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BEAUTY ARTICLE – UNDERSTANDING WAXING PROCEDURESBy:Lisa Hughes

It’s a typical Thursday afternoon for me. I am standing in my client’s living room, spatula in hand, my client is ready and his skin is prepped for the procedure about to take place, and then the questions begin:
“This is going to hurt a lot, right?”, “Which hurts more, waxing legs or chest?”, “Isn’t my hair grow back thicker?”, and this continues for about the first five minutes, before I can even begin any waxing of any kind.

My name is Lisa Hughes and I am a certified esthetician. I became certified through Seneca College’s Esthetician Program, and I specialize in waxing. I have worked in professional spa settings, to the “Average Joe’s” of hair salons, and now work as a mobile spa, travelling to the comforts of each of my client’s homes.

I am here to explain the art of waxing, pre and post waxing procedures, the cost of waxing, what to look for in a professional esthetician, signs of a clean salon/spa, and to dispell the myths of waxing.

WHAT IS WAXING AND WHY DO WE GET IT DONE?

Superfluous hair is an excess of hair which is regarded as unattractive if it appears on areas of the body which men and women prefer to be hairless (ie. Face, underarms, breasts, abdomen, bikini line, legs, chest, stomach and back). Most athletes prefer to remove even the “peach fuzz” or light, thin, blond hairs on other areas of the body (eg. The arms) for different reasons. A swimmer or cyclist may choose to remove most of their body hair to gain speed in their sport, a bodybuilder may choose to remove hair to show muscularity clearly. Any way you slice it, waxing is popular: it removes the hair from its follicle, therefore leaving lasting results.

There are different types of wax used today. Most common are hot waxing (or honey) and hard waxing (or european waxing). Both work effectively, but are used for different purposes.

Hot wax is made from beeswax and resin. However, there is a similar type of wax with azulene as its main ingredient, but looks, feels and works the same as hot wax. Hot wax is applied to the skin in the direction of hair growth, then a muslin strip is applied with pressure on it, and then the strip is pulled in the opposite direction of the wax application. It is essential for the esthetician to use a good quality wax as cheap versions ten to be brittle. Some estheticians use this wax for all areas of the face and body, some use it just for the larger body parts (arms, legs, shoulders, chest, stomach and back).

Hard wax involves waxing without using a muslin strip. The wax should be pliable when touched, and once the wax has cooled slightly, the esthetician then grasps the edge of the wax and quickly pulls in the opposite direction of the hair growth. This is a gentler wax, mainly used on smaller “more sensitive” areas of the body (face, underarm, bikini). Some estheticians do not use this method, as this wax is more expensive than the hot wax. It can also become quite costly to carry two different types of wax.

Some estheticians, “recycle” hard wax: They keep the used strips and then throw it back into the same pot where your wax came out of. They then heat it to what the consider a “sterilizing” temperature, and then use a metal strainer to remove the hairs that have been left behind in this wax. Then they turn the temperature back down to a workable temperature and begin the whole process again. This used to be allowed, as the wax becomes even more pliable and easier to work with for the esthetician. You may want to double check that your salon does not operate in this fashion.

DOES IT HURT?

This is probably the most popular question I get from clients and people interested in being waxed. My answer is always “YES!”, just to take the onus off of myself. Everybody has different pain tolerances, so it is difficult to say “Yes it hurts” with 100% confidence. I once had a client who had four children naturally, but could not handle one “test” strip used on her ankle. Another client gets regular brazilian bikini waxes (removing all hair from the entire bikini area) and doesn’t even flinch. Her boss has called her on her cell phone during the procedure and he had no idea! But she can’t handle having her eyebrows waxed. Her eyes water, she needs to take breaks, it essentially takes me double the time I usually spend on eyebrows, just to wax hers.

Through my experience, it is my professional opinion that it does get easier. I have had clients remark, “It still hurts, it is bearable now.” Men’s chest and backs usually hurt for them. Often times they will bleed out of the follicles. There is usually a lot of redness, especially if the client has thick course hair that grows in many different directions. If you shave, it will hurt! Wax does not like shaven skin and hair. Sometimes it can even break the hair at the skin line, not pulling out at the root because the hair is too short, or too course, or both. Wax has a difficult time latching on to hairs that have been shaven. Wax is self centered; it only likes waxed hair. This is when the procedure becomes more bearable. I have had many female clients wax their bikini lines on a regular basis, the hairs are softer, thinner and easier to remove, and then they throw the whole system off by shaving “just once” and thinking they could get away with it. It is like starting over. It then becomes as painful as their first bikini wax. If you are going to begin the services of waxing into your life, keep waxing. You will not get away with waxing/shaving/waxing/shaving!

I BROKE OUT REALLY BADLY… WHAT CAN I DO?

Unfortunately, not much! Most men break out on their backs and chest after their first waxing. This can occur for a number of reasons:

The esthetician used a lotion afterward – to soothe the skin. When having those areas waxed, you either want nothing or rubbing alcohol and water.
You showered after the treatment and used a bunch of shower gels, lotions and creams. Again, nothing should be used. I usually recommend that clients don’t even shower for 12-24 hours after these treatments because even just the warm water can reopen the pores and create a break out. Shampoo can run down on these areas.
You may have some dead skin cells that have not recently been exfoliated and that can create a breakout.
You somehow sweat afterward. I always recommend all body waxing clients to complete their workouts (whatever they may be) before the service or even get their waxing done on their day off or the day before their day off. You want to avoid sweating at all costs!

Breakouts from waxing look like a rash all over the waxed area, sometimes even larger than the area waxed. It’s rashlike appearance resembles poison ivy and is extremely painful, sensitive and itchy. The best thing to do for it is absolutely nothing. If this happens, you must let it run its course. Usually the first couple of days are the worst, and then it gets better. If you can leave your shirt off during the first 24 hours of a breakout, that may help to not make it worse. Because this area is sensitive, even the laundry detergents used on your shirt can make it worse. A lot of people try and “fix” their breakouts fast, by applying all sorts of creams, trying to extract or “pop” the white pustules in the rash. This can only make it worse. Again, I can not stress enough, do nothing if you want it to heal. It is therefore a good idea to book a waxing for these areas a few days to a week before any event you may have planned, especially if it is your first time.

Women sometimes get ingrown hairs in their bikini and underarm areas, rarely on their legs and arms. It is usually just one or two, here or there. The solution? Use a good loofah in the shower. Make sure you are regularly sloughing off dead skin cells, so the new hair growth does not get “blocked” by the dead skin.

Women too also may breakout on their upper lip similar to a man’s back or chest wax. Fortunately for women, it is not as severe as the man’s back/chest breakout. It is usually just a few small “whiteheads” on the affected area. Follow the same procedure as the guys do for their breakout on their back or chest if this happens to you, or ask your esthetician if you can try threading. Threading is another hair removal method, an alternative to sensitive facial skin waxing by the use of a spool of thread. Not all salons and estheticians can provide threading, ask if they know of anybody who does it.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

This is another popular question, and very difficult to answer. Every body part is a different price. Prices are not written in stone too. For example, if a price list says that a back wax is $40, that is usually a guide to how much it may approximately cost. If a 300 pound male body builder is getting his entire back waxed for an upcoming contest, he may be charged more than the $40 listed price. He is waxing the entire area and has a lot of skin to cover. On the other hand, however, if a 95 pound female (yes women wax their backs too) is getting her lower back waxed, it would be assumed that she would pay less than what the bodybuilder pays. It will usually say “prices subject to change without notice” in the fine print if this is how they operate. It is rare to find an esthetician or salon that no matter who the client is, the price is the same.

So how do you know if you have gotten a good deal or you went to the Highway Robbery Salon and Spa? Call around and ask, or go in directly to different salons in your area. Or if you are too lazy to do that, ask your friends where they went and what they paid for their services.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR AND ASK WHEN YOU ARE WITH YOUR ESTHETICIAN

Little does the public know, but salons are being “busted” by Health Services all the time and paying hefty fines for unsanitary practices. When you invest in yourself, you want to make sure the person working on you and the place you are going to is up-to-snuff on their practices, right?

SIGNS FOR YOU TO GET-OUT-OF-DODGE FROM YOUR SALON

They don’t have any certification, or you don’t see it visible. You don’t have to run for your life yet, give them a chance, ask to see their certification. Some beauty professionals leave their certifications at home.
They do not wash their hands (that you have noticed) and there isn’t any antibacterial soap in the washrooms. Indeed, there is no soap anywhere in the whole shop.
They don’t lay examination paper on the bed and you hop up for a brazilian bikini wax with no underwear on.
They don’t use latex gloves for bikini areas or if the area begins to bleed.
You notice a metal strainer hanging in the room with hairs and old wax stuck on it.
You have no eyebrows left.
You get home and notice there is patches of hair left on the skin where you paid to have them waxed off.

I hope this information helps you in your journey to being hairless. As a guideline, waxing lasts anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks, and it is not a permanent hair removal system. It can retard some of the hair growth, hair grows back in thin, and you notice patches where hair no longer grows, but it is not considered permanent. It is something that will always have to be done. Eventually you can go longer with your treatments.

If you have any questions please email them to me at lhughes@famemediagroup.com or lisahughes28@hotmail.com.