I’m talking things like manicures, pedicures, waxing, hair coloring, facials. For me, it’s any sort of brow maintenance. I do — and have always done — my own brows, mostly ’cause I have an irrational fear of someone accidentally waxing, threading or tweezing them into oblivion.
I always think of this scene I saw unfold at a Benefit counter, when a woman walked up in tears after a dicey threading session at a brow salon elsewhere in town. Poor thing had red, patchy areas below her brows, which were pencil thin and totally uneven. The Benefit girls did a wonderful job of reassuring her, and telling her that everything was going to be OK. They showed her how to fill in her brows until they grew back again and suggested the products she could use.
Another thing I refuse to pay for is body waxing. DUDE! — I can wax my legs, upper lip and lady parts no problem (Underarms are a different story, though. Too ticklish.), but I don’t do it very often because shaving is so much quicker and more convenient for me.
So what’s a beauty services you absolutely refuse to pay for? Manicures? Pedicures? Facials or Waxing? Anyone out there daring enough to cut their own hair (I’ve known someone who’s done that before)? Inquiring minds want to know…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Happy hump day. 🙂
I would never get a mani or a pedi, i just love buying beutiful nailpolishes instead and on top of that i think it’s quite calming to paint my nails myself.
I try not to pay for anything that i can do myself. I do pay for my yearly haircut. But when i had bangs, i trimmed them myself. Paying for manis, pedis and waxing would just cut into my shopping money!
Manicures/pedicures! How can I justify my obsessive amount of nail polish if I don’t paint my own nails?! Lol!
Manicures. I used to be a nail tech and even though I don’t do it anymore, I would feel weird getting them done.
I refuse to get Manicures because the attendant always uses the Nail File back & forth instead of one direction which causes my nails to fray thus break within a day, plus in NS they don’t presoak your cuticules b4 cutting them so they become hangnails. I also don’t wax any body part other than my eyebrows, I Veet my ‘only on display in summer or on vacation’ lady parts (lol) and I’m lucky enuf that I can go 2 months without visible hair on my legs – its Movember and my coworker is in shock that I haven’t shaved my legs since September. He asked did I take a pill for that? lmao
When I think about it, there are lots of beauty services I don’t pay for. I think it’s because I’m just so darn frugal.
I don’t pay for hair cuts/dye jobs, facials, makeovers, waxing, brow stuff. About the only stuff I’ve paid for is manicures and pedicures, and that’s pretty rare.
I mean, why pay for something I can do myself?
Manicures and pedicures. I don’t like facials either, because the one time I had it I felt like my face was being burned off and my nose was being broken. I’ll have threading done, but honestly I’ve cut back a lot in the past few months because I don’t think my brows are as unruly/thick as they used to me. I will pay for the more, uh, “private area” waxes though. Not sure how anyone does those at home…
Manicures and pedicures!! I do best for myself..!
Body waxing. Got a bikini was once, it was the most traumatic experience of my life. I love pedicures, I take my own polish so if I need to do a touch up, I already have the color.
Manicure! I think I’ve only got it done once or twice.
I would never get a manicure or pedicure unless it was a gift because I can do my own nails just as good! I also don’t get waxing done because I feel so much more comfortable just doing it myself!
I do however get my brows done about 4-5 times a year and just pluck them the little hairs in between because I cannot for the life of me do them myself. Luckily I have a amazing brow waxer and I always request her because she knows exactly how I like them!
Ditto on the brows. There are too many different preferences with eyebrows. Even my favorite makeup artists have different opinions than me on filling mine. No way I’m letting someone else touch them.
And I have had soooo many bad experiences with hair-cuts that I still haven’t gotten mine cut since January. It’s not that I’m totally unwilling to pay…just unwilling to pay someone who might not do a great job.
Brows. I do a great job in maintaining mine so, I do not see the need of me getting them done.
Upper lip waxing. I will always be able to do this myself. And it doesn’t require any shaping. Just want to get rid of it all! But I have naturally thick, unruly brow hair and I will always get them waxed by a pro, because I will never be able to trust myself to maintain the shape.
Manicures & pedicures! I think I get my nails done once every few years. Every time I go for one, my hands and feet are SO DRY afterwards. And my last manicure left me with insanely crooked fingernails.
Manicures and pedicures. I prefer to do them myself.
Yeah, waxing indeed. The hair grows back so fast! Maybe I am just a freak of nature, but it’s not worth it. And pedicures and manicures are easy to do at home as well, so I’d rather not spend money on those either.
I am with you on the brows and the waxing(one botched eyebrow session was enough for me!). One day I will be an old lady with horrible eyesight and shaky arthritic hands. Until then I will DIY for all I can- mani/pedis, too. I don’t like going to the salon for anything, because I am one of those people who hates being touched by strangers. Hair is an exception. but those haircuts are few and far between. It is just not relaxing to let someone else do it!
I usually don’t like getting manicure done because I feel like I can do a pretty good job myself and I’d rather buy a few nail polishes with the money I’d pay for the service.
I could never bring myself to have my brows done. I guess I have seen one too many girls leaving beauty salons with overplucked brows. I know that most women ask for that (there seems to be a trend going on for dry platinum hair and thin black brows in Germany right now – unfortunately!), and that everything would probably work out perfectly for me, but I’m too chicken.
The other thing are manicures: Why would I pay someone to file and paint my nails when I have a couple of perfectly fine files at home and a whole drawer of nail polish, in every color known to man? I like to change my nails color two or three times a week anyway, to match my clothes or my mood.
manicures and brows! I find doing my nails to be a relaxing process so its extremely rare that i’ll go and get them done. Similarly to you I have an immense fear that i’ll be stuck with pencil thin eyebrows, I’d rather have any mishaps happen in my own hands!
Manis, pedis or facials. I will get a pedi once in a while, but only after traveling and roughing it for a few weeks. Otherwise, I’d rather save my money for makeup.
I prefer to do my own manis/pedis. I have a LOT of polish available to use.
I refuse to pay for a job poorly done. Especially when I give careful instructions to the salon ladies, in different languages even, and they still mess up. Okay in order to not sound like an uptight bitch here, let me illustrate: I have sparse brows, but they’re angled well, and I can make them look good and full with my eyebrow pencils and powders, so I tell the salon ladies many times to not thread my eyebrows- I tell them to just thread out the extra hair around the brows. Yet, they go ahead and thread my brows anyway and make them look thin. In instances like that, I lose my head. Now I take along a friend to stand behind me while I get my brows done, so she can tell the salon lady when to stop threading my brows.
xo
Ashwini.
Haircuts! I cut my own. I’ve had 2 professional haircuts in my life (not at cheap places) and both were terrible. I’d rather screw it up for free!
I think Manicure and prdicure. I cry to pay for these! 😀
It’s not that I refuse, but I firmly think I can handle those things myself. I also used to cut my hair myself when I was younger. If you knew how much cost all those things in Switzerland you’d agree with me, that it’s impossible to have the whole thing done regularly unless you’re rich (It takes 100 bucks to get a simple hair cut, let’s not mention another 100 for colouring, 90 to get legs waxed, 150 if you want all your lady parts groomed, 50 to get your brows done, 150 for a facial peeling & pampering, 50 for regular mani/pedi, 90 for gel nails, so if you do that every other month, you’ll need around 3’500 bucks per year, and I’m not even taking you anywhere fancy! So yep, I can use that money differently)
I’m right there with you, Karen!
I love my eyebrows and know how to maintain them myself.
However, if I ever were to pay someone…I’d go to a Benefit Brow Bar. They know their stuff!
I’ve also recently decided to no longer pay for manis. I can do them myself, I hate having my cuticles cut (it never goes well, I swear!), and I’m really rough on my hands anyways — they never last.
Actually Eyebrows alone are something I dont dare do myself. Most of the rest I try myself almost always esp Waxing , mani/pedi and hair cut. Yup, I do my own hair these days with creaclip and the likes. Turns out not half bad once you get the hang of it.Somehow I am never that resilient when it comes to brows!
I hardly ever deal with beauty services. I’m too much of a pansy for waxing, so that’s out of the question 😀 I’m particularly picky about my brows and nails, and I am pretty good at maintaining each of them. I’ll only get a mani/pedi if I’m traveling and need to get one done in a hurry.
My hair is the one thing I’ll gladly pay for! I usually color my roots, but I never cut my own hair – I just don’t have a clue what to do. Recently I got my hair done with dark red streaks, and I’m awe of how it turned out.
I don’t pay for any beauty treatments these days! I used to have my brows done, and my hair cut, but now my bf cuts my hair and I do my own brows! I do keep meaning to go and get them threaded though.
I wouldn’t get a Mani pedi because why pay for something I can do myself?
I’m the opposite, my brows are one thing I refuse to go without getting done! But mostly because I’m a natural blonde and hairy Norwegian, so tinting, waxing and trimming are a must to tame them. 🙂 One thing I pretty much never pay for is a manicure. I’m such a perfectionist I feel I can do them better myself (although I do love splurging on the occasional pedicure, because who wants to be bent in half for that long?).
I usually do everything myself. I’m even considering doing my hair/makeup for my wedding… am I crazy? 😛
I did my own makeup for my wedding – it was much less stressful for me!
Ha! That’s a good one!! It’s very difficult to Pay for me because I’m a Hair & Makeup artist! So, I do everything… But sometimes I like to pamper… And when I see the cost of it! I say whattt?? But at the end I finish surrending, but services like facials/mani/waxing I will not pay!!!
I absolutely REFUSE to pay for brows and waxing as well. I’ve seen too many places use the same waxing stick on many different women. And the last time I went for brows was 3 years ago an the lady left me looking surprised for 3 weeks. That was the last draw! LOL
I’ve even started doing my own pedis as well…they just don’t clean those soaking tubs out well enough afterward for me. A quick bleach spray down would be sufficient but I haven’t seen that happen at any salon I’ve been to.
While I love indulging in a good mani/pedi, I do usually paint them myself as I have this unnatural fear of the girls ripping off the skin on the bottom of my feet (I once saw a girl take too much off and blood, there was.) If I do go (which is rarer than a blue moon), I ask them go to exfoliate my feet, not use those scraping tools.
I absolutely refuse to pay for dealing with my “mustache.” I just shave it down with an eyebrow shaver and I’m fine. My skin is too sensitive for waxing and I’d cry from tweezing that (tweezing my brows? Fine!), so I just shave that.
I also refuse to dole out money for shaving my arms/legs. I do that myself.
I’ve never had my brows done – I’ve always done them myself! Mine are a bit sparse anyway, I just tweeze anything outside of where I like them – it takes almost no time. I’m also a bit of a control freak…
I don’t wax or need hair removal that I can’t do myself – I shave my legs, and the hair there is blond, so it’s not noticeable at all if I’m lazy. I also have really horribly sensitive skin, so I’m not willing to risk it.
I’ll get a mani or a pedi once in a great while, but I’d rather do it myself. When I got a pedi for my wedding, she scraped up my foot in a spot that hurt for a while. I’m also paranoid about the tools/tubs not being clean.
The main thing I have done by other people is my hair! I see my cousin once every couple months for a haircut, and I don’t color or highlight my hair.
I refuse to pay for manicures because I can definitely do it myself and it’s my little downtime in front of the tv! on the other hand I caved in on the leg waxing (so far loving it) and have been getting my brows done by the benefit babes for a couple of years now. also looking for a facialist but that’s more of a once a year sort of thing…
I’m actually shocked at how many women have the same point of view! I generally do everything at home because I would rather spend my money on entertainment/material items (more lipstick!). But I did pay up for laser hair removal because I am so damn hairy. I don’t regret it because it’s made maintenance so much easier for me. I would rather invest in nicer at home spa products than go in somewhere to pay and have it done. There’s never a guarantee you’re going to get what you pay for anyways…
Hi5 karen.. Me too do my eyebrows myself.. just cant trust the parlor lady for these.. Though I do almost everything at home except haircut… but love to get pampered with Mani and Pedi once in a while.. 😉
Yep, I do mani/pedis, facials, hair trims and hair removal myself. I am a heart patient on blood thinners and my BF treated me to a manicure/pedicure this summer. I was so afraid that the manicurist would accidentally cut me and I would bleed to death or I would get an infection from the pedicure water that I freaked myself out (lol). Everything went well, but never again. Besides, my personal nail polish collection is amazing compared to the junk in the nail salon. I still get my eyebrows done every 6 weeks or so.
I am almost solely a DIY kind of girl. My body hair and eyebrows are so fine it hard to wax, so I just shave. I’m never happy with manicures and pedicures since I do a good job on my own, so I don’t waste the money. I dye my roots and my hair is long enough I can reach the ends to trim it myself. I pay for re-shaping my hair a couple times a year. Home facials are pretty easy, so why pay? I’m not opposed to paying for things I can’t do well, but I’ve gotten the hang of most of my maintenance. I even trim my cat’s claws when I can get him to hold still.
I’m with you on doing brows myself. I also won’t pay for facials anymore. I do a far better job at blackhead extractions than any facialist, and I think a person’s skin is dependent on their skincare regimen and how diligent they are with sun protection, than getting regular facials. Manis and pedis, waxing, and haircuts, I gladly pay for.
Manicure!! I usually do a good job at painting my nais so I never pay for it. I get a pedicure only once in a while and the rest of the time I do it myself.
In the past, I’ve always refused to have my hair darkened. It’s so easy and cheap to do it myself! Highlighting it is another story- I would get so mixed up and frazzled with all the foils, color concentrates, etc, I could never do it myself. HOWEVER. I am noticing that even though I get great color when I DIY dark hair, the damage is kind of dire. Looks great for a long time, but then I notice how frayed and crappy the ends look, and it’s impossible to brush. So I think I may entrust all hair ventures to my hairstylist from now on.
Anything hair related, brows, waxing, haircuts, etc., I do myself. Once a year when my family visits, the ladies in the family go for a mani/pedi. Rest of the year I do it myself. I’d rather save my $ for Sephora and massages.
I am sorry there is nothing I would not pay for except a color change on my nails and toes. Yes, there are places that will charge you for just changing the color with out doing a full manicure or pedicure. I rather do that myself.
Manicures. I do a better job myself, and every time I’ve ever gotten a manicure, it has chipped within a day. I don’t get pedicures, but I need to start, because I’m not great at doing my toes.
Oh, my.
I would get a pedicure once a year for a super special occasion, if that. but for the 364.25 days of the year, I do it myself (I’m REALLY particular about things…..).
And if I had cooperative help from The Man, I would wax my own arms (I’m furry…balbon).
I don’t know what else. Maybe eyebrow waxing/threading/plucking. I’m really tempted to hit up the Benefit Beauty Brow Bar, though. I have sparse eyebrows and have been trying to find something to make them look a tad more fuller, without being obvious. So far, Anastasia’s pencil in Ebony, and NYX’s brow powder in the grey/black shade help. But the oils that develop throughout the day make the NYX look a lil cakey. Trial and error. 🙂
I try to do everything by myself. Body waxing and manicure I really can’t justify it! Pedicure is a different story, as I suffer from dry skin and calluses…
I DIY everything except hair trims, which I get done two or three times a year. Four years ago I had a pedicure done and she cut my big toe nail crooked. I don’t even make mistakes like that. Never again. I too had a bad threading session and they left open wounds on my face. No. I can pluck them myself. Waxing results in issues too, due to my acne medication.
Hair removal for anything below the neck. I have razors, hair removal creams, and sugaring this this.
Losing your eyebrows to an over eager technician is not an irrational fear! It is totally rational. The grown back period seems to last forever. I stick to the same person every time.
Well I’ve managed to pluck eyebrows into oblivion myself so I don’t need anyone else to have a go! I also wouldn’t pay for waxing – I can get away with shaving my legs once a week.
Not big on paying for manicures either as I like to change my nail polish too often to justify it.
I pay for hair cut & colouring and facials. I do those every two months.
Sometimes I go to the salon for a mani/pedi but I usually do it myself. I’d never pay for brows or other hair removal.
It’s worth mentioning that I live in Brazil, where most women (despite their income, once there are places for all kinds of pockets) go to the salon every week for mani, every two weeks for pedis and waxing and very often for cutting, colouring and blow drying.
The beauty services here are cheaper than in US or Europe. I live in Sao Paulo, which is an expensive city. Even though the prices are like 10 US dollars for a mani, 15 for a pedi, 60 for hair cut, 25 for blow dry in a medium range salon.
Lately I’ve been doing my eyebrows myself. I suck at keeping up with grooming because I HATE tweezing but I stopped paying to get them done a while ago. They’re sparse anyway so it was a waste. I won’t pay to get my hair or lashes done anymore either. I’ve mastered both and I always do a much better job than salons. Plus, I’m much more careful so my hair is sooo much longer and healthier.