FuzzClinic Is Breaking Taboos Around Women With Excess Facial And Body Hair—And Providing Products For Them

Since she was 16 years old, Keisha Wagner-Gaymon has dealt with excessive facial hair. Her mom wasn’t sure how to address it and took her to a doctor, who summarily laughed at Wagner-Gaymon’s concerns. “You know when you tell someone your secret and they make fun of you for it? I felt so exposed,” she recalls. “She didn’t think it was that serious and was maybe trivial, but, at that age, that’s so serious in terms of how you feel.”

After doing some research, Wagner-Gaymom discovered she shouldn’t just go to any doctor. She should go to an endocrinologist. Once she did, she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a condition in which the ovaries produce an elevated amount of male sex hormones. The medication she was prescribed for it, however, didn’t agree with her. So, while relying on shaving as a short-term solution, she started researching again and learned about laser hair removal. Wagner-Gaymon says, “I got a couple of treatments, and it made such a difference in my skin, but, as the years went on, I never felt like my needs as a Black woman were being met.”

In 2020, to meet the needs of Black women, Wagner-Gaymon, a nurse practitioner, opened PeachFuzz Laser Studio with her sister Kristin Lauren Wagner initially in her Brooklyn rental apartment after being denied a $75,000 bank loan. She used personal savings to buy equipment and spruce the place up. “I had it renovated so it can look professional,” she says. “It was like when you go to a doctor’s office, but it’s someone’s home, kind of like ‘The Cosby Show.’ It felt warm.” News of PeachFuzz Laser Studio spread through word of mouth and Instagram marketing, and it was quickly successful.

To accommodate its growing clientele, including people traveling to it from as far away as Virginia, Florida and Texas, Wagner-Gaymon relocated PeachFuzz Laser Studio to a larger space in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. “The bat signal went off and people were like, ‘Wow, she’s talking to me,’” says Wagner-Gaymon. “There’s a whole community of women that have PCOS and other hormonal disorders who no one’s really talking to, and we really want to help these women feel comfortable and remove the stigma around facial hair. We all have it, and laser hair removal could make a major difference.”

Before entering the beauty industry, Wagner-Gaymon worked in advertising and marketing in the music and fashion industries. “I didn’t really find myself getting the jobs that I wanted,” she says. “I wanted something creative and no one really gave me that opportunity.” In search of a stable, decent income, she did a sharp pivot and became a nurse practitioner. Her healthcare chapter informs her current chapter. “I was able to learn as a nurse to connect with patients as I do today in my business at Peach with clients,” says Wagner-Gaymon. “I needed to be patient and listen to them and hear their needs and that’s really important when you’re trying to develop products for people and really finding out what’s important to them.”

The women Wagner-Gaymon treats in her studio, who flock to it for hyperpigmentation, ingrown hairs and bumps, became a focus group for FuzzClinic products she’s developed for kinky, coarse hair. She explains, “There are a million products on the shelves for Black hair growth and what’s going to make it stronger and healthier and prevent it from falling out, but there’s really nothing catering to when you want to remove the same type of hair.”

A shave oil was the first product Wagner-Gaymon developed. Next came a scrub followed by a tea intended to improve hormonal balance. The product lineup also includes $19.99 Ingrown Hair Serum, $12.99 Post Laser Aloe and Arnica Relief Gel, $24.99 Brightening Sunscreen and $18.99 Shimmer Oil. “We want to definitely have more products that make the shaving and hair removal process less of a drag and more of something to look forward to,” says Wagner-Gaymon. “Right now, we are working on seeing what works, what doesn’t work and moving forward with that information.” The products are available on PeachFuzz Laser Studio’s website.

Last year, Wagner-Gaymon participated in Target’s Forward Founders accelerator program and hopes to explore retail once her business is prepared for it. She recently applied for Ulta Beauty’s MUSE accelerator program. “The [Target] accelerator is so impactful because it really gives you an MBA in retail and consumer product services in a couple of months,” she says. “You get so much information from mentors that have been in the industry for years. That was an amazing opportunity to learn and glean from their experiences—good, bad and ugly.” She was able to turn to Rosen Skincare founder Jamika Martin, Scotch Porter founder Calvin Quallis and The Honey Pot Company founder Beatrice Dixon as advisors during the program.