Home Waxing

Long Lasting Hair Removal

Learn techniques for safe and effective home waxing.

Waxing (and sugaring) offers long lasting results (between 3-6 weeks), when done correctly, because the hair is removed by the root.

Unlike shaving and depilatory creams, which remove hair from the skin's surface.

How Waxing Works

Home waxing is done by applying warm, melted wax to the chosen area and removing either with a cotton or muslin cloth strip or not in some cases.

The hairs must be grown out long enough to be adequately embedded in the wax (at least 1/4 inch). This way when the wax is removed, it takes the hair with it.

Application

Apply warmed wax with a tongue depressor, popsicle stick, or disposable spatula. These can be purchased online along with the muslin strips you'll need. Use smaller applicators for small areas (face, bikini line), and larger applicators for larger areas (legs, underarms).

Place old towels on the floor below you to avoid dripping wax on your floors and having a big clean up job. Sit somewhere that's close to your wax pot, which should be kept on a sturdy surface. I usually sit on the toilet lid with the wax on the counter.

Have all your supplies laid out and accessible before you even start warming the wax. Trying to fetch muslin strips out of a plastic bag with wax on your fingers is no fun at all.

You can purchase muslin strips online or at a drugstore. Use strips that match the size of the area you'll be working with. Muslin strips are very long for facial and bikini waxing. I cut them up into appropriate sizes beforehand. They last a lot longer that way too.

Make sure the skin and hair are dry and free of creams or oils so the wax will adhere properly. Apply in the direction of hair growth and only apply a strip of wax or sugar that'll fit within your strip. A bit narrower and shorter than your muslin strip is best. This leaves room for you to grasp the strip firmly to rip effectively.

Home Waxing Tips

Once you have the wax applied to your skin, and the strip laid on top of it, rub firmly in the direction you applied the wax. This will help the wax adhere to the hairs.

Don't wait too long though, or the wax will cool too much. Pull the skin below the area taut and tear the strip off in the opposite direction that you applied it. Do it quickly! Slow removal doesn't work and it prolongs the pain.

Once you've removed the strip, apply pressure to the area immediately with your palms or fingers. This will help alleviate pain in the area.

Apply the wax for your next section, trying not to overlap the previously waxed skin. Never wax the same area more than twice in one treatment.

Home waxing can be a slow process, and it's messy. Although I really like the effects of waxing, I don't much care for the mess and the laborious setup. I've recently switched to using an epilator, which has it's own minor disadvantages (namely pain!), but it's much more convenient.

Another option is using a sugaring mixture to remove hair. It works very similarly to wax, except that the sugar is water soluble, so the clean-up is much less of a pain.

Home Waxing Cautions and Problems

CAREFUL HEATING

Be sure not to overheat the wax. If you do a lot of home waxing, consider investing in an electric wax warmer. This helps prevent overheating and heats the wax more evenly. It also reduces the dangers of fire as wax put on a burner can ignite if it's spilled on the element.

Wax that is too hot is also ineffective for hair removal. It isn't as tacky and won't adhere properly to the hairs. How do you know if it's too hot? Firstly, it runs off the spatula easily. And when you tear off the strip, if the wax hasn't hardened, it's just gooey, leaving the hair behind and a bunch of wax all over your skin.

INGROWN HAIRS

There is an increased chance of ingrown hairs using this method, particularly in the bikini area. Here's why... because hair is being removed from the root, it takes a while for it to grow back. In the meantime, skin cells which are not exfoliated can grow over the follicle. This makes it difficult for the hair to find its way out and it ends up growing around in circles just below the surface of the skin.

Use a specialty product to diminish the number and severity of ingrown hairs you get from any hair removal method. We like Princereigns Ingrown Hair and Razor Bump Gel. And for the guys, Anthony Logistics Ingrown Hair Treatment.

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