RACY Scots women are spicing up their sex lives this Christmas by having designer bikini waxes to help thrill their Yuletide lovers.
Among the festive fringes being asked for are designs for Christmas trees, Angels and the Coco Chanel logo.
Behind the pubic pruning is a Russian beauty hailing from Moscow, Maths and Physics graduate Anna Brown (nee Kischenkova ).
The 27-year-old says her talents at salon RBFY in Edinburgh have never been in more demand.
She said: “To date, the most popular shapes are heart, the butterfly, the diamond and the Chanel logo.
“As well as shapes, I can use glitter and crystals to make a design or I can dye the area to a particular colour.”
“Some clients have come to me when it is their partner’s birthday to get their partner’s initials as the design.
“But others have asked for shapes that have a particular significance to their partner.
“For instance, one lady just got a Christmas tree done as her design.
“She told me her partner hated Christmas and refused to have a Christmas tree in their house so she wanted her bikini design to be like their own private joke.”
Nine years ago, Brown relocated to the UK to study and was shocked at how few affordable beauty treatments were on offer.
So she decided to strike out on her own.
She said: “In post-Soviet Russia, women are incredible glamorous.
“There is a beauty salon on every street corner and treatments such as nail design or waxing are seen as an everyday necessity.
“When I came to the UK I realised that beauty treatments here were viewed not as a necessity but as a luxury.”
Brown decided to capitalise on this gap in the market and opened the Frederick Street-based salon in September this year.
“For me, Beauty was always a hobby and I was particularly interested in nail design. Therefore when I started writing my business plan in September 2009, initially I thought the salon would focus on nail design,” she says.
“Because the focus of the salon was going to be artistic beauty treatments I thought why not add bikini design to the menu.
“It has become a very popular treatment in Russia within the past 10 years and it is not offered anywhere else In Scotland. I thought it might be something that would make my salon a little bit different from its competitors.”
Bikini design gives Brown’s clients the option of having something more artistic done to their intimate area after their routine bikini wax.
She said: “After the 20-minute bikini wax, the bikini design takes an extra 10 minutes to do and costs an additional five pounds.
“Clients of all ages and all professions are having it done. The youngest client I had was a girl of 18, while the oldest was a 60-year-old grandmother.
“Some people do it for fun, some people do it to surprise their partner and some people do it just to be adventurous but the response is always the same – amazement at how pretty it looks.”
While some visitors to the salon might have their reservations, Brown says most are quickly converted.
She said: “I had a middle-aged lady in having her nails done recently who was very sceptical about bikini design and told me she thought it was perverted.
“However, once I explained what bikini design entailed, she decided to have it done.
“She got a crown with crystal-embellishment and left the place smiling, saying she had never felt so good about herself.”
Brown says it is a simple fact that women sporting bikini designs exude body confidence, which can lead to an improved sex life.
She said: “When you have a bikini design, you will be proud when you are naked because your body will look so beautiful.
“Designs will also spice up your sex life as it will be a private joke for you and your partner to enjoy together.
“One lady who got a glittered dragon confided to me that her partner was very impressed at the effort she had made to make their time together even more special.”
For the time being, Brown limits her intimate designs to women, though she says she would be happy to do designs on less intimate parts of the male anatomy, such as back, chest or stomach.
While some might lament her career choice give her staunch academic background, Brown believes she had found her calling.
She said: “My salon allows me to use every aspect of my whole education.
“As a Maths graduate, I am able to make statistical projections about my business, while my psychology and human resources training allows me to interact with people successfully.
“With the bikini design, I am able to use my artistic talent to make someone feel great about their body, something that keeps a smile on my face.”
