West Yorkshire mum makes six-figure salary from intimate waxing

ExCo

Louise Moss followed in the footsteps of her dad, brother and sister-in-law by going into banking, and helping people with mortgages.

But when the bank made redundancies in 2017 she took the cash, seeing it as an opportunity to work around her son who was just one at the time.

The 44-year-old swapped budgets for beauty treatments, training in eyebrow tattooing, lashes and nails.

But after covid, when many Brits learned how to do DIY treatments, Louise identified a gap in the market - of specialist intimate waxers.

Sick of seeing them treated as taboo and hidden away on a treatment menu, Louise decided to train in the area and 'shout about' it in order to normalise it.

Now, two years after setting up The Intimate Studio, she concedes it's the 'weirdest job in the world', but claims she rakes in an 'unbelievable' six-figure sum each year.

Louise, from Bramham, West Yorkshire, said: "It's the weirdest job in the world but the best job in the world.

"When people ask 'what is it you do for a job?' [I reply] 'I rip out people's pubes', but I really enjoy it.

"I make way more money now than I did in banking. It's actually getting to the point where it's unbelievable the amount of money that I'm making.

"I'm making over six figures a year, I never thought I would make this amount of money."

Starting out working at NatWest, Louise then moved to HSBC before changing career entirely and moving into the beauty space.

Louise said: "My dad worked in a bank, so did my brother and sister-in-law.

"I was quite successful [in banking] but as time went on things kept changing and I didn't want to go back into banking.

"I got made redundant just as my little boy was one. I'd been married a year and a half and took it as the opportunity to get away.

"I needed to have something that I could work around my little boy and that's how I got into beauty.

"After covid it was really different. Lots of people learned how to do their own nails and lashes during lockdown so then I had to think outside the box.

"I noticed there was a gap in the market, there was nobody shouting about intimate waxing.

"It's always hidden away on a treatment menu, it's a bit taboo in a way. I really wanted to go all in, shout about it and make it normal, so that's how I ended up where I am."

Despite it being a completely different field, Louise said she gets immense job satisfaction, and pay, from what she does.

Louise said: "This is my calling, I enjoy making women that are like me feel like they belong.

"I'm massively into body positivity, not judging and making people feel comfortable.

"I feel that's my super power. I can make women feel comfortable even though they're sitting there legs akimbo.

"You can have really great conversations with people, so I get to know them really well. I probably know more of their secrets than their best friend does."

Regularly sharing funny myth-busting videos online, Louise has become something of a local celebrity and is regularly stopped by women, even in the supermarket.

Louise said: "I think I've got the right personality for it and willing to put myself out there.

"I have people come and see me and say 'I feel like I'm meeting a celebrity' because I post myself all over [social media].

"I got stopped in Tesco the other day [and was asked] 'are you the waxing lady?'

"It's something that's not talked about for some reason, it's nothing taboo.

"My target clients are the women that are nervous to go into salons. A lot of salons can be a bit pretentious, they might have younger girls that look you up and down.

"We've all got body hang ups, we've all got stretch marks, skin tags and moles.

"Society has taught us we need to look and be a certain way but every single client that I see has stretch marks.

"I'd say 75% of people have got piles but everyone thinks they're an exception to the rule. I get women ask 'is mine normal?' I'm like 'yeah'.

"My clients are generally over the age of 30, my oldest client is 78. I get a lot of first-time waxers because of the way I market myself."

Louise, who wants to eventually set up a body positivity salon offering waxing, body casting and boudoir photography, is determined to spread the message that waxing is for everyone.

Louise said: "If you are going for a wax make sure you go to someone who specialises in it.

"Everybody is normal. We're brought up with these ideals, probably from [adult films], that we've all got to look a certain way but we're all different and that doesn't mean it's ugly.

"Waxing is for everybody, it doesn't matter if you've had a few more cakes than somebody else, if it's something you want to do then you should do it."