Happy Bikini Waxing with Jude

I look forward to Waxing Day because of Jude.

Listen, if you are going to have someone paint your nether regions with warm wax and then strip you of your hairs, well, you might as well choose to do it with someone who is an expert at reducing your discomfort AND someone who makes you laugh out loud.

That's Jude.

Jude is one of my favorite people here in Buenos Aires. A Brit with a degree in economics, she is known as the queen of bikini waxing. Jude offers all sorts of beauty services in her Recoleta studio through her fabulously branded company, Lulu of London. Her "Back, Crack and Sack" wax job is extremely popular among her gay/trans clients, and it's not just her technique that brings people back--it's her personality.

She's brilliant. She's hilarious. She's very professional and never Names Names but if you ask her a question like "What's the weirdest thing you've ever seen in your work?" she might tell you a story that you won't be able to get out of your head.

What I love about Jude is that she is such an interesting blend. She's a voracious reader of great literature who loves celebrity gossip. She's a down-home girl you'd laugh all night with at the pub, but she is up-to-the-minute on the latest fashions. She's an atheist with tremendous optimism and a cheerful passion for life.

Anyway, Jude actually makes getting waxed a festive event. I head over to Jude's place, she buzzes me in and while reclining in her sleek white studio she gives me updates on her doings here in Buenos Aires. I barely even notice the waxing part because I am so interested in her funny stories.

She's a busy girl. In addition to her thriving beauty business, she has co-founded a nonprofit organization here in Buenos Aires called Aesthetic Argentina. She and her buddy Philip started this outfit to help the people who come to BA to get cosmetic or reconstructive surgery. They'd seen too many botched jobs and heard so many horror stories that they wanted to start a free referral service to help people get good quality care.

They don't charge for their service--they simply share info about surgeons and clinics and procedures and help people make the best choices. They are devoted to their clients, many of whom come to BA solely for surgery and don't know a soul here. They ease them through the process of arrival, meeting with the physician, planning the surgery, etc. and make sure they are settled nicely in their rented apartments, have food, magazines, DVDs, and whatever else they need in order to recover comfortably and safely. Aesthetic Argentina accepts donations from their happy clients and then donates money to Piel, a local organization offering reconstructive surgery to children here in Argentina who are born with cleft palates and other facial deformities.

Jude wants to donate enough money to build a state-of-the-art operating room on Piel premises so that more kids can have surgery without their families having to pay the hospital portion of the bill (right now, Piel doctors perform surgeries free of charge but the hospitals charge for the use of their facilities).

It's all about the kids, really. Jude loves them.

She's put together a creative life here in Buenos Aires, full of passion and fun and good work.

You can learn more about Jude's business at www.luluoflondon.com.ar and more about her charity work at www.aestheticargentina.com

Oh, and the waxing is exceptional. Really.