Waxing Guide

I’ve put together some insight on my approach to the importance of waxing.

By empowering you with the information and confidence, I hope this article covers any questions you may have had.

Waxing is one of the treatments I consider to be a mainstay for a lot of my clients. It gets done on a regular basis and is one of the processes that, once people make the decision to switch, they are so glad to have done so. There are many reasons they do so, and many reasons why I encourage them to make the switch.

The top reasons to switch from a razor to waxing are for convenience and results. From my experience, many ladies want to remove their unwanted body hair, but struggle to stay on top of the shaving that is necessary for it. With waxing, regrowth over time is more manageable. It works with a busy lifestyle: hair growth slows down, you find you have longer spells between appointments and there’s the convenience of not shaving on daily basis. 

With summer just around the corner, waxing can mean less worry about hair growth. You get less of a shadow on underarms when you’re wearing sleeveless tops, and the hair regrowth on your legs is less obvious. Most women care about and do more hair removal now than ever before. Waxing can alleviate some worries for women who will feel self-conscious about their body hair. 

‘I really think that waxing can make people more body confident.’

One thing that often comes up is that people tend to think that shaving makes your hair thicker or stronger. It actually doesn’t. The feel of the hair is thicker because of that blunt angled edge that the shaver has left the hair at. The razor is picking a lot of very fine hairs as well. Every person and every body has different kind of hairs, even on their legs. Some hairs are stronger than others, some hairs are more apparent than others. When you shave, you are cutting back every single hair, including the very fine ones. The fine ones have got that horrible edge on them and they come back feeling sharper, like the stronger ones. So, people think ‘oh it’s gotten worse!’’. 

When you wax, the more prominent hairs come back finer and weaker because you are removing the entire hair to its root. Waxing is also better for the skin in long run, especially for sensitive skin. Although this might seem counterintuitive, the regrowth side of things is better. Compared to the number of razor burns and cuts a person can get from shaving every few days, a single wax is once and done until the next appointment. All without holding a blade to the skin so often. I have loved seeing a more younger girls from twelve upwards being encouraged by their mums to embark on waxing before they’re tempted to try experiment with razors. It was certainly important for me, as a professional beauty therapist, that my own girls get on a good foot with waxing straightaway. I’ve seen an increased investment by mums for better hair maintenance habits. 

When the hair is regrowing from a wax, it is better for the skin. Over time, appointments become less and less, so they end up spending less over time (but this does take time). As I’ve said, it’s quite an investment in your body care because you’re going to need less and less hair removal as time goes on. As well as eliminating cuts and razor burns that are often left behind from shaving, it can be great for exfoliation. While shaving takes off that top layer of skin, waxing does in a healthier way. It leaves a rest period between appointments and only picks up the flaky skin at the surface. With regular use, the appointments become more infrequently necessary to achieve the results of smooth skin.

So, what is my approach to waxing?

It is crucial to me that my clients understand the process and what to expect. I do get the once-a-year waxing clients who come in for summer holidays but who use alternative hair removal in the other months. Unfortunately, they will not see the same benefits as those who have regular waxing appointments. The first wax won’t give you the most amazing results. Single treatments will never be very clean or smooth. Results get better month on month, the hair gets weaker, softer, and finer over time. 

I always have a chat with clients first to find out about their hair and to set up their expectations. It is essential to understand how their skin is after shaving, the sensitivity, how long between shaving one sees noticeable hair growth. This is because I make sure your hair growth is sufficient and that any product I use will not cause irritation. While it can be uncomfortable to let your hair grow if you are used to shaving every day, it is essential to leave your hairs to grow a number of weeks. This is because wax cannot grip the shorter hairs left behind by a razor. The amount of time this takes may vary from person to person, this variation is normal. 

When you come for your treatment, the area to be waxed is prepped so there is a clean surface to wax from. Waxing is either hot wax or strip. For legs and larger surface areas, I use strips which is a more expedient process than hot wax. For sensitive, smaller and intimate areas, I use a hot wax. It’s a wax which sets for about 10 seconds, then is pulled away quickly. Wax is smoothed on with the grain of the hair, then pulled against. After care product is then used to soothe the skin afterwards. 

With a first wax, the length of time before hair grows back will be sooner than what you might expect. You have to be patient and get several appointments before the results are as amazing as advertising might lead you to believe. Your skin will be red and raised due to inflammation. This is normal, don’t be shocked. Blood is rushing to the surface of the skin reacting to the trauma of having hair ripped completely out – this dissipates after 24 hours.

Some of the things I tell my clients to pay attention to after their appointment are the most important for their health and the longer-term results. I have to say that I am quite strict about them too, because the last thing I want is for someone to have a bad experience. For 24 hours after the waxing, avoid heat, perfumed oils, fragranced lotions, sunbeds, and swimming. Additionally, under no circumstances should you apply a self-tan in the 24 hours after. It will settle into your pores and leave your skin looking blotchy. 

Most people come away from the experience of waxing thinking it was a lot easier and quicker than they originally thought. I have also heard from clients who have said that it was not as uncomfortable as they expected. They love how long it lasts.