As much as we want to look our best amazing selves all the time, getting there can be quite, painful. Why do we wax!? Honestly? Why do we torture ourselves by ripping hair out with a sticky strip or patch. Because it makes us feel BEAUTIFUL! If you want to do it and it makes you feel better about yourself GO FOR IT! Plus waxing has longer lasting results than shaving or depilatory creams. Usually you will have to wax every 4-6 weeks depending on the area being treated.
First let's cover types of wax and where they are commonly used.
HOT WAX - This is the wax that sets semi hard and then is removed, it tends to be a honey consistency when hot. Commonly used for facial waxing, underarms, bikini, g-string or brazilian waxing and any sensitive spots such as around the neck for men.
STRIP WAX - This is the wax that it removed with a cloth or spun lace strip, it tends to be quite thin and runny when hot. Commonly used for hair removal on arms, legs, back, chest, etc. All the large areas essentially.
But this doesn't mean that these are the only places you can use these waxes. Every area can be stripped or every area can be hot waxed, it all depends on your therapist and how they are trained or prefer to wax.
So if you love the results waxing brings keep reading for some tips and tricks from a person who spends her day waxing other people!
1. To lessen the ouch factor as the hair is removed try taking 1-2 pain killer tablets 20 -30 minutes before your appointment. This helps to reduce the pain and inflammation that comes with being waxed. This is only advice and you should seek an opinion of a medical professional to see if this is the right thing for you before you try this.
2. Don't wear any body lotions or deodorants to your appointment. I know going without deodorant / anti perspirant sounds awful but its another layer between your skin and the wax, which can mean more time spent getting the little hairs deodorant sticks down or covers. Same goes for body lotions, it's another barrier and can also lessen the adhesiveness of the wax to the hairs.
3. Ask your therapist to put pressure on the spot after a HOT wax patch has been removed. This helps with the pain! Your skin has many sensory receptors, two are pain and pressure. Funny little fact about these usually only one can be felt at a time. When a therapist takes off the wax patch your skin stings (pain) if they then proceed to press their hand or fingers on the spot just waxed the receptor changes to pressure, which in turn lessens the pain.
4. Assist your therapist! I know it sounds strange but you can help by pulling your skin tight around the area being waxed. The tighter the skin the less pain you will feel when the wax is removed, same goes for tweezing.
5. Exfoliate, Exfoliate, Exfoliate! When you exfoliate your face and body the top layer of dead skin cells is removed making way for smoother new ones. This also means that by removing that layer of dead skin you are allowing any new hair to grow unhindered. Hair growing under dead skin cells can become trapped resulting in (the most unpleasant) in-grown hairs. Stop those ugly, red, itchy, painful lumps by exfoliating that body. This also exposes more hair for the wax to grab onto meaning you'll get a better result in the end. Bonus, body exfoliation can make your skin glow (after any redness has gone away if you've been to vigorous or have sensitive skin). Please exfoliate the day before your appointment for optimum results.
6. Breathe. This is an easy one, but deep breathing can help lessen pain. A) Your distracted by focusing on breathing deeply. B) Your skin and muscles relax releasing some tension that's holding onto your hairs. This increases also when your holding your breathe. C) You will feel calmer and less stressed out by the whole experience. So go on, breathe!
7. Don't tense up when the wax is about to be removed. Don't go ridged and hold your breath in preparation for the oncoming pain, you're actually about to make it worse for yourself. As stated before with the breathing when you tense everything obviously tightens, so does your skins grip on your hair. When your tense your hair is harder to remove and as your going to feel the wax pulling on the hair more it's going to hurt more. Try to relax and breathe deeply. Chat with your therapist to distract and help relax you.
I hope these little bits of information are helpful for you and make your next waxing experience more enjoyable. Well as much as it can be anyway.
Let me know if you like these kinds of posts! Or if any of these tips have helped you. Thank you!
Until we meet again,
Shannon
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