Welcome to our first merchant spotlight, Lay Bare Waxing Studio, one of Southern California’s top hair removal specialists, with three locations in the greater L.A. area. Fiona Hilario, the owner and general manager of Lay Bare got her start 8 years ago in the Philippines, where she has 63 locations. Since opening their first US store, Lay Bare has already expanded twice and can hardly keep up with demand. Lucky for us, Fiona took some time out of her busy schedule to tell us more about her business.
Lay Bare specializes in cold wax hair removal, or what is known as Sugaring. (Check out our Sugaring service guide to learn more). The wax is an all-natural product made from sugar, honey, and lemon. The wax is applied cold, which means you’ll never be burned!
Battle of the sexes: Who can handle the pain?
As you might expect, most of Lay Bare’s clientele is female. But, Lay Bare also has a dedicated set of male customers. The most surprising detail about her male regulars? Big guys aren’t always as tough as they seem. Fiona recounted that on several occasions, a few couldn’t handle the pain and had to stop. Given the glowing reviews that Lay Bare receives, we found it hard to believe these guys couldn’t take it. But, as they say: no pain, no gain.
Fiona loves when customers come back again and again, and MyTime is her preferred way to get clients back in the door. Many of her regulars love being able to book 24/7, buy packages to save on their monthly waxing needs. They also enjoy Fiona’s off-peak discounts on weekdays, 9am to 12noon (available exclusively on MyTime). Over two-thirds of her bookings on MyTime are for those hard-to-fill times during the week. And of course, there are the hundreds of reviews from happy MyTime customers which help increase Lay Bare’s visibility in Google search results.
We asked: What service would you provide on a deserted island?
We threw Fiona a curve ball and asked which Lay Bare service she would bring to a deserted island. And Fiona didn’t miss a beat. Instead of the cold-wax sugaring, Fiona picked Lay Bare’s eyebrow threading. “With threading, the island’s people would look more civilized and be less likely to be confused with the animals you’d likely to be hunting to stay alive.” Fiona’s energetic and fun personality clearly helps drive the business.
So there you have it: Eyebrow threading not only makes you look great, folks, but can… umm, prevent your fellow man from accidentally hunting you on a deserted island. Bonus!
Thanks to Fiona for participating in our Merchant Spotlight and we encourage our southern California readers to check out her LA locations, all bookable on MyTime.
Each month we’ll introduce you to another of our awesome businesses. Want to nominate a business? Just tweet us at @MyTime. Til next time!
