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BEAUTY

Vienna beauty bar owner cheekily responds to requirement for ‘bikini-wax with a view’

Based on to a recent visit by a labor inspectorate, a beauty salon in Vienna's first district called The Beauty Bar was instructed to improve the premises by way of installing windows in the rooms meant for hair removal. These booths have been sight-protected for the privacy of customers, especially in the case of bikini-waxing. To say the least, such an order has unleashed quite a kerfuffle from the general public.

Published: 11 January 2017 18:03 CET
Vienna beauty bar owner cheekily responds to requirement for 'bikini-wax with a view'
Photo: Wetfinder/Wikimedia
In order to make her feelings about the absurdity of this mandate heard, the owner of the salon, Katie Wagner took to social media (see below). Since the situation began on Wednesday, she has posted photos and videos of her location to detail the situation and to dispel any rumors that she was attempting a sort of 'PR gag'.
 
The response has been one largely of outrage against the directive, while another majority has simply found it laughable. 
 
Wagner (28), who was voted Miss Earth Austria in 2013, has even approached the situation with a performative twist. She and her employees have laid out a waxing table in the salon's window and carried out services for passers-by to see as a tongue-in-cheek effort to lay bare the ridiculousness of such an order.
 
According to a report from Heute, she has even invited the ten bravest inspectors to a free buttocks-waxing session. 
 
Spokesman for the Ministry for Social Affairs, Christoph Ertl has responded by explaining the mandate as based in a serious lack of ventilation that is typical in such salons, as well as inadequate emergency exit routes. He went on to say that the injunction had only to do with the spaces on the second floor that are specifically used for the services in question.
 
“No one is asking for work to be done in the display window,” says Ertl. He also expressed disdain for the degree to which the case has been brought to the public forum. As of now, Wagner has no plans to adhere to the findings of the inspection, which will naturally lead to further penalties toward her business. 
 

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COSMETICS

French women warned about ‘toxic tampons’

A leading consumer rights group in France has raised the alarm that tampons and items of protection contain “potentially toxic” substances.

Published: 23 February 2016 09:39 CET
French women warned about 'toxic tampons'
Photo: Flickr/David L

In their latest magazine 60 million consumers have alerted women to the presence of potentially “toxic residues” in tampons and other forms of protection.

After ordering its own scientific testing on various female sanitary products the organisation claims there are traces of “dioxins, glyphosate and other pesticides” albeit in low levels.

These chemicals can interfere with hormone systems (endocrine disruptors). 

“Could these dioxins have this kind of effect on vaginal mucosa? There is currently no study to say for sure,” Victoria N'Sondé from 60 Millions Consumers told BFM TV.

The average women is said to use between five and ten thousands tampons throughout their whole life.

According to the World Health Organisation “Dioxins are highly toxic and can cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones and also cause cancer.”

The group analysed 11 items of sanitary protection for women and found that five of them contained potentially toxic residues.

The magazine says they found traces of dioxins in tampons made by two major brands out of the three they tested.

The Tampax brand “Compak Active regular fresh” was said to contain molecules from the chlorine family.

It also claimed that “glyphosate”, a herbicide used in weed killer, was found in pantyliners that were made by the Organyc brand that claims, as it sounds, to be “organic”.

Following the investigation the National Institution for Consumers has demanded the government step in and enforce stricter controls on the products and greater transparency around labeling.

A petition launched in France that calls for more information to be given regarding the chemicals used in tampons and sanitary products has gained 180,000 signatures.

“When we buy cosmetic products we can get information on what they contain and how they are made, but when it comes to something we use everyday that is in contact with our intimate parts, we have no knowledge of what is in it,” Mélanie Doerflinger, the student who launched the petition told BFM TV.

The study comes just a day after another French consumer group released details of 185 cosmetic products that people should avoid because they contained potentially hormone changing chemicals.

SEE ALSO: French told to avoid 185 everyday cosmetic products

 

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