began removing it as soon as it first appeared. They used tweezers, which they called the “volsella” and had a kind of depilatory cream, the “philotrum” or “dropax”, the forerunner of the current depilatory creams! Waxing was also a way of depilating and this was done with resin or pitch.

In Greece, it was popular for men to crop hair very short and remove facial hair. Romans believed the first hair removal of a masculine youth was the arrival of adulthood. It’s known that Julius Caesar practiced hair removal by having his facial hairs plucked.

Hair Removal & Middle Easterners

 
No doubt barrowing the process for their Egyptian counterparts, Middle Easterners used the hair removal process of body sugaring, involving the application of a natural, sugar-based paste (usually sugar, lemon and other natural ingredients cooked to the consistency of soft taffy). The paste was either rubbed or pulled off in the opposite direction of hair growth. The high sugar content inhibited bacterial growth in the region’s hot environs. The method reputedly was born out of a Middle Eastern bridal ritual. The night before a wedding, Lebanese, Palestinian, Turkish and Egyptian brides had all body hair, except eyebrows and the hair on their heads, removed by the bridal party. According to lore, the bride maintained her hairless body throughout her marriage as a symbol of cleanliness and respect for her husband.

In 1520, Bassano de Zra wrote, “The Turks consider it sinful when a woman lets the hair on her private parts grow. As soon as a woman feels the hair is growing, she hurries to the public bath to have it removed or remove it herself.”

European Hair Removal During the Middle Ages

 
During the Middle Ages, upper class European women wanted to be pale. It was fashionable to have plucked eyebrows. And in the mid 15th century through Elizabethan times, women plucked their front hairs to achieve a high forehead. Mothers of this time used outlandish hair removal poultices, bandages saturated with vinegar and cat’s dung, and even walnut oil to prevent hair growth on their children’s foreheads.

The habit of depilating, a practice pass down from the Greeks and Romans, fell out of fashion (publicly at least)  during the reign of Catherine de Medici (1547-1589), then queen of France.  She forbade her ladies in waiting to remove any of their pubic hair. Yet, it remained a popular practice in other parts of Europe until the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901) and the smothering prudishness of the “Victorian Era.” Even then, it remained popular in private, especially for the ruling classes.

Hair Removal in North America

 
Native Americans tweezed their whiskers between halves of a clam shell, and circa 1700 American women applied poultices of caustic lye to burn away hair. There is evidence of the marketing of powdered depilatories in the United States by 1844.  In the late 1800s, physicians developed a hair removal method which involved inserting and twisting a barbed needle with sulfuric acid into the hair follicle. This process was refined by Dr. Charles E. Michel (1833 – 1913) into what we know as electrolysis which involves inserting a fine needle into the hair follicle and electronically charging the root of the hair to kill it; however, a new root cell can form in the same area, causing regrowth.

Photographs ranging from the time of the Civil War to the 1930s show that the amount of pubic hair varied from full to none. In 1900, hair removal was done by the local barber for most men.

The modern industrial age saw the rise of such razor manufacturers as Gillette, Schick, and Wilkinson and the power of marketing. With the availability of cheap, quality razors, the practice of women removing their body hair became more publicly acceptable. When women’s clothing styles began showing bare arms and legs in the 1920s, leg and underarm shaving followed immediately. In fact, armpit shaving was not common until May of 1915 when Harper’s Bazaar magazine featured a model in a sleeveless evening gown that showed her bare shoulders and hairless armpits. Shortly thereafter, Wilkinson Sword launched an advertising campaign to convince women that underarm hair was “unhygienic and unfeminine.” Sales of razors doubled in two years, perhaps the result of pent-up demand.

Another hair removal method used by some women as late as the 1940s was rubbing off hair with abrasive mitts that felt like fine sandpaper. Wartime shortages of stockings meant legs went bare. The result was the first modern hair removal depilatory in 1940. The late 1950s advanced mechanical hair removal with electronic tweezers. Derived from the ancient process of sugaring, the wax strip hair removal method appeared in the late 1960s.

Hair Removal in South America

Waxing has always been a rite of passage for Brazilian women, who used to use secretions from the Coco de Mono tree to remove hair. Today, mothers introduce their daughters at age 15 to the “aesthetic clinics” that do depilacao, using the cold wax method.

Hair Removal in Modern Times

 
In the sixties, smoothness was reinforced with the invention of the bikini, and today many woman remove hair somewhere on their bodies.  In 1975 the first disposable razor for women’s hair removal debuted. Warm/hot wax, the advancement on the form of hair removal sugaring, arrived in the 1980′s from Australia.

Today, we have electrolysis and laser treatments as accepted methods of hair removal. It is the fashion to have smooth armpits, legs, bikini lines. Even men are getting smooth. The greater “exposure” of athletes, models, weightlifters and even porn stars continue to lend to the trend.

At Total Beauty Experience you’ll for the latest hair removal products by The Art of Shaving®, American Crew, Caswell-Massey Apothecary, Jack Black, California North, and Brave Soldier. Visit our store today for the best in hair removal care for men.

Get Smooth All Over

There are a number of reasons one might want to remove body hair. Whether you’re an athlete or just want a new faster, smooth look and feel all over your body, you’ll want to know about your hair removal options, tips and tricks. There are at least five different ways you can go about achieving the smooth-all-over-look…

Shaving with a Razor: Shaving your body is different than simply shaving your face. Even though you can still use a metal blade razor over the rest of your body, nicks and cuts are bound to occur. This is due to the many more bumps, corners, and creases your body has such as knees and ankles. But with the right technique and hair removal products, you can avoid most carnage.

• For more razor control choose a razor with a larger handle. If you’re worried about slicing yourself, use razors with anti-nick wires.

• Choose the right shaving products. Between foams, soaps, gels and oils, it is generally accepted that body oil gives the closest shave. Oil is, however, more expensive and tends to clog up the razor. For general use, a high quality gel with moisturizer is what you need to get the job done. Avoid alcohol-based products as these will dehydrate your skin making it appear rough and older.

• Shave in the shower. The hot water and steam help to open up your pores and soften the hair. This means you’ll spend less time going over the same spots for a close shave.

• Shave in the direction of the hair growth.  Use your razor-free fingers to feel out an area before you shave it.

• After shaving, rinse your face with cool water and pat dry. Cool water closes your pores and keeps out dirt and grime that lead to greasy, break-out prone skin.

• Always finish with a moisturizer. There’s nothing like a dual-action lotion to smooth your skin and get it ready for the damaging elements it faces each day.

Electric Razors: There are currently a number of electric razors/shavers on the market that have been designed specifically for below-the-neck use. These are good options if you shave consistently. You don’t want a large buildup of hair growth when using them.

• Regular electric (head) hair clippers are fine for shortening the hair after an extended period of having not shaved at all. Be warned though, attempting to shave too closely with clippers can be quite painful as the teeth in these devices are set further apart and can catch the skin relatively easily.

• As with blade razors, you will still want to use a good moisturizer after shaving.

• Whether you choose an electric shaver or a razor blade, keep in mind that you should shave often enough that the hair doesn’t get out of control, but not so often that your skin begins to get irritated.

Hair Removal Creams: For an option that is quick effective and relatively painless, use a depilatory hair removal cream. Unlike the general creams of years past, manufacturers now offer a range of formulas specially designed for different types of hair – coarse or fine – as well as for different areas of the body to minimize irritation.

• The first time you use such products it’s always advisable to test a small patch first, that way there are no surprises, especially if your skin has a natural reaction to the chemicals.

• Always used specific hair removal creams on the appropriate area of the body for best results.

• If you have sensitive skin, choose a milder formula containing moisturizer and aloe.

• It helps if you have a partner to get round the backs of the thighs and other hard to reach places, otherwise you’ll need a mirror and a good spatial sense.

• It’s also easier if you use a little plastic scraper and dispose the hair and excess straight into a plastic bag. This will save you the headache of having to unclog your drain.

• Keep in mind that when you use creams and lotions, you need to let the hair grow back a bit before you work on it again.

Waxing: Of all the methods to remove body hair, waxing is by far the most effective. Waxing is the process of removing body hair by spreading melted wax over a particular area (about 2″ by 4″) and then covering the waxed area with a thin sheet of paper or strip of cotton. After a few seconds, the wax dries and the paper is yanked off, removing the hair. he hair is physically removed at the root and re-growth is seriously reduced.

• Waxing doesn’t hurt as much as you think. But keep in mind that different parts of your body have different levels of sensitivity, like the small of your back or the tops of your pecs nearest the collarbones, tend to be more sensitive. Then again, this is not true for some men.
  • Read all wax kit instructions and practice on a test strip (arm or leg), before you perform an at-home treatment.
  • To discourage in-grown hairs, use a good body scrub between wax treatments.
  • Shower or bathe with a sensitive-skin cleansing gel for three to five days after treatment.
  • Do not shave the treatment area for at least 10 to 14 days before you wax.
  • DO NOT use body lotion, body oil, or deodorant (if you plan to wax your pits) on the day of your treatment.
  • Do not become overheated or take a hot shower or bathe immediately after treatment.
  • Do not expose yourself to the sun or use a tanning booth, if you’re still red after treatment.
  • Sugaring is similar to waxing, only it uses sugar paste (which usually consists of a mixture of sugar, lemon, water, and even citric acid and gum arabic) instead of wax and is a method of hair removal that goes as far back as ancient Egypt.

Tweezing: With the help of a trusty pair of tweezers (the sharper, the better), pluck away at the hairs you want to eliminate. Unless you’ve got lots of time on your hands and can take the constant pinching sensation, save the tweezing for those smaller regions that are covered with excess hair (or for ingrown hairs). And of course, this method is far from permanent.

• Tweezing is useful for eyebrows and stray hairs on the face.
• Clean Tweezers after each use by disinfecting tips alcohol.
• Protect the tips of tweezers with cap and keep in storage box or tube.
• For best results, brush hair in the direction of hair growth, isolate the hair you are about to tweeze, gently pull the strand in the direction of hair growth.

For more hair removal tips and product information, visit our knowledgeable staff at Total Beauty Experience. They will help you get that clean, smooth shave feeling as well as provide you with the necessary tools to manage day to day hair removal regimens.