Hair waxing advice (TMI?)

In My Humble Opinion
1

So I’m trying out waxing for the first time, and I go to my local Meijer’s and stare blindly at the shelf. There are so many options that I stick to the one that says it’s the easiest and cleanest. I pick up this thing that looks like a large clear roll-on deodorant bottle full of wax. It’s by Nair, so I figure it might remove all that leg hair I got. It’s the Nair Hair Removal Kit, a roll-on sugaring wax that’s microwaveable and scented “fresh peach melon.”

I don’t know what it is about body products lately, they all seem to smell like food. I’m trying to use this product to remove unsightly body hair, not top my sundae.

I take it home six dollars later and read the directions thoroughly. I am one of those people who will agonize over microwaving popcorn – it says five minutes. It doesn’t mean five minutes. This discrepancy disturbs me. I will follow directions to the letter, so when directions are so imprecise as they are with microwave popcorn, I get this existential anxiety and practically press my ear to the door to hear every last pop.

Anyway. I read them, I do what they say. There’s a plug that I have to remove before I microwave. It is VERY IMPORTANT to remove the plug. I remove the plug, although I secretly very much want to microwave it to see if it blows up.

Microwave for 15 seconds – fine. I do this. Not fourteen, not sixteen and a half, but fifteen. The stuff in the container is a little warm, and looks sticky.

The package has these moist towelettes in them, and even though using moist towelettes makes me slightly neurotic as well, I use them. They are supposed to remove oil. I assume they do what they say.

Then there’s these little paper strips that you have to press on to the wax after it’s applied, so you can rip it cleanly off. There’s also a little tray that you can set the roller doohickey on between strips of wax, so the wax stays on the roller.

At this point I have a factory line set up. Towelettes to the far left, then to the right of that the roller, then the strips of paper, then the tray, then a little spot to set the used paper on. Looks good: I am set to embark to the wonderful world of waxed women.

I wipe, I wait, I roll, I apply the paper, I set the applicator on the tray, I wait, I hold my breath, and I RIP!

Hmm. Somewhat disappointing. It didn’t hurt.

And it didn’t remove any hair! :mad:

Someone wise in the ways of wax, please describe what it is I did wrong. My hairy legs will thank you (and so will my sweetie).

2

How long did you let the hair grow before trying the wax? I’ve never waxed, but AFAIK the hair has to be over a certain length before it really works.

3

The package said no longer than half an inch, and I tried to use it on hair more than a quarter inch in length. Nada.

4

Did you put the wax on in the direction of the hair growth, smooth the paper strips in the direction of the hair growth, pull your skin tight, and rip against the grain?

5

I’ve never tried this product, but I’ve done home sugaring before. If it’s not hot enough, it won’t stick firmly enough to the hairs, so will pull right off, without removing any. Unfortunately, when I tried the sugaring, in order to get the mixture hot enough to work properly, it was also hot enough that applying it felt like torture, nevermind the removal process.

6

I might try it again tonight, making the wax hotter.

Yes, I did pull the skin taught and rip against the grain. I smoothed and applied with the grain.

They said the stuff will come off easily with warm water, but it didn’t. I stuck to everything afterwards. At this point I am about to say heck with it and go back to my trusty-but-painful razor.

7

You have to get the speed right. It took me a few attempts before it could get the waxing strips to take any hair off. I always seem to end up with the one irremovable hair and have to use a razor anyway!

8

It seems like the hair may not be long enough.

But let me share my experience which may also be relevant:

When I bought wax for the first time I too was terrified of the pain and bought the one that sold itself as easy, and nice-smelling, and water-soluble and all those great things. It was indeed all of those great things, clean-up was a snap, but as you note, it didn’t remove the hair.

So the next time I went all out and got the scary, smelly, pine-sap, clean-up-with-this-special-oil kind. It smelled terrible and was awfully sticky and clean-up was a bastard, but it ripped out every hair it touched and barely hurt at all.

So the moral is: don’t trust that half-arsed wussy hair removal crap. Give it all you’ve got.

9

Wow, that’s strange. That Nair roll-on stuff works just fine for me. It all comes off - and so do the hairs - with one rip. My wild guess is that maybe you applied it either too thick (so some stays on your leg), or too thin (so that it has a hard time adhering to both your leg and the strip).

Also, your preparation might not have been right. Wash your legs off, towel-dry thoroughly. Use the towelette then, all over your legs, and let dry. Only then should you be starting to wax - don’t wipe a portion, wax, and work as you go.

Plus don’t wait too long after microwaving. The sugaring “wax” starts cooling down and then it doesn’t work too well. Get everything laid out for you, nuke the bottle, and then sit down and start working.

10

Gah, after hitting Submit Reply, I realized one thing - I know you said you were working on leg hair, but if you get the idea to try it on the “bikini area”, I wouldn’t. It didn’t do a thing on those thicker hairs, at least for me.

I never used the towelette on my legs, btw. I just washed them and dried them well.

11

Okay, tonight I’m going to wash, towel-dry, wipe, nuke that bottle 'till it’s steaming, slather it on and rip!

And if it doesn’t work I’ll try that pine-sap stuff.

Why does this have to be so hard?

12

I forget, did the instructions mention anything about powdering the legs before waxing with a little baby powder or cornstarch?

13

That’s what I’m thinking…if the skin is wet you won’t get any hair off. After you use the moist towlette to remove the oil, wait until your skin dries again before going for it. (or use cornstarch/powder, then wax.)

That said, my legs won’t wax. Every other part of my body will respond to being waxed by allowing the hair to be ripped painfully out by the root. But I’ve never been able to wax my legs. The hair just stays there stubbornly - all the pain, none of the results.

14

Elysian, be sure to test a drop of wax on the inside of your wrist first to make sure it isn’t too hot!

15

You might want to further complicate the process by exfoliating your legs the night before. Right before you start waxing, wipe your legs with alcohol to further dry up sweat and oils. Dust your legs with a thin layer of talc, roll on a thin coat of wax, rub the paper strip with the grain of the hair to be removed, and most importantly, pull the strip of paper back against itself. This will remove the most hair. Remember that you can use the just ripped strip again and again until it’s so full of hair it won’t work any more; you don’t need a new strip every time you sugar. Hope this helps.