The short version
We went through the websites and booking pages of 231 waxing, sugaring, laser, brow and lash studios across 42 Los Angeles neighborhoods, looking for the things you'd want to know before letting a stranger near you with hot wax: a price, a photo of the room, opening hours, reviews you can check, and their actual work.
Here's what we found:
- 44% don't publish a single price we could find — not for a Brazilian, not for a brow, nothing.
- 84% let you book online, but only 31% show you a photo of the actual room.
- Independent studios are cheaper. The median published Brazilian is $65 at local studios versus $74 at chain locations.
- Laser is the murkiest corner. Of 123 places offering laser hair removal, only 43 publish any laser price at all.
- Only 36 studios (16%) let you verify all six things on our trust check.
"Call for pricing" is still the norm
Of the 231 locations, 102 publish no price we could find on their own website or booking page. That's a lot of people being asked to book first and find out later.
Chains do a little better than independents here: 61% of chain locations publish at least one price, compared with 52% of local studios. It's not that independents are hiding anything — many simply never got around to putting a menu online. But from the outside, a missing price and a surprise at the counter look exactly the same.
If a studio doesn't publish a price, ask for one in writing before you book. A good studio won't mind.
What a Brazilian actually costs
Among the 49 studios that publish a standard, single-treatment Brazilian price, the median is $69, and the middle half of studios charge $60–$75. The full published range runs from $40 to $95. (Our LA wax price index has the same breakdown for brows, bikini, legs, lip, lash lifts and more, recalculated from live listings.)
The interesting part is who charges what:
| Studios with a Brazilian price | Median Brazilian | |
|---|---|---|
| Independent studios | 33 | $65 |
| Chain locations | 16 | $74 |
| All | 49 | $69 |
Independent studios come in around $9 cheaper at the median. That's not a quality judgment either way — chains often bundle memberships and first-visit deals that our price index deliberately leaves out — but if you're comparing standard menu prices, the neighborhood studio usually isn't the expensive option.
Two more numbers worth knowing:
- At studios that list both, a Brazilian typically costs about $20 more than a bikini wax.
- Where studios publish appointment lengths, the median Brazilian is booked for 30 minutes.
You can book online. You often can't see inside.
84% of studios let you book online, and 87% link an Instagram account. But only 72 studios — 31% — show a photo of the actual space on their website or booking page. Many more show the team or close-ups of their work, which is useful, but it isn't the same as seeing where you'll be lying down.
For something this personal, the room matters: is it a private suite or a curtain in a salon? Does it look clean? If a studio's website doesn't show you, check their Instagram — or ask.
Laser hair removal: the hardest to compare
Laser is where prices get genuinely difficult. 123 locations in our directory offer laser hair removal, but only 43 publish any laser price — and those prices are rarely comparable. One studio lists "upper lip, single session," the next lists "full legs, package of six, valid 18 months."
That's why we don't rank laser prices in the index. If you're shopping for laser, compare the same body area and the same number of sessions, and ask who performs and supervises the treatment. Our guide on what affects laser prices in LA walks through the questions.
Some neighborhoods are far more upfront
Looking at neighborhoods with at least five studios in our directory, the share that publish prices varies a lot:
| Neighborhood | Studios publishing prices |
|---|---|
| Venice | 8 of 9 |
| Melrose | 5 of 6 |
| Studio City | 7 of 9 |
| Culver City | 10 of 14 |
| Santa Monica | 15 of 25 |
| Long Beach | 6 of 12 |
| Beverly Hills | 3 of 8 |
| Downtown LA | 2 of 6 |
Venice is the most transparent corner of LA we've looked at so far. At the other end, every Beverly Hills listing in our directory is a laser clinic or medical spa — places that tend to quote in a consultation rather than on a menu. Downtown LA is a mix of waxing studios and clinics, and most of them don't post prices online yet.
Only 1 in 6 studios clears every check
Our trust check looks for six things you can verify yourself: a real, sourced location; photos; published prices; review pages you can read; their work on social; and published hours. Only 36 of 231 studios have all six. Most are missing one or two — usually prices or photos of the space.
None of this means the others are bad. It means you'll need to ask more questions before booking. That's exactly what our first-timer checklist is for.
How we did this
Every figure comes from information studios publish themselves — their websites, menus and booking pages — checked in October 2026 and linked on each studio's profile. "Published price" means a single-treatment price on the studio's own menu; we exclude combos, packages, memberships, touch-ups and intro offers. Coverage is the 231 locations currently in our directory, not every studio in LA, and studios change their menus often — always confirm with the studio.
Own one of these studios? Claiming your free profile takes a minute, lets you fix anything we got wrong, and gets you a verified badge and a direct link to your website. Claim your studio.