Nurse tears a strip off those reusing hot wax

JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/The Press

EYE ON HYGIENE: Amy Johnson, of Riccarton House of Beauty, waxes a client.

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New Zealand waxing parlours need to stop recycling hot wax, says a Christchurch nurse.

Alison Carter, a consultant for infection control and prevention at Medlab South, said re-using wax was not a "given procedure especially in this day and age".

While blood infections might not be a risk, other viruses could still be spread.

"Heating the wax would kill any bacteria. If they did have blood in the wax, it would destroy any viruses. But human papillomavirus (warts) would be passed on."

One Christchurch salon admitted it re-used its hot wax.

The wax was boiled to make it sterile, and any hair filtered out. "It is perfectly safe, and there are absolutely no hairs in it," a therapist from the salon said.

The salon got a new batch of wax "about once a week" and the salon was putting less burden on the environment by recycling, she said.

The New Zealand Association of Registered Beauty Therapists has a code of practice for beauty clinics, spas and training establishments.

Manager Vivien Engler said the New Zealand beauty industry was unregulated, but its members must operate under the code.

"There are no laws to govern how these treatments are done. Non-member beauty therapists are not covered by this code." The code states that under no circumstance is hot wax to be recycled.

Australia has universal guidelines for all beauty parlours and therapy treatments. It recommends disposing of wax after each use on a client, but re-using wax is allowed if a disinfection process

to eliminate the possibility of transferring blood-borne diseases such as HIV or hepatitis is followed.

Tutor Angela Graham, of the Christchurch-based National School of Aesthetics, which offers beauty therapy courses, said she was "disgusted to hear this practice [re-using wax] was still taking place". "There are incredible safety risks. Decades ago people did that, years before my 10 years of training, but now we are more aware of body fluids. They may say it is environmentally-friendly by recycling, but it is not client-friendly."

The school enforced the safest disposable methods of the wax, such as throwing away wax strips "unless there are body fluids involved then they are thrown into the clinical waste bin", she said.

Riccarton House of Beauty manager Amy Johnson said the salon used strip only for legs, with hot wax for Brazilians, arms and backs. It disposed of all hot wax and wax strips.

- © Fairfax NZ News