DIY Sunday: Hair-Removing Sugar Wax
Happy end of the week, everyone! We know how much of a hassle shaving is, and with many spas and salons still closed, it’s not easy to get a professional wax.
Today, we’ll be telling you how to make your own sugar wax, a method used by women for centuries (Queen Cleopatra herself!).
Waxing is painful. However, sugaring has been known to be less painful than regular store-bought waxes and even professional treatments. Additionally, sugar waxing is one of the best ways to remove stubborn pubic, facial, armpit, leg, arm, and other body hair, for women with sensitive skin.
Dry, inflamed, peeling skin begone!
The melted sugar sticks to the hair, not the skin, as store-bought waxing strips do, resulting in less pain and less hair!
What You’ll Need:
- Candy Thermometer (Optional, but helps first-timers! Get one HERE.)
- 1 Cup White Sugar
- ⅛ Cup Lemon Juice or Apple Cider Vinegar
- ⅛ Cup Warm Water
- Popsicle Stick (Optional, you can use your hand if you prefer.)
- Small/Medium Saucepan
- Skin Cleanser
- Skin Exfoliator
- Unscented Lotion
To Make:
To begin, place the pot on the stove and put all ingredients into it, including the thermometer if you’re using one. The thermometer ensures that you won’t burn the sugar. Turn on the heat to HIGH and stir.
Don’t stop stirring!
Once the sugar mixture begins to bubble, turn the heat to MEDIUM and continue to stir. Look at the thermometer to make sure that the temperature is not still rising or the sugar will burn and the wax will be useless.
When the mixture is done, it should look golden; think honey. The consistency should be thin, though, so if the texture is like honey heat it until it’s thinner.
Pour the hot mixture into a heat-safe bowl and wait for it to cool down for about 30 minutes or until the wax is easy to move around and still warm.
Your DIY sugar wax is done!
To Use:
Before waxing, trim the hair you plan to wax to ¼ of an inch. If it’s too long, the wax won’t work as well and you’ll be left with hairs stuck to your skin. Always remember to cleanse and then exfoliate, too! When you remove all dead skin cells you leave less matter for the wax to stick to, therefore reducing hair-pulling pain.
Always place a little bit of the mixture on the inside of your wrist to make sure it’s not too hot like you would if testing the heat of warm breastmilk.
Once your skin is prepped, take a small scoopful of the concoction with a popsicle stick or your fingers. Take the glob and smooth it onto your skin WITH the grain of the hair; if you do it against the grain it’ll hurt more and not work as well.
Do small sections, a couple of inches in length at most.
DO NOT wait for the wax to cool or it’ll be impossible to take off in one piece.
— Immediately after spreading onto the skin, pull the skin taught with your hand while the other grabs onto the wax from the bottom.
— Then pull AGAINST the grain of the hair.
— Don’t go extremely fast, it’s not ripping off a bandaid. Going too fast will rip apart the wax.
— Pull towards yourself, not upwards to avoid ripping the wax.
After you’ve finished the desired area, take some lotion, preferably unscented to avoid infection or irritation of hair follicles, and rub it gently into the skin.
And there you have it, smooth and perfect skin for 4-6 weeks! Remember, every time you wax you destroy the hair follicle, resulting in less and less hair every time you wax.
