GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE AT INDULGENCE

Growing up, becoming a Certified Medical Aesthetician was not on long-time Waterloo Region resident Jennifer Thibault’s radar. Today, Thibault is the owner of Indulgence Studio and has over 20 years of experience specialising in gender affirming care for 2SLGBTQ+ folks in Waterloo region and beyond. 

After high school, Thibault graduated with a love of auto mechanics and wanted to be a mechanic. In the late 90s, students needed a mentor in their chosen trade before entering college, and Thibault had a challenging time finding someone to take her on. Amid this search, she was struggling with excessive hormonal hair growth and severe acne, and a doctor recommended she try electrolysis.  

“[W]hen I was in there, I would get emotional, and some techs did not know what to do with that, but I did have one and she just got it, she understood me.  When I would go to her, she [would say], ‘You ask so many questions, I really think you might enjoy working in the industry’,” Thibault said. 

After that experience, Thibault decided to do a different trade and applied to Gina’s College of Advanced Aesthetics that summer. After college, she worked three years at a spa under a doctor’s supervision before she knew she wanted to open her own business. Indulgence Studio first opened in 2006 in the back room of a hair salon on King St. N. To afford the associated costs, which totalled $100,000 for equipment, she sold her townhouse and put all her energy into starting her business.  

In 2009, Thibault moved into her business’ current location at 279 Weber St. N. and dedicated herself to her clientele there ever since. 70 per cent of Thibault’s clients identify as queer or trans or struggle with medical diagnoses such as PMOS (Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome) that cause excessive, difficult to manage hair growth. 

Her dedication to helping anyone who passes her way is clear through her philosophy of care.  

“Your comfort is our gold standard. Every person who walks through our door deserves to feel seen, heard and respected,” she said. 
 
Thibault offers trauma-informed care through her own personal experience and research, including 20 years of providing a safe space for trans folks on their gender affirmation journey, training with Rainbow Health Ontario, learning from therapists and collaborating with Spectrum, Waterloo Region’s rainbow community space, to sit on support groups to get a deeper understanding of the needs of trans folks during their transition. 

She has also collaborated with Delana Thompson, a doctor from SHORE’s Gender Affirming Clinic, to help Thompson test out the 20 per cent prescription-strength numbing cream that she developed for patients undergoing the physical and emotional toll of electrolysis and laser hair removal.  

“Prior to [Dr. Thompson’s creation], the industry standard was a five per cent numbing cream. But now that it’s four times stronger, it’s really reduced the amount of pain and emotional toll clients experience. Before the pain was really intense, so that has changed our industry truly,” Thibault said. 

During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Thibault worked hard with Public Health and her lawyers to stay open as an essential service for trans folks experiencing dysphoria, which, left untreated, could be potentially deadly.  

“I needed to help people, but I was worried I could lose my licence, and then I wouldn’t be able to help anyone. But everybody kind of pulled together to make it happen, so I could service people as an emergency,” Thibault said. 

Permanent hair removal for trans women is medically necessary per the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, Standards of Care Version 8.  

“Jennifer is the preferred provider of this service in the area. I trusted her with my own hair removal as well as that of my patients. Facial hair removal has improved my life and been critical in my transition in a way only comparable to gender affirming hormone therapy or bottom surgery,” Thompson said. 

Thibault’s continued dedication to her clients and providing a safe space for all led to her developing a free 80-page client guidebook to educate folks and help them find technicians in their area who can offer them the gender affirming care they need.  

She’s also developed a course to train other technicians on how to offer trauma-informed care and services for folks that are transitioning, with input from Spectrum and SHORE’s Gender Affirming Clinic as well as Out of the Box Counselling to ensure the needs of neurodivergent folks are also documented.  

“It’s a community effort; I lean on a lot of other people to make this happen. I feel very honoured that folks drive two to three hours to come see me, but I also feel that there should be more places that can offer this type of service. My goal with my course is to be a bridge to share this knowledge,” Thibault said.