Beauty salons help fight cervical cancer by offering FREE bikini wax for women who have booked their smear test
Two women die each day from cervical cancer, according to Cancer Research UK
SALONS are offering free bikini waxes to women who have book their smear test in a bid to end the stigma around the screening.
The campaign comes as found nearly a third of women would avoid getting a smear test if they hadn’t waxed or shaved.
The latest figures from show two women die from cervical cancer every day, and one in four miss their screening.
With a death rate of one in three, Fabulous Daily have launched their #CheersForSmears campaign, in partnership with Jo’s Trust.
As part of the campaign, three women who lost a loved one shared their moving stories in a bid to encourage women to go for their smear tests.
And aiming to make women feel more confident about going for the cervical screening test, salons are giving away free treatments to women who book an appointment.
Katie Pickett, owner of Pinky's Beauty, said six women booked their smear test within two days of their salon visit.
Katie, from Walderslade, Kent, launched her 'preen for your screen campaign' for Cervical Cancer Awareness month after she lost six friends to cancer in recent years.
Katie said: “Cervical cancer is a very taboo cancer because of getting your private parts out.
"We thought what can we do to help create awareness and what can we do to give back?
"They feel more body confident in getting ready for their test and we get really good feedback from people.
"We had six ladies within two days say they had booked their smear test, and said 'thank you for reminding us.'
"A lot of our clients have said they had an abnormal smear and it was sorted and they were okay."
Fellow Kent salon, The Pink Ladies in Hempstead, is offering a discount on waxes to anyone who uploads a photo until Valentine’s Day.
The campaign, started by charity Jo’s Cancer Trust last month, is encouraging women to share photos of smeared lipstick in a bid to raise awareness of the screen.
Christina White, owner of Beautique by Riley in Maidstone, is another salon encouraging women to book their smear test.
They’re offering free waxes, up to £18, to anyone who can prove they've booked their smear test.
The 34-year-old said: “I know us girls find it a bit embarrassing but a bit of shyness is nothing compared to what could happen if you shy away from having a smear.
Get social!
You can help us spread the message by joining in on social.
We're asking women to share a photo with a pair of knickers and the hashtag #CheersForSmears tagging the women they love in their life, to remind them to get tested on time.
Cervical screenings save 5,000 lives every year - but let's make that number higher!
Please make sure to also tag @fabulousmag and the charity Jo's Trust (Twitter: @jotrust, Insta/FB: @joscervicalcancertrust)
“If you can get over the shyness to have a bikini wax you can then build the courage to go one step further to have your smear."
However, while health experts predicted it would be a huge learning curve for female patients.
As well as the waxes, the mum-of-four also launched a petition last year to 'enable all women to detect cell changes and prevent cancer'.
After reaching more than 100,000 signatures it was taken to the House of Commons, but Christina also praised the power of social media in raising awareness.
She said: “There's been a fantastic reaction so far and it's times like these when social media absolutely comes into its own."
Appointments are booked up until March, but Christina is willing to extend her opening hours to fit everybody in.
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