Visit to BeautiQ in Tokyo

I was going to announce the results of the su:m37 giveaway yesterday, but... I'm dealing with a pesky health issue this weekend and will be out of commission until Wednesday, or so.
My apologies, I will do my best to post the results on Wednesday.

Today let's talk about nasal hair.
Yep, you heard me right. Nose. Hair.

Mialam wczoraj podac wyniki rozdania su:m37, ale... Niestety mam nieprzewidziane sensacje zdrowotne i jestem bezuzyteczna do okolo srody. Wiec wyniki podam w srode.
Bardzo przepraszam za to opoznienie.

Dzis bedzie o wlosach w nosie.
Tak. To nie pomylka. Wlosy. W nosie.

To be honest I had never even paid any attention to my nose hair. Did I even have any? My hair is so light in color and so fine that it's barely visible as it is.

But apparently, them Japanese folk have a nose hair complex. At Daiso you can get special nasal hair scissors, drugstores carry nose hair trimmers, and if cutting and trimming doesn't do it for you, you can get the inner bits of your nose waxed. Yep. Waxed.


Tak uczciwie, to nigdy nawet nie przygladalam sie moim wloskom w nosie. Czy ja nawet je mialam? Moje wlosy sa tak delikatne i tak transparentne, ze prawie wcale ich nie widac.

Ale Japonczycy maja chyba kompleks wloskow nosowych. W Daiso sa specjalne nozyczyki do podcinania tychze, a w kazdej drogerii mozna kupic specjalne narzedzia do karczowania wlosow w nosie.
Ale jesli podcinanie i karczowanie to nie dla ciebie, to mozna je sobie usunac woskiem. Yep. Woskiem. W nosie.

I didn't even know it was possible until I got invited to participate in a complimentary nose waxing session at BeautiQ.

Nie wiedzialam nawet, ze wnetrze nosa mozna traktowac woskiem, dopoki nie zostalam zaproszona na gratisowa sesje w BeautiQ.

BeautiQ stands for "beauty" and "quick" and is a very functional, very professional and very efficient beauty salon right in the heart of Tokyo. In fact, it is just a short walk from the esthetic medicine office where I get my botox shots. It's also walking distance to Omotesando Hills for a bit of shopping.

BeautiQ to combinacja slow "beauty" - piekno i "quick" czyli szybko. Jest to bardzo prosty i bardzo funkcjonalny salon kosmetyczny (nie mylic z salonem medycyny estetycznej) w samym srodku Tokio. Jak sie okazalo jest on jakies 5 minut spacerkiem od gabinetu medycyny estetycznej, gdzie traktuja mnie botoxem i laserem. Jest rowniez blisko Omotesando Hills (jakies 10 minut na piechote).

BeautiQ has an English language webpage, and the three ladies that work at the salon all speak English.
And in addition to the nose hair waxing (for which BeautiQ is somewhat famous, as I found out the day I was there), the salon offers all the standard skincare and beauty treatments. What it doesn't offer though is the pretense of luxury. For that you should go to the KohGenDo salon in Azabu Juban.

BeautiQ ma strone internetowa po angielsku, i wszystkie trzy panie kosmetyczki (Japonki), ktore tam pracuja, mowia plynnie po angielsku.
I oprocz usuwania wlosow w nosie (jak sie okazalo z tego wlasnie slynie BeautiQ, a o czym ja nie mialam pojecia), salon ten oferuje tez standardowe zabiegi kosmetyczne. Czego nie oferuje to nadecie i udawanie ekskluzywnosci. Po to trzeba sie wybrac do KohGenDo w Azabu Juban.

At BeautiQ you get stuff done, but you won't be overly pampered.
Need a quick wax here and there? Then BeautiQ is your place. They do other body parts, not just noses. I'm planning to get my eyebrows done there once they grow back a bit. I'm so sick and tired of the Russian stewardess style circa 1980s that browbars at upscale department stores insist on giving me. Yeah, I know I'm a Slavic-looking white woman. But that doesn't mean you have to make me look like a cut rate hooker from Brighton Beach. So I'm hoping that the ladies at BeautiQ can work some magic on my brows next time.

W BeautiQ zrobia co maja zrobic, zrobia to sprawnie i dokladnie, ale nie bedzie tam ani swiec, ani indyjskiej muzyki z glosnikow, ani drinkow podawanych na tacy (bo w takich salonach kosmetycznych tez swojego czasu bylam).
Potrzebujesz szybkiego wosku tu i owdzie? BeautiQ jest dla ciebie. Robia tez i inne czesci ciala, nie tylko nosy. Mam zamiar pojsc tam po brwi, jak mi one troche odrosna i jak bede nastepnym razem w Tokio. Mam juz dosyc tego co robia mi paniusie w browbarach ekskluzywnych marek w ekskluzywnych mallach, bo zawsze potem mam luczki jak sowiecka stewardesa z lat 80-tych. No, ja wiem, ze wygladam na slowiansko. Ale to nie znaczy, ze trzeba mi robic brewki, ktorych nie powstydzilaby sie uliczna prostytutka z Brighton Beach.
Wiec mam nadzieje, ze nastepnym razem panie w BeautiQ ogarna troche ksztalt moich brwi.


~~~

Oh, and the best part about BeautiQ?
It's very affordable.

A co jest najlepsze w BeautiQ?
Ceny.

10 minute facial massage and a cleansing treatment will set you back 1000 yen. 30 minutes? 3000 yen.
And let me tell you, the massage was divine (I paid for it, only the nasal hair removal was a freebie).

Just like at a Japanese fast food joint, you select your desired service using a booking and payment machine. If you can't read Japanese, don't worry, one of the ladies there can help you. But beware, they are very skilled upsellers :-)

Even though the machine takes only cash, you can still pay with a credit card. They have this crafty gizmo for that:

10 minut masazu twarzy, wraz z zabiegiem oczyszczajacym to tylko 1000 jenow. 30 minut? 3000 jenow.
I masaz, ktoremu sie poddalam (platny zabieg, tylko wlosy w nosie byly gratis) byl cudowny.

Tak jak w japonskim fastfoodzie, jest maszyna, gdzie wybiera sie rodzaj zabiegu i placi. Jesli klient/ka nie zna japonskiego, spoko, panie w BeautiQ mowia po angielsku i pomoga. Ale sa bardzo zdolne jesli chodzi o namowienie na bardziej fikusny zabieg, ostrzegam. Namawiaja z umiarem, bazujac na rodzaju cery i na wymaganiach klientki.

Maszyna akceptuje tylko gotowke, ale znowu spoko, mozna placic karta, nawet zagraniczna.

And unlike some stupid Japanese places, they will take foreign issued cards as well.

As I went there to try the nose waxing procedure, this is what we started with:

First the insides of my nose were disinfected, cleaned and dried. Then Kimiyo (but everyone calls her "Kimmy") applied the wax. Wait a few seconds and then pull. Surprisingly, it wasn't that painful.

Kiedy ja stawilam sie w BeautiQ na moje usuwanie wlosow z nosa, zaczelysmy od tego:

Najpierw wnetrze nosa zostalo zdezynfekowane, oczyszczone i wysuszone. Potem Kimiyo (ale wolaja na nia "Kimmy") nalozyla wosk. Odczekala kilka sekund i raptownie wyciagnela patyczek. Nie bylo to az tak bolesne jak oczekiwalam.

While it didn't hurt (much), I must admit, it was a rather strange sensation to have a popsicle stick stuck up my nose.

I didn't have any makeup on that day, so please excuse my zitty looking face.
After with my nose bald, it was time for a face massage and a cleansing and moisturizing treatment.

I choc nie bolalo az tak bardzo, to musze przyznac, ze bylo to raczej dziwne uczucie miec patyk w nosie.
Nie mialam makijazu tego dnia, wiec przepraszam za niezbyt prezentacyjna twarz.
Kiedy juz moj nos byly lysy, pani K. zabrala sie za oczyszczanie mojej twarzy, masaz i zabieg nawilzajacy przy pomocy specjalnej maszyny.

The massage was divine. I didn't want her to stop.
It was so good I almost fell asleep there.

Masaz byl boski. Nie chcialam, aby kiedykolwiek przestala.
Prawie ze zasnelam jej tam na stole.

It felt simply wonderful. I am used to massaging my face by myself, so it was super nice to have someone do it for me for a change.

I also had a special moisturizing treatment, but again, it was so pleasant and relaxing that I didn't even think to take any photos.

For a no-frills beauty salon, the service was top notch. I'm a complainer at heart, and here I didn't really have anything to complain about.

As I said before, there are 3 ladies that work there and they all speak English.

Zawsze robie masaz twarzy sama, wiec byla to niesamowicie przyjemna odmiana miec kogos, kto robil to dla mnie.
Mialam rowniez zabieg nawilzajacy, ale znowu byl tak relaksujacy, ze zapomnialam o robieniu zdjec.
Jak na salon no-frills, obsluga klienta byla na japonskim poziomie. Ja lubie narzekac, ale w BeautiQ nie bylo sie do czego przyczepic. Wszystko poszlo szybko i sprawnie i bardzo komfortowo.
I jak juz wspominalam, panie kosmetyczki mowia po angielsku.

Most of the informational materials they have is also in English. But the service experience is Japanese through and through.

And now, the stuff you've all been waiting for:


Wiekszosc ich materialow informacyjnych opisujacych zabiegi jest rowniez po angielsku. Ale obsluga klienta jest w calkowicie japonskim stylu.

A teraz to, na co wszyscy czekali:

My nose hair!
Yuck!

Moje wlosy nosowe.
Ugh! Ohyda!

Practical info / Strona salonu po angielsku: BeautiQ's English webpage
Facebook: BeautiQ's Fan Page

PS. Just so you know (after wiki): 

a 2010 study indicated that increased nasal hair density decreases development of asthma in those suffering from seasonal rhinitis, possibly due to an increased capacity of the hairs to filter out pollen and other allergens. 

Badania w 2010 pokazuja, ze zwiekszona gestosc wlosow w nosie zmniejsza ryzyko astmy u ludzi, ktorzy cierpia na sezonowe alergie, prawdopodobnie dzieki temu, ze filtruja wiecej pylkow kwiatowych i innych allergenow.

(from Ozturk, A.B.; Damadoglu, E.; Karakaya, G.; Kalyoncu, A.F. (2011). "Does Nasal Hair (Vibrissae) Density Affect the Risk of Developing Asthma in Patients with Seasonal Rhinitis?". International Archives of Allergy and Immunology 156 (1): 75–80)