Nicky Shore is a beauty junkie from way back and her career has included positions with L'Oreal , Maybelline New York, and Garnier. Now she has opened OFF, a specialist waxing bar - BB chats to her about everything you need to know before you get waxed...

How did you get into the beauty industry?
Having been a beauty product junkie ever since I could pry my mum's makeup from her handbag, it was inevitable that I would find any means to work in the industry!
I got my first marketing role with Unilever in Sydney who have a host of great beauty brands and then worked for every beauty addicts dream company - L'Oreal. I was with L'Oreal in the UK and NZ working with fantastic brands like Maybelline New York and Garnier for several years before starting OFF.

Where did the concept of OFF come from/how did you come up with OFF?
Like most women, waxing has always been one of my monthly maintenance essentials, however, the experience of going for a wax was invariably unpleasant and something I would dread, unlike other maintenance such as a haircut!
Whilst overseas I had experienced the benefits of going to a specialist waxer and witnessed the rise of beauty “bars" nail bars, brow bars and even blow dry bars! So when back in NZ I researched the idea of taking waxing, specialising in it and making the whole experience more treat than torture through the creation of a wax bar.
The name OFF came from a raft of things but of course harking back to my 80's nostalgia of Mr Miyagi saying that infamous line “wax on... wax off" in the Karate Kid! But also the idea of practically getting the hair “off" and being able to “switch off" whilst you are here.

Let's talk about Brazilians : Any tips for the readers in preparation for a Brazilian? Anything they can do to minimize pain? Do they really have to get on all fours? What is the current trend?
The Brazilian wax is by far the most popular bikini wax we perform and it is now so mainstream that any stigma there was is now long gone.
The pain question is also the most popular! Pain thresholds are very individual and influenced by things like how tired you are, your menstrual cycle, medication and prior waxing experience.
How painful the experience will be is also a direct result of the type of wax, method used and skill of your therapist.
Many people find taking a couple of Panadol half an hour before their treatment really helpful and a key tip is to not drink coffee or energy drinks beforehand as caffeine increases your sensitivity.
We also stock a brilliant product called “No Scream Cream" which many clients find makes the whole experience much better.
Every treatment involves a consultation with the therapist to understand what style of brazilian the client wants and what techniques and procedure they're comfortable with, as well as answer any questions to ensure the best result. We have selected our therapists for their specialist waxing prowess and passion. Our trainer Brenda specialises in brazilians and trains other therapists on how to be brazilian masters!

And my new favorite topic - Brozilians: Who gets them? Do you think it will be a trend that will take off?
We decided to call it a brozilian for the very reason that the only common characteristic between all our clients getting this treatment is that they are all men! Honestly, the waxing process for guys and their reasons for getting a brozilian are really no different to the girl's brazilians - it can be for comfort, sports, donning a swimsuit or the very simple reason that they just prefer it.
As is a trend nationally, men are becoming more comfortable in their masculinity and maintaining all aspects of their appearance.
Waxing is a now a very common part of their grooming regime and I think the trend will only continue to grow. You even now have celebrities like P-Diddy being open advocates of manscaping!

Now lets talk about brows: Tell us about the brow concept at OFF?
The brow bar is designed so you can pop on in for a brow shape or colour in your lunch break in our fun barber like setting, where a variety of methods can be used to shape and colour your brows and with the Billion dollar Brow products we can help people enhance and maintain their brows themselves at home.
We also have expert threader Debbie Delgado based at the OFF brow bar weekly - she is the queen of threading arches!

And you stock some amazing products down there too - what are your top 5?
1. Billion Dollar Brows Angle tip and Spoolie Brush - this double ended tool has changed my brows forever! The angle tip brush applies brow powder really precisely whilst the spoolie brush blends, erases and grooms.
2. Anatomicals "Hey tubs, want some chocolate bath creme" this stuff smells good enough to eat but goes straight off the hips as soon as you leave the bath tub - my favourite kind of chocolate fix!
3. Riffi exfoliating mitts - these mitts are the absolute best at ensuring those pesky ingrown hairs stay at bay and they truly last.
4. Anthony Logistics for Men Ingrown Hair Treatment - not just for the boys, this super salicylic acid based product with antibacterial properties fights ingrown hairs to the death!
5. La Clinica Gly C Body Moisturiser - the glycolic acid makes my skin super smooth and it also has vitamin C to fight those nasty free radicals!

Any post waxing tips? What can we do to prevent nasty ingrown and make sure we get the most out of our wax?
Our motto is exfoliation, exfoliation, exfoliation! The best thing you can do to prevent ingrown hairs is to exfoliate your skin using a mitt, exfoliating wash or scrub. This removes dead skin cells and helps the hair to break through the skin and free trapped ones.
Using anything with tea tree in it is also great (we apply a La Clinica tea tree based product post the waxing treatment).
The golden rule however is never to pick at ingrown hairs as this can make them worse or even lead to serious infections - always get them professionally removed.

How regularly should we be getting the different parts of our body waxed?
Everybody and different parts of the body are different.
The recommended time between waxes varies according to ethnicity, hair growth cycles, which area and peoples own preference.
Generally we recommend 4 - 6 weekly waxing for most areas but your therapist will always advise depending on the client. Hair really needs to be between ½ and 1 cm long to maximise the wax result.