This is actually inspired by the “technologies you heard of as a kid but never took off” thread. I know waxing isn’t a technology, but still.
What is the deal? Shouldn’t it be less gooey by now? Shouldn’t we be able to just wax away in the privacy of our own home without sticking to everything in sight? Mind you, you would not confuse me with a gorilla or Cousin It. I’m not asking too terribly much of the wax.
Why not just go to the salon, you say? Well, for one, it’s expensive and, for two, going means you have to look horribly stubbly for a few weeks while the waxing last A Whole Week and then you’re back to looking stubbly.
So, I went to the official Beauty Supply store and bought one said tub o’ wax, the tongue depresser things, and those strips. I did my eyebrows ok, but then the open tub (with lid back on it) stuck to everything in sight because a mini-glob has the adherence of crazy glue. Then I attempted a bikini wax, which sort of half worked, if you don’t count the days it took to unstick my underwear that was sticking to me and find a new home for the tub that was even sticker because I used it twice. It seems I walk by the stupid tub and get stuck to it.
I’ve tried the suguring, which did nothing. Shaving makes me break out. Shouldn’t this be more advanced by now?
Tub o’ wax? I cannot think of anything more messy-- and never seen it.
You can buy some great stuff from Parissa-- it’s basically a package of two sheets of plastic wrap stuck together with wax. Rub it to heat up, peel apart, apply to body and voila.
There is also something newfangled by a manufacturer I can’t remember. It’s basically a roll-on wax with cotton strips.
Why do I know so much about wax? Let’s just say I’m a voracious reader.
Oh, and electrolysis hurts, and unless you find a reputable zapper it’s a ripoff.
I tried that. It got maybe half the hair off at a time, if that much. Retries made the skin red and painful. Plus, eventually some ants (this was summer) found their way into the bathroom and to the container, as inevitably there’d be some residue left around the lid rim, on the spreading stick, or wherever.
Which “private parts” are you thinking of?
I ask not to be lascivious, but because the answer is “it depends”.
it depends on the “part”, the technician, and your pain tolerance.
I agree that there should be a better solution by now (“if we can put a man on the moon…”), but probably not until hair becomes more taboo for (non-TV or TS) men.
(They can invent Viagra and Propecia, but not a painless way to stop hair growth?)
Barbarian what is Parissa? I have never heard of it/them.
I tried Nads but basically had the same experience as Ferret. Apparently, while I don’t have a ton of hair, the hair I have is pretty coarse and is…um…reluctant to leave my body.
With the Nad’s, I find that temperature–both your body temp and the temp in the room–really affect how well the product works. The warmer your skin and the room are, the better (so long as it’s not humid and you’re not sweating).
I know a lot of people who use laser hair removal. You have to find a reputable operator to do it, and it’s not permanent, but it’s semi-permanent. I know people who have appointments to have it done semi-annually, just like going to a salon.
Parissa is a brand available in Canada (in BC and Quebec, so probably elsewhere).
And my soon-to-be-official brother-in-law’s girlfriend has spent the past year getting electrolysis on her bikini area.
Basically, electrolysis requires multiple treatments to fry every follicle (based on there being 3 follicles for every pore that has hair), so it takes a couple months to do-- at anywhere from $50 to $75 a pop.
There are even home electrolysis do-hickies you can pick up for as little as $40 (I think). You generally have to do it one hair at a time, so depending on how much hair you’re looking to get rid of, it may not be the most efficient solution. You’re killing the hair follicle, so it should last forever.
IIRC, only about 1/3 of the follicles are ever active at any given time, so it may not appear to be working when in fact you killed off an active follicle and a dormant one woke up.
