In the Salon

This is what it takes to be a modern metrosexual: I'm lying on my side on a black leather lounger, dressed in a yukata robe that ends about mid-thigh, soothing New Age music on the stereo, a burning candle jammed in my ear. My skin care specialist explains that the hollow candle will create a gentle vacuum to draw out excess ear wax, impurities, maybe some loose change. I'm somewhat dubious—with a 20-cm candle sticking out the side of my head, I feel less like David Beckham than a human birthday cake—but this technique was used by the ancient Egyptians, and...

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