“sugaring” is from the arabic areas. My mother (Polish) learned how to make them from scratch. But the thing is (even with the ones we get already ready) you have to wait till they get sticky enough,
then be careful how you spread it so it will grab all the unwanted hair, but you got to wet your fingers a little every once in a while, or it would stick to them in clumps,
then you got to do it somewhere fairly warmish, but not too much. The warmer the room is (and you get hotter because of this) the faster it become super sticky (and takes your skin along with the hair, till at one point you just cannot take it out, so you wash it away with water)
and the hair soon to b ripped out should be just the right length for it to grab it good…not too long or that just makes everything a lot harder and more painful.
it a lot of work…i always end up in frustation, very hot (wich makes things worse) in a lot of pain and end up shaving.
but if you get it right, the results are amasing.
forgot to add, i donno what every ingrediant is, but it involves sugar and lemon juice.
if hand made from scratch, it’s actually very tasty!
for all of you saying “WHAAAAAAT??” to my last remark, i tell you in advance, it’s made from 100%natural, no chemical and it’s edible. (but it’s not recomended lol it gets you on a very bad sugar high)
and i’m not talking about the ones you buy already made.
Another thread on SDMB recommended some stuff called Tend Skin for razor bumps. I tried it, and it actually works (and I’m 47 and always had trouble with the binini area since I started shaving). So now my routine is to shave with a Mach 3 razor, and apply Tend Skin once a day for a few days. They have a web site describing the product: http://www.tendskin.com/
and you can buy it here: http://www.folica.com/removal/tendskin1.htm
It’s expensive but it actually works, and it appears that the bottle will last a long time.
In other words, I wax. My genetic code just had to follow my German heritage, not the Cherokee…grrrr.
I get professionally waxed. I’ve done it before on myself with shudder very painful results. The crease at the thigh-and-crotch is some super-thin skin, and I had more than my share of purple welts there. Yuck.
BTW, while waxing the bikini line is certainly uncomfortable, it’s the back of the upper thigh that is most tender to me.
And for the curious, I go for a nice landing strip. No Brazilian for me, youch!
Shaving works great…BUT…it is something you have to do all year round. You can’t just start up again during the summer months and expect everything to be all wonderful!
I started shaving every other day…ya, at first i had the ‘red, bumpy, aftershave itch’, but after a few shaves…it got better. Now…I can go every 4 days or so without needing to ‘reshave’, and the bumps are gone! But Damn…to only do it a few months of the year…what’s the point!!! If that were the case, I’d wax once a month and be done with it.
Oh the overwhelming pain I feel just reading this!!!
I trim and wear shorts I must confess - But waxing . . . shudder
Immac (or Veet as it is known nowadays) is supposed to be very good and gentle, I use the usual Immac for my legs but I’m sure there’s a specialized version that a friend has recommended
irishgirl wrote:
*Tweezers take care of anything which is too awkward to shave. *
I’m with irishgirl on this one. A good pair of tweezers (say, a pair of $20 Sephoras) takes care of all the errant hairs. Do it all the time (over the course of 10 years) and the pain is barely noticeable.
After doing contortions in front of the mirror, I am, once again, happy that the hairs above my knee up to the bikini area are invisible enough to be considered non-existant to the casual observer. (And I don’t have to deal with getting rid of them.)
This is the stuff I use. Which really has worked well every other time I’ve used it on other body parts (really just this once that it failed).
I love waxing, I honestly don’t think it hurts too much. I sure that varies from person to person, though. I do not wax my bikini area myself though, it’s salon all the way.
So sometimes waxing at the salon is just not convenient, the timing doesn’t work out, or you get a last minute invite to a pool party, or whatever. In those cases, I shave. Unlike the rest of my legs, when I shave up there I shave with the direction of the hair growth as opposed to against it. The shave is not as close, you can feel the little bit of stubble that remains, but it’s short enough that other people don’t see it at normal beach/pool viewing range. I’ve found that this prevents my skin from becoming irritated, red or bumpy.
Also, I’ve heard that some people (as mentioned in this thread) find soaking helps, but do keep in mind that this doesn’t work for everyone. If you skin absorbs a lot of water and becomes puffy after soaking, it can contribute to ingrown hair problems. If you usually soak and have ingrown hairs, try it a few times without soaking first. Not dry, definitely wet and with soap or shaving lotion, but not after a long soak.
I’ll second the recommendation for Tend Skin, it is an amazing product!
The only way I can do it is with hair removal cremes because I get horrible red bumps from everything else I’ve tried (shaving, waxing or sugaring) and I can’t use Tend Skin because I’m allergic to aspirin. And on the exceedingly rare occasions I wear a bathing suit, it’s a two-piece with shorts.
If I wake up female some day for some unexplained reason, there are many ways in which I’m probably going to fit right among other women, but there’s no way in hell I’m doing any of this.
I use a beard trimmer and just keep things trimmed. If I have a pool party or something, I’ll shave and use tendskin…it really is great stuff.
I used to do the brazilian wax…hurts like holy heck, but it’s nice and smooth. Problem is down here, it gets so hot, that the sweating can make things very, very uncomfortable. ew! But…on the upside, my boyfriend liked it so much that he, ahem, came to visit quite a bit! Quite a perk for a short period of pain
If you do want to try the wax, take a few advil about half an hour before, and DON"T go anytime around your monthly…your pain tolerance is lower around that time. Find a good quality salon, and don’t try it yourself the first few times…there’s places you just can’t reach (no matter how hard you try or how many yoga classes you take)
But Damn…to only do it a few months of the year…what’s the point!!! If that were the case, I’d wax once a month and be done with it.