Today I am going to share a with you a type of craft that is a bit different from the norm here! It can be a DIY, or a tutorial, a guide and a shared experience. Today I am going to share with you the art of waxing.
There are many women who get waxed, even more that are curious about it but most do not talk about it. Today I am going to get into the shameless nitty gritty of body waxing. I have been there and done that and there is not a hair on my body that has not seen wax. Not a one (you might say, “Well I bet you haven’t waxed your entire eyebrow!” and I will respond with “Oh shit yes I have girlfriend”… but it wasn’t on purpose!)
If you know me, you know I have a head full of voluminous black curly hair. People are constantly telling how envious they are of my thick rich hair. Girl please, it’s not just on the top of my head. I am neurotic about maintaining my body hair. Yes it’s a full fledged complex that was fueled by years of teasing as a child and embarrassing and painful razor bumps and ingrown hairs.
I pride myself as being the first girl in the 5th grade to shave her legs. It was an emergency. Those were the days that I used to pray to God every night for 1 thing, to shave my legs. The day came in early spring. I was sitting in church next to my mom and I was wearing white tights. My mom glanced over at my legs, the light from the stained glass widow was shining. It was shining right onto all my black hairs poking through my tights. Yes, you can gasp or laugh. It’s totally gross! She leaned over an whispered in my ear, “Tonight you are shaving your legs!” Halleluiah!! I could hear angels singing!
It was around this time my mom took me to wax my eyebrows for the first time. I was 11 years old and I was constantly being teased about my unibrow. My mother could not stand it any longer and off my unibrow went! OUCH! It hurt and I dreaded going every few weeks but this pain was necessary!
And so began my waxing adventure. It wasn’t before long that eyebrow waxing no longer hurt and I was already waxing them myself. By the time my Junior year in high school rolled around I was shaving my wolverine arms and started waxing them.
Here’s the thing about waxing. The first pull always stings… the pain after that is usually numbed by the adrenaline.
In college I tried waxing my legs and underarms. To me these are not worth it. First having to let my underarm hair grow out in order to wax it drives me nuts and second it hurts. Same goes for the legs. Plus it takes awhile and it gets pretty expensive. As for waxing those areas… I have no problem applying the wax, but getting myself to make the first pull is almost impossible. (insert alcohol here... then it's pretty easy!)
It wasn’t until I was 23 when I finally got the nerve to get my first bikini wax. This is the worst area for me. On top of having course hair, my skin is super sensitive…
Ok I am not holding back here girls so this might get graphic!
It was probably in college sometime when I started using nair instead of a razor to do my bikini area. But the red bumps were still there and painful ingrown hairs too. I was incredibly embarrassed about it. And let me tell you, I have tried every post shave and ingrown hair treatment known to man and it still didn’t help.
So here I am 23 and a couple girlfriends of mine convinced me that it didn’t hurt nearly as bad as I was imagining. The first appointment I was just going to do the panty line. Oh it hurt but my girlfriend’s were right it wasn’t as bad as I thought so I did everything but a narrow strip and my behind. I had enough waxing trauma for that appointment.
The results were amazing and the next time I went back 4 weeks later the hair was thinner and it didn’t hurt nearly as bad. Finally after about 6 months of bikini waxing I decided to go completely bare! I was terrified and thought surely I was out of my mind! First off waxing your butt area hurts less than an eyebrow wax and going the rest of the way does not hurt so bad either. You will be hooked after the first time.
They key to the perfect Brazilian wax is a really good esthetician and your ability to relax. Many people think it's embarrassing but its like going to a doctor and a good waxer will make you feel comfortable and keep up good conversation. Once you get through the first visit it is easy to keep going.
Oh and sometimes you have to hold up your legs and hold your skin taught but again, after the initial visit you don't even think twice about it anymore!
I have talked to many of my girlfriends about it and most of them have agreed that it hurts worse in your mind than the actual pain. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not pain free I still flinch sometimes, but it is well worth the $50 and the 30 minutes.
Here are my tips and pointers
Do NOT get waxed close to your period… It hurts like 10 times worse than normal!
Take a pain reliever 30 min before your appointment
Wine helps too!
Don’t drink caffeine the day of your appointment
Take deep breaths and try not to tense up
Try to keep up conversation, it will keep your mind off the pulls
There are topical creams that help numb the skin, I have tried a few and I don’t feel like they help that much.
After the wax use a product to help prevent ingrown hairs EVERY DAY (I keep mine in the shower and apply it right after I shower, or keep it next to your deodorant and put it on the same time you put on deodorant.)
Exfoliate the area with a sugar scrub twice a week.
Go every 4 weeks it hurts a whole lot less and makes maintenance a lot easier as well.
My favorite ingrown hair products are
and Tend Skin
Your esthetician will be able to determine whether hard wax or strip wax will be best. The only hard wax that has worked well for me was when I lived in Houston and went to European Wax Center
If you live in Tampa and want the best wax go see Angelica at Angelica Beauty and Waxing she is seriously the BEST and about $10 less expensive than most salons. I have $15 off referral cards for any of you who want to make an appointment!
For those of you who are thinking about waxing for the first time... start slow and ease your way into it. the more you do it the less it hurts. If you try it and it's too painful... you can always stop.
Please feel free to shoot me an email if you have any questions. I can go into way more detail but I think I have grossed y'all out enough for today!!!
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