Brazilian waxing: Black Peony vs Pink Parlour

I went for brazilian waxing at both Black Peony and Pink Parlour recently, both paid out of my own pocket. This is a review to share my honest opinions. 

Be warned: wordy post with no pictures

Location:

Black Peony is a small shop located at the ground floor of a HDB estate at Outram. While it is relatively near to the Outram MRT station, it cannot compete with Pink Parlour, with their many branches at various locations in Singapore.

Winner: Pink Parlour

Ambience:

Black Peony has a small shop front, when I visited them, there was only one person tending the shop (Nina). The decorations of the place was very simple, kind of a 90s vintage feel that makes me feel like a runaway from home. The place is a bit old and small, there doesn't seem to be a washing area/bathroom as well so you've got to rely on wet tissues.

For Pink Parlour, I went to the NEX outlet and the place was decorated very nicely, with a pink theme (duh) that comes across as very princessy. They have a washing area so it does feel more hygienic.

Winner: Pink Parlour

Price:

The price for trial at both places are about the same. You can get a trial session for Black Peony from Qoo10, and Pink Parlour always has some deals going on at Groupon. Black Peony doesn't really have packages because I think the shop owner doesn't believe in them. So after the first session, you go by a pay-per-visit basis. That said, they do have promotions for packages sometimes that are quite a lot cheaper. Not so sure about Pink Parlour as I didn't enquire about the packages. No hard-selling from both shops when I visited so that was a plus point.

Winner: draw

Skills:

Okay, now comes the important part. Skills-wise, I would say Black Peony was much better. Maybe because the shop was tended only by a few (2?) people, they are more experienced in what they do. It was painful but the pain went away quite soon after I left the shop. There were some hair that was broken off instead of removed from the roots, but it wasn't that much of an issue. 

For Pink Parlour, the girl that tended to me was quite young, and maybe as a result, more inexperienced. It was very painful when she 'tore' off the hair, and I could still feel the stinging the next day. A lot of hair were broken off instead of removed from the roots so it resulted in quite a lot of in-growns and was very prickly when it grew. Not a nice feeling.

Winner: definitely Black Peony

I would definitely visit Black Peony but I don't think I'll be going back to Pink Parlour for brazilian waxing again. It's a pity because the shop is very nicely decorated and the locations are good. But ultimately, it's the skills of the waxer that matters.