Beauty in Rio

The focus on beauty in Rio de Janeiro is known around the world. And indeed there is a multitude of hairdressers, manicurists and waxers around. Several supermodels come to Rio to take care of their bodies and faces. I have tried to put together some information about where you can get this done yourself, just follow the links further down. But first Iīd like to explain a bit about the vanity of the cariocas.

High Maintenance
Walking down the street Visconde de Pirajá in Ipanema youīll quickly notice how many perfect looking faces and bodies pass you by. They are not born like that! The bodies are toned and shaped in the gyms and on the beach. The hair is straightened, waxing, manicure, pedicure... all this maybe once a week. A small fortune can be spent every month. You could say that the beauty in Rio has a price tag.

The Vanity
But itīs not only that. From an early age children learn how they should move walk and talk, and maybe most importantly they learn how to appreciate and care about their own bodies. Of course this is a double edged sword where the downside is superficialness and in some cases eating disorders. The positive side is that you have people who really like the way they look. On the beach in Rio de Janeiro there are not only perfect six-packs and toned butts, youīll get all types of shapes and sizes in bikinis and swimming trunks that all seem to be comfortable with themselves and the way they look. And it is true, if you think you look good, you look good.

The Beach Procedure
A good way to explain the concept of beauty in Rio is to observe the typical Ipanema girl on the beach. While us gringos probably arrives, spreads out the bed sheet and goes for a swim, she will behave a lot more consciously, maybe something like this:

Arriving on the beach she would already have applied sunscreen, the sun destroys your skin. She might be wearing a kanga (beach sheet) as a skirt that she will spread out first thing. After that she will adjust here bikini so the marks from it will be perfect. Now itīs time for the wettening, a quick dip and back to the kanga and about 5 minutes of brushing the hair, after that itīs time for some more bikini adjusting. Then itīs time for some sunbathing and a coconut. Throughout the whole process her body will have been exposed to the surroundings in various favourable positions. She will behave exactly the same the next time she comes to the beach and so will many other girls like her. The consciousness of how you look is never absent.

Plastic Surgery
Rio de Janeiro is the number one place for plastic surgery in the world. Not only are the prices a lot better than in other places, the quality of the surgeons is really high. A word of warning, donīt go for one of the cheaper clinics, there are some horrible places out there that try to take advantage of people without money that are not happy with what they look like. Make sure the clinics are recommended and well established if you want you are going to do it!

Skin
There are also many clinics and spas that offer a multitude of treatments and surgical methods for skin. I donīt know many places to recommend so if you know of any please contact me by clicking on the button on the left. The one place I know is this:

Amaderm R. Visconde de Pirajá 433 nr 501, Ipanema, tel 2287-9696.>p>

My personal tip is that if you like me get really oily skin in this type of climate, go to a pharmacy and buy a soap called Cetaphil - Pele Sensivel. It will cost you around 30R$ but for me itīs a cheap price top pay for not looking like a hamburger cook anymore!

Where to go for what?
If you click the following links youīll get to information about where you can get waxed or find good hairdressers and last but not least places for pedicure and manicure . In each section there is general info and tips on good beauty products for gringos. An invaluable source for what Iīve written here has been my good friend Silvia, born and bred in Ipanema and 100% check on the concept of beauty in Rio.