Luxury Brazilian Waxing in West Yorkshire

What is the state of your 'George W'?

Extracts from Nikki Gemmell's account of the Brazilian

It was time to conquer my fear. Most of my girlfriends had done it. It was a secret club they all belonged to. The initiation was painful, the recovery tough - but the results, ah, the results. 'Just ask your husband,' grinned a New Yorker friend.

Barbie-doll bare is nothing new. Women used tweezers in Roman times. South sea islanders did it, and then tattooed the bare flesh. It's a tradition in Arabic cultures. And it wasn't until the 19th century that we saw a natural depiction of an adult female's nether regions in art, with Gustave Coubet's L'Originne du Monde.

The phone rings. It's my friend in New York, enquiring about the state of my 'George W' as she calls it. I um and ah. 'Isn't it all a bit creepy?' I protest weakly, 'It makes you feel wonderfully clean,' she insists, 'and it's the female version of Viagra. It increases sensation incredibly,' She warns to go to a good salon that uses hard wax, not strip wax, which removes a layer of skin.

I begin the treatment by talking (babbling? to Lara the beautician a lot, to distract her from doing what she's being paid, to do. She tells me women who've had children are more likely to get it done, 'because they're less shy about their bodies'. This doesn't help. She tells me her eldest client is 77 (She's a woman who's lived. She hasn't spent her life in front of a Aga') . I suddenly decide that I, too, want to be a woman who's lived. I take a deep breath. Give the go ahead.

As she finishes she says that next time will be easier. Next time? 'Oh yes, you'll want it all the time now.'

I don't know. Yes, it fells sexy, and sensation is enhanced. But who exactly is this painful practice intended to satisfy: the woman, or her partner? It's fascinating that what began as a trend solely for male sexual fantasy has become a symbol of sexual empowerment of the urban female.

My husband's all for it - until I tell him there's also an equivalent treatment for men, known as 'backs, sacks and cracks'. I recognise that look of terror on his face.