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Bare Necessities
Sun spots, ingrowns, untamed bikini lines—Cindy Barshop has seen it all. Here, she explains Completely Bare’s high-tech beauty solutions and reveals how every woman can look better naked.
By Marissa Kristal

You had a career in telecommunications before making the switch to aesthetics. What prompted you to change careers and launch Completely Bare in 1998?
I was working in sales for IBM, but I was fascinated by hair-removal procedures. My interest stemmed from my own beauty problems: I’ve always had very coarse, thick hair, and anyone who has this type of hair knows that regular bikini waxes aren’t an option. First of all, when hair’s thick and coarse, waxes won’t create a clean bikini line because they don’t completely remove all the hair; plus, they cause a lot of painful and unsightly ingrowns. As a result, the bikini line actually looks worse after waxing than before! So Completely Bare was born out of my attempts to solve my own problems, and now I offer the solutions I’ve found to my clients. What sets my procedures and products apart is that they’re extremely efficient, they utilize the latest technologies, and there’s no downtime afterward.

In less than a decade, Completely Bare has become one of New York City’s most popular day spas, and you’ve opened four additional locations. Can you describe the spas for those who haven’t visited yet?
Our philosophy is something we call spa-tology—a relaxing, luxurious spa atmosphere with effective, fast-acting, clinical procedures. Ultimately, we’re all about results. After opening our first location on Madison Avenue, we launched additional Completely Bare spas in Scarsdale, New York; on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan; at Barney’s New York; and in Palm Beach, Florida. In the next year or so, I’m hoping to launch at least one or two more locations.

One of the technologies you utilize is Intense Pulsed Light [IPL]. Can you tell us how IPL works in hair removal?
Intense light pulsation is an extremely effective hair-reduction technology that works on all skin tones. The treatment can be tailored depending on hair color, skin color, and the deepness and consistency of the individual’s hair follicles. IPL injures the hair follicles under the skin while they’re in anagen, or growth, stage, which causes any future growth to be finer and lighter. After the initial treatment, patients generally have to return about six more times, although some patients require more touchups than others. Besides removing hair permanently, IPL hurts less than waxing and gets rid of ingrowns.

You also use IPL procedures to diminish dark spots, correct?
Yes. My desire to find a remedy to reduce dark spots also came from my own beauty issues. Years ago, I had a very bad chemical peel, and I also have hyperpigmentation. With my dark, thick skin, I needed something besides a simple facial to fix the problem. So I started looking into Epi-facials and Epi-polishes, which are nonaggressive and nonabrasive. An Epi-facial is a patented technology that utilizes IPL photo-rejuvenation to address fine lines, broken capillaries, sun damage, acne, scars, age spots, hyperpigmentation, rosacea, and so forth. IPL treats the factors that lead to aging skin and can be customized to specific skin types. And there’s absolutely no downtime—you can immediately go back to your normal life. An Epi-polish is basically a shorter version of the Epi-facial that brightens your skin in only 15 minutes.

What are micro-currents, and how do you utilize them?
Micro-current stimulation is like exercise for the skin—it helps increase the skin’s elasticity and prevents atrophy of the facial muscles. Delicate electric currents are placed on the facial muscles, and in turn, they promote cell growth, regeneration, and healing. In general, women need to have two to three treatments within one to two weeks to see results, and the procedure is best for women over the age of 30; younger women who already have supple skin don’t need it.

Completely Bare has branched out into several other areas, including teeth whitening, eyebrow shaping, and airbrush tanning. Can you describe these services?
Everything we offer is designed to serve as an accessory to women’s regular beauty routines, and we have a team of beauty experts administering the procedures. Most were treatments that I personally had a need for and then decided to bring to my salons and clients. For instance, because of my hyperpigmentation, I can’t tan anymore, but I still want to maintain a healthy-looking glow. So I devised Sculpted Tanning, a process in which our technicians use airbrushed sunless tanner to give the body a bronze, sculpted look. Another procedure we offer is Completely White—a gel-foam teeth-whitening technology that takes about a half hour and doesn’t cause any sensitivity. Our dentist, Dr. Andrew Turchin, performs the procedure. Plus, we’ve recently added brow stylist Laura Ungureanu to our Completely Bare team. Laura has worked with celebrities like J.Lo and Cindy Crawford, and now that she’s with us, all women can benefit from her services. She waxes, shapes, fills in brows, and teaches her clients everything they need to know in order to maintain their arches at home.

When it comes to the bikini line, the desired look seems to change every few years. What are the latest trends?
We started out with Brazilians, then we went to that little triangle patch, and now, as clothes are getting smaller and jeans are getting lower, we’re going completely bare. Because of that, many women are now accessorizing down there. In fact, our most popular wax has been cb with a Flair—a completely bare wax with Swarovski crystal designs! From crystal flowers to hearts, women can create their own look. Another popular procedure is our Bikini Graffiti, in which we airbrush on the design of the client’s choice. Some women choose their lucky number, their boyfriend’s name, or their favorite logo. Whatever design they want, we’ll do.

Can you tell us about the Completely Bare Bikini Bump Blaster?
Our Bikini Bump Blaster is great for women who experience terrible ingrowns. Each package contains 60 pads, and depending on how many ingrown hairs you have, they can be used in both the morning and the evening or, if you don’t have that many, every couple of days. It’s a great product because it uses glycolic and salicylic acid to get rid of ingrown hairs and prevent new ones from forming; the glycolic acid exfoliates, while the salicylic acid cleans out the area and reduces sebum production. For the men in our lives, we also have the Razor Bump Blaster, which works in a similar way.

During the fall and winter, some women neglect their hair-removal regimens. What would you suggest for those of us who tend to slack?
That’s why our permanent hair-removal techniques are so great. Instead of continuously shaving or getting waxed, women can just undergo IPL treatments, the hair falls out, and the regrowth diminishes and eventually stops. But for women who don’t want to do that, we’re about to debut a new at-home treatment called Completely Bare Wax Works. Unlike other at-home products whose waxes don’t heat up or go on skin evenly, ours is professional quality and comes with its own heater. Using the product is easy: Just apply the wax in the direction of the hair growth, and pull it off in the opposite direction. In addition to that, you should always start with clean, dry skin and refrain from waxing during your menstrual period or if the hair’s too short. And in general, women shouldn’t try to give themselves Brazilians or anything dramatic at home; it’s best to stick with a basic side-panel touch-up.

The cooler weather also brings dry, flaky skin. Do you have any products designed to combat that?
Yes. Our Completely Buff exfoliator is great when skin’s at its driest. It’s basically at-home microdermabrasion with ultrafine aluminum-oxide crystals, and the formula is fragrance-free so it won’t cause inflammation or breakouts. I tell my clients to mix it with their facial wash to promote cell regeneration and skin hydration and to brighten their overall complexion. Plus, Completely Buff can be used on other parts of the body. On darker skin, it’s best used two to three times a week; on lighter skin, once a week or every other week is sufficient. Since darker skin is tougher, it takes longer for the treatment to emulsify into the skin, whereas lighter skin is thinner and more prone to redness and broken capillaries.

And finally, what can we expect to see next from Cindy Barshop?
I’ll continue to utilize cutting-edge technologies and build our team of talented experts so that our clients can get the very best results. And in the near future, we’ll be opening up more Completely Bare locations. Ultimately, we’re looking to expand into Dallas, Chicago, L.A., and all the major U.S. cities.

Cindy Barshop, founder of Completely Bare.

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