Waxing hair removal

Removing unwanted body hair is a painful topic for many ladies, since regular shaving often leaves irritation on delicate skin, and other techniques are accompanied by pain. However, waxing is an excellent option for removing hairs with bulbs, which is quite easy to do at home, leaving your skin smooth for 3-4 weeks.

Waxing: what is it?

Despite the popularity of the procedure, not every woman have an idea: what is waxing? In fact, the technique involves the use of a special cosmetic wax, which is applied in a thin layer on the skin, hardens and breaks off with one movement of the hand, capturing unnecessary hairs.

The wax is applied in a continuous layer to the skin and tightly adheres to the hairs, which is why it does not break them, but pulls them out along with the bulbs.

Wax hair removal has many positive aspects:

• Safety. The only thing that can damage the skin when waxing is overheated wax. However, the procedure does not leave any mechanical damage;
• Lack of severe pain. The discomfort that a woman feels when performing manipulations cannot be compared with the pain when using an electric epilator. Many people get so used to these sensations that they do not feel anything while waxing;
• Versatility. Waxing is suitable for all hair types and colors;
• Long-term preservation of the effect. Most often, hairs begin to grow back after 2.5-3 weeks;
• Cumulative effect. Gradually, the hairs become softer and less frequent, which is why they are not so noticeable during regrowth.

Body waxing is often compared to sugaring. However, sugaring uses sugar paste, which is not as effective against hairs as it captures mainly long and soft hairs.

Types of wax

The procedure for hair removal with wax in cosmetology and at home is often different. This is due to the use of different types of composition and the method of its application.

There are three main types of waxing: hot, warm and cold. They all pull out hairs with bulbs and ensure absolute smoothness of the skin, but the technologies for their implementation differ significantly.

Hot wax

Initially, the wax is in the form of small hard granules that must first be melted. It is recommended to use a special device for this – a wax heater, which will not only melt them to the required temperature, but will also maintain it throughout the entire procedure. At home, wax is often heated in a water bath up to 50-60 degrees.

Liquid wax is applied with a spatula to the skin prepared in advance and spread over it in a thin layer. After 15-20 seconds, it hardens and quickly breaks off the epidermis in a single sheet, capturing all the hairs.

Hot wax is most commonly used in the salon, but it is easiest for beginners to learn it, especially if you use a wax heater to heat the granules.

Warm wax

For procedure, a ready-made composition is used, sold in cosmetic stores. It has a viscous consistency, which must be preheated in a water bath or in a microwave oven.

Warm wax can be simply spread over the skin, just like hot wax, and then quickly ripped off. Then the technique resembles sugaring, since warm wax does not solidify with a thin application.

However, bandage depilation is often performed with warm wax. Then the composition is applied to the skin in the direction of hair growth and a special paper strip is applied to it, which is firmly smoothed to the sticky surface. After 10-15 seconds, it breaks off in the opposite direction and captures the hairs.

Cold wax

At home, often woman uses cold wax. There is no preparation is needed, the lady just buys a ready-made set with wax strips for hair removal.

The strip is preliminarily rubbed between the palms, which allows you to heat and melt the wax, and then separates into two parts. With the sticky side, it sticks to the waxing area, smoothes tightly and abruptly breaks off from it in one movement.

The procedure gives the lady quite unpleasant sensations, however, with correct, sharp tearing of the strip, it passes quickly.

What is needed for waxing and preparation for the procedure?

Before you perform waxing at home, you need to pay attention to the preparation of tools and consumables that are necessary to perform the waxing.

Tools and compositions that are used for the procedure:

• Wax (depending on the type of waxing: granules, warm wax or strips);
• Talcum powder or baby powder;
• Scrub for preliminary cleaning of the skin from keratinized particles;
• Oil for removing wax residues;
• Lotion or gel designed for skin care after waxing.

Also prepare supplies and tools:

• Spatula;
• Paper strips for depilation (when carrying out strips techniques);
• Paper towels or cotton pads to remove wax residues.

First, pay attention to how to prepare the wax for hair removal. It is recommended to use a wax melter for this, it comes in two types: cartridge and can. The first option involves a small device that heats up the cartridges inserted into it and distributes the composition over the skin. The second is a small container into which wax granules are poured and heated to the desired temperature.

For home hair removal with wax, ladies most often only need a cartridge wax heater, since a can heats up a fairly large volume of material – from 400 to 800 ml.

Waxing requires skin preparation:

1. One day before the procedure, use the scrub on the treated area.
2. If your pain threshold is low, pay attention to the choice of pain relievers. You can use topical formulations or analgesic pills.
3. Before depilation, take a hot shower or bath to enlarge your pores.
4. Dry your skin dry with paper towels.
5. Sprinkle talcum powder or baby powder on the skin.

The procedure should be performed with tied up hair, since it is very difficult to remove wax from hair, which is why many ladies have to cut them off at the end of procedure.

Carrying out waxing at home

After preparing the skin for waxing, start preparing the wax. If using the hot or warm method, heat the wax to a comfortable temperature (60 and 50 degrees, respectively).

During the procedure itself, follow this algorithm:

1. Use a spatula to scoop up a small amount of wax and spread it in a thin layer over the skin. The thinner you apply, the more effective the procedure will be.
   When using warm wax, apply according to hair growth.
2. When using the hot method, wait 15-20 seconds until the wax hardens and remove it from the skin with a single strip.
   When performing the strips technique, place a paper strip on the applied wax, smooth it firmly and tear it off with a sharp motion.
3. If there are hair left on the skin, repeat the procedure again. Do not treat one skin area more than three times.
4. Pull out single hairs with tweezers.
5. Disinfect the skin with solution.
6. Apply a soothing gel or lotion after waxing.

When performing cold waxing, follow the recommendations indicated on the packaging by the manufacturer. As a standard, the strip needs to be warmed up between the palms, detached, applied to the skin, pressing it tightly against it, and pulled off with a sharp movement of the hand.

Skin care after waxing

Since waxing pulls out hairs along with the bulbs, it damages the nerve endings, which can cause a backlash and lead to irritation of the sensitive area.

To avoid the occurrence of inflammatory processes, after waxing, it is worth following the recommendations for skin care:

• Treat your skin with disinfecting solution twice a day;
• Give up tanning for two days after waxing;
• After 3 days, treat the skin with a natural gentle scrub;
• For the first 2-3 days, avoid using abrasive wisp of bast.

Overheated wax may cause a slight thermal burn on the skin. If it does not cause you severe discomfort, apply Panthenol or Bepanten on it 2 times a day.

During the first 2-3 days after the procedure, slight skin irritation is possible. This side effect is manifested in many. With proper skin care, it gradually disappears without causing discomfort to woman.

Contraindications

Despite the fact that waxing practically does not cause pain during its implementation, there are a number of health restrictions in which it is not recommended to do the procedure.

There are not many contraindications:

• Venovascular diseases;
• Diabetes;
• Kidney disease;
• The presence of warts and papillomas in the treated area;
• Pregnancy.

It is also not recommended to perform waxing during menstruation. The restriction is associated not only with hygienic purposes, but also with the lady increased sensitivity during this period.

Conclusions

Waxing is an effective way, thanks to which woman can independently remove unwanted hair from her body, ensuring absolute smoothness of the skin for 2-3 weeks. Despite the many subtleties of the procedure, it is safe even for beginners.