Thanks for the good advice, medstar!
Quadfecta? I thought it was about art - like perhaps batiking! 
I was told once by a mehendi expert (who, now that I think of it, was the woman who taught me to batik!) that it’s not worth doing henna on someone who is on her period, because it won’t “take” well. She said that the same hormones that cause the endometrial tissue to slough off the uterine wall make our skin and hair shed more. I’ve not been able to verify that, but anecdotally I notice more head hair come loose in the shower when I’m menstruating. Don’t really notice if my body hair falls out more, but if I were to wax, I’d be inclined to try it then. Bonus, I guess, if you’re taking something for period pain; maybe the waxing pain will be lessened.
I have absolutely no proof as to why, but most waxing salons suggest you don’t wax during your period. If I remember why they said, it was that your skin is extra sensitive and the act of waxing will cause problems.
Keee-ripes! I’m glad I’m middle aged, uninteresting, and at the proper age to be able to wear a bathing suit with a skirt on it! I’ll stick with shaving legs and pits, thanks…
I waxed my legs today with my new goodies and it worked like a dream! SO much better than the kits you buy at the grocery store. I turned the heat up to high until it was liquid and then down to just above low for 20 minutes and it wasn’t uncomfortably hot at all, just soothingly warm. I did the whole process sitting on a very large piece of cardboard to protect the floor and only got two tiny drips on it. The waxing itself wasn’t all that painful, and it got all the hairs with no tweezing required. YAY! I’m so glad I made this decision. I may get my husband to wax my underarms in a week and see if I can handle it.
I think for bikini area (Brazilian) I need the harder wax, right? I’m still not sure I want to go there just because of the contortions–it’s something I found really logistically difficult to do to myself in the past.
:smack: Why did I never think of cardboard? Cardboard sounds much better than newspaper.
As for waxing while on the rag, meh. I take 3 advil instead of 2. I have a very low threshold of pain, FWIW.
OpalCat, you could always just try your bikini line and see how that goes to start off with.
Well, but then I’d still end up shaving the rest… would it be worth it? Hmm… maybe. I could wax the sides/front that are easy to see and shave the under/between bits that are harder to get at.
BTW I get a prescription for Emla cream to do things like that–my pain threshold is very low.
I put Johnson’s Baby Oil before I wax. If I were you I would invest in a strip of linoleum to spread out and catch the drips - easy clean up with alcohol. Most pits can be done with two strips, one down and one across
I too just bot a wax warmer. However, I’m looking to do bikini area. I’ve gotten a brazilian before and I did not find it particularly painful . . .I’ll let you guys know if it hurts like the dickens. I would love to get a professional brazillian, but I can’t afford to shell out 60 bucks every two weeks.
Q: do you long-time waxers find the hair grows back softer/less frequently after a while?
Maybe if you’re white but if you’re Indian like us there’s no chance in hell.
Well, I’ll amend that. Leg hair for me has grown back maybe 10-15% sparser over the course of a year, but its certainly not less noticeable, if that makes sense. As for upper lip and brows? Not a chance in hell – in fact, I used to wax those areas every month. If you’re eating really well and exercising, it’s going to be less frequently. Like, every 2 weeks. :smack::smack::smack::smack:
Opalcat, I’m hoping that you are not really a cat, 'cause cats and waxing really don’t mix.
Get electrolysis done. It will pay for itself very, very shortly.
So my experiment yesterday was . . . moderately successful. I have this problem where it was removed patchily . . . like the wax would take off 60% of the hair in an area.
Reapplying wax didn’t seem to work, so am I doing something wrong? The one time I got it done the wax removed 100% of the hair to which it was applied. Do I need to change the temp or something?
Also, LindsayBluth, what strips do you use to wax facial hair? I have crazy eyebrows but I’m terrified of accidentally getting some of the regular hair instead of the stray hairs and looking crazy.
I should add I have poor hand control and coordination.
Are you pulling the strips back over themselves (so they double back against the strip still on your skin) or are you pulling them straight up?
What brand of strips were you using? If using a pot, did you let it really get super hot and then turn it on low?
If you used strips, did you exfoliate, wash with soap and then brush baby powder/gold bond over the area? The area must be totally and completely oil-free. Being that we’re oilier than white people, this is especially important. If you’re getting some but not all hair, either 1) it’s not exfoliated and cleansed and oil free and patted totally dry and then dusted with baby powder or 2) your technique is bad and instead of pulling straight back you’re pulling upwards unintentionally.
If you are using hard wax (as opposed to soft wax) in a melting pot, thems the breaks of being brown. I’ve never seen good success with hard wax on myself and my brown friends confirm similar stories.
Here are the strips I use on my eyebrows. Surgi-wax. I used to use Nair but they got weird last year; the wax was too thin and slimy and stopped being good for our thick hair. Notice that I use the body strips not the facial ones; I assume the body ones are slightly thicker (coated with wax) but I have no evidence of that, so if you want to buy the facial ones, go ahead. Either way, cut and measure them when cold first. I wax above my eyebrows. So above my brows I do two strips and they cross above my arch. So one angles up slightly and the other angles down. I’ve been plucking underneath for so long that hardly anything grows back. Same concept, be sure you’re holding the skin super taut before waxing and removing.
Also, rather than heat them between my hands, I kind of hold a strip between a hair straightener set on 1 or 2, so it gets warmer than with my hands, then pull it apart and apply and wait for it to cool to strip off. I think it adheres to the hair better that way.
For upper lip, I do 3 strips: one down each side and one across the middle.
ETA: If you have poor hand control, I suggest you pluck underneath your brows. You can’t be shaking when you’re putting wax so close to your eyelashes, IMO.
I have an appointment with my dermatologist. I’m not sure he’ll let me get electrolysis because of my vitiligo. He may put me on Vaniqua first.