Double dipping
Also called: Re-dipping the spatula
Putting a spatula back into the wax pot after it has touched skin, so the shared wax is no longer clean; a practice to avoid.
Double dipping is when the same spatula is dipped into the pot, spread on the skin, then dipped into the pot again. The wax in the pot is warm, not hot enough to sterilise, and it is shared between clients. Anything on the skin, from bacteria to traces of blood from a nicked hair, can go back into the pot.
Some providers argue the wax is too hot for anything to survive. It is not a claim to rely on: the safe practice, and the one most hygiene guidance for salons recommends, is a fresh spatula for every dip, or at the very least a fresh one for every client and every area, with the pot never shared across clients without that rule.
It is easy to check. Watch the spatula. If it goes from your skin back to the pot, you can ask the therapist to use a new one. A therapist who works cleanly will not mind the question.
Hamd Beauty therapists use single-use spatulas and strips for each client, opened in front of you.
