Today?

I love getting pampered...whether it be a mani/pedi, massage or eyebrow waxing...I'm all over it. There are some pitfalls in the 'nail place' process that I have noticed in my experience over the years. For one, I've noticed that the more I frequent a salon (which means the more money I spend there), the more generous they become with MY money. For example, when I ask for a 15 minute massage - I mean 15 minutes...NOT 20! There is probably a good reason as to why I only want 15 minutes and that is I don't want to fork over an addtional 10 dollars (which in turn comes out to more with tipping); a girl needs to eat, ya know.

Secondly, they love to suggest how you should look and what procedures you might want to think about. I used to live in the West Village and there was a great place that I was a regular at (so much so that they let me borrow their magazines to take to the gym and drop off on my way back home). When I would go to get my eyebrows done they would look at my upper lip and ask 'Today?' Now, I don't know how sensitive you are, but I get bent out of shape pretty easily when someone critiques my looks. I have dark hair and have been struggling with the amount and visiblity of it in places on my body I would prefer it not be (no, no struggle there - brazilian). When I was little my mother would take me to Saks and get 15 minutes of electrolysis (torture) and I would use Jolen to lighten my arms and 'stache. Over the years, it has been under control. I'm not sure where I got this idea from but if I start to wax my upper lip- it will grow back like a man's. The point is, this isn't something that I need strangers pointing out to me as they attempt to squeeze a few more bucks out my budget.

The larger issue here is when one enters a spa/salon for services offered, chances are we know what we want and how much we are going to spend for it.....overselling is a turnoff in the pampering world.