A beauty salon owner has divided opinion after posting a tongue-in-cheek video featuring a hairy cookie to promote laser hair removal.
Rebecca Lyons, 41, filmed the clip at her salon in using nothing more than an iPhone, a ring light, a leftover cookie and hair cut from her own extensions.
The clip shows laser technician Rhianna, 25, holding up a chocolate cookie covered in fake hair while joking: “Would you eat this cookie?
- Advertisement -
“Well, neither would your fella. Book your laser hair removal now.”
Meanwhile, hair stylist Kaitlan, 24, lies on a treatment bed acting as a very patient prop.
Rebecca filmed it in her salon LaserAway Gang in Wakefield, yesterday (21 Jan).
“We were in absolute stitches,” Rebecca, from the West Yorkshire city, told What’s the Jam.
“We couldn’t stop laughing, especially because the hair kept falling off, so we had to do quite a few takes.
- Advertisement -
“It was genuinely one of those moments where you’re laughing more behind the scenes than what you see on camera.
“We filmed it quickly using just a ring light and an iPhone.
“No big production, no planning.
- Advertisement -
“Just a fun, off-the-cuff idea that came together in the moment.
“It was completely spontaneous.
“ We had a leftover cookie from Christmas, a small gap in the diary, and thought ‘why not?’.
“I saw something similar last year and always thought it was funny and clever.
“It stuck in my mind, and I knew I wanted to recreate it in our own way when the moment felt right.”
While many viewers saw the funny side, others accused the salon of reinforcing beauty standards imposed on women.
Rebecca added: “The reaction has been very mixed.
“A lot of people have taken it exactly as intended, tongue-in-cheek, light-hearted, and funny.
“Others have taken it much more seriously than it was ever meant to be.
“At the end of the day, it was just a fun TikTok to promote laser hair removal, created by an all-female team who fully believe in female choice, empowerment, and doing things because you want to, not because anyone else says you should.
“We wanted to create something playful and memorable that stood out from typical beauty content.
“Social media doesn’t always have to be serious, it can just be fun.
“It was never meant to be a statement.
“It was simply a creative, humorous way to promote our services.
“It’s very clearly a joke and not meant to be taken seriously at all.
“There’s absolutely no misogyny behind it, quite the opposite.
“The message is simple, real people are real people, and all cookies should be eaten, hairy or not.
“Everyone is free to do whatever they want with their own body, and that’s something we fully stand by.”
One commenter said: “Actually he will.”
Another person added: “I’ll keep my humongous bush thanks.”
Someone else said: “Let’s not do this.
“There are young girls who watch TikTok and this can seriously damage self confidence.
“We should be encouraging people to be happy natural.
“Please stop.”
A fourth person said: “Come on girls.
“We should be challenging this message, not encouraging it.
“Let’s not promote the idea that women have to live according to standards forced upon us by men.”
Another said: “I know it’s all a light hearted joke but this has some strange undertones.”
A sixth person added: “They should be grateful they get a cookie.”
READ MORE: ‘I tattooed my OWN forehead – I survived but it took two hours of pain’
