Hopefully, if you were just searching “how to wax at home,” you don’t already have your phone in one hand and a stick covered in hot wax in the other. Before you start tearing, there’s some skin-safety prep to do if you want the procedure to go, well, smoothly.
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Dermatologists advise against waxing at home unless absolutely necessary; nevertheless, if you follow the right procedures and take good care of your skin afterward, you may safely apply any type of wax at home, especially for Brazilian waxes. If you want to be in charge of how much pain you feel at once and/or are uncomfortable having someone else touch particular parts of your body, it could also be more pleasant for you.
You’ll find professional advice for the smoothest, healthiest skin below, along with tips for reducing pain (since you will always experience some discomfort while waxing, regardless of the technician). To make the process as efficient and pleasant as possible, follow these instructions for waxing at home.
Shaving versus sugaring versus waxing… What makes a difference?
It’s possible that hot wax comes to mind immediately when you think about waxing. Hot wax is advantageous because it produces “follicular dilation,” according to Hysem Eldik, MD, a board-certified dermatologist at Marmur Medical and assistant professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. The heat from the hot wax actually causes the hair follicle—the tunnel beneath the skin from which a hair emerges—to dilate and get bigger. This method makes it easier to remove all of the hair at the root.
Both sugaring, an age-old form of hair removal that employs room-temperature “sugar wax” and no strips or cloths, and cold pre-waxed strips, which you warm slightly with your hands before applying, function somewhat differently since they trap the hairs. “Cold wax strips use a resin to make up for the absence of heat. In order to extract the hair at the root, this enables the wax to adhere to the hair follicle, according to Dr. Eldik. Usually composed just of sugar, water, and lemon juice, sugar wax is applied topically to the skin and also adheres to hair roots. He continues, “You also reduce your risk of burns when using room-temperature sugar wax and cold wax strips.”
However, Gina Petak, a certified esthetician and education manager at European Wax Center, that cold waxing and sugaring could not be as successful as hot waxing because they might not be able to take out coarser hair as efficiently without the assistance of heat, which might cause discomfort and ingrown hairs.
Shaving is just a more convenient and simpler alternative for a lot of individuals. According to Dr. Eldik, waxing leaves hair on the skin three to four weeks after removal, but shaving only leaves hair just below the skin. For this reason, you usually don’t stay smooth for more than a day or two after shaving.
However, depending on your method and the rate at which your body hair grows, waxing may not always be better than shaving. Everybody has a unique hair cycle. According to board-certified dermatologist and Yale School of Medicine professor Mona Gohara, MD, both waxing and shaving are beneficial procedures—it’s just a matter of personal opinion.
What potential dangers may waxing at home pose?
Although getting waxed by a professional carries a higher risk, there are many advantages to doing it yourself, including as privacy, cost savings, and convenience. However, there are a few possible drawbacks to be mindful of before we go into the specifics of how to accomplish it.
For starters, it’s conceivable that you didn’t apply the appropriate amount of wax. “You might apply too much wax, which would cause the wax strip to catch more hair, and more hair could be removed than intended, which would hurt more,” says Petak. “Alternatively, because the procedure will take longer, it may also be painful if too little hair is removed.” If you don’t get all the hair at once, you can also find yourself going over the region too frequently, which can aggravate the pain.
Furthermore, there is the tugging. According to Petak, pulling in the direction of hair development rather than away from it may result in the hair breaking rather than removing it at the root. In addition, professional estheticians are educated to determine the ideal wax temperature—for instance, during the warmer months, the wax won’t need to be heated as much—a skill that is harder to master at home and might result in burns if done improperly, according to Petak.
Additionally, the professionals we spoke with advise against trying a full Brazilian bikini wax at home: You might end up with burned, irritated, or scarred skin. Because there is so little visibility in the vaginal and anal regions, the skin of the labia is extremely sensitive, leaving a great deal of space for mistake. In general, using an at-home waxing kit to wax your bikini line is safe, however there are several restrictions: We advised to avoid regions if you have a rash, ingrown hairs, lesions, or any other discomfort, according to Maria Sophocles, MD, ob-gyn and medical director at Women’s Healthcare of Princeton in New Jersey.