Before you schedule your next upper-lip, bikini or leg waxing appointment, you can remove your hair at home with a do-it-yourself treatment. In fact, when using a cold wax, you are removing hair directly from the root, instead of snipping it off at the surface with a razor or depilatory. As a result, the hair grows back slower and your skin feel smoother. With continued waxing, you’ll not only save hundreds of dollars in pricey salon treatments, but you'll also develop softer, thinner hair that’s even easier to remove.
Make the Wax
Create a heavy sugar syrup, by pouring 2 cups of sugar into 2 cups of water. Heat the ingredients in a saucepan on the stove. Cook the mixture on low heat until it’s transparent and boils for 1 minute.
Remove the syrup from heat and let it cool.
Add ¼ cup of lemon juice to the saucepan and stir.
Add ¼ cup of olive oil and stir. In “Be Your Own Beautician,” author Parvesh Handa suggests using mustard oil; however, this specialty oil may not be available in all grocery stores.
Add ½ cup of water and stir.
Heat the mixture on the stovetop over medium heat for 45 minutes. When the mixture turns brown, remove the pan from the stove.
Stir in 1 tablespoon of glycerine and let the mixture cool in the fridge. Be sure to put a lid on the pan to keep the ingredients from drying out.
Remove Hair
Dip a spatula into the chilled wax and lift out a half-dollar-sized amount.
Use the spatula to spread the wax in a strip on the body part you wish to wax. Always spread the wax in the direction of hair growth, from follicle to tip.
Cover the wax with a strip of muslin and press lightly to make sure the wax sticks to the fabric. Do not press hard -- three or four soft and gentle strokes are all you need to make the fabric stick to the wax.
Lift up a corner of the muslin strip at the end farthest away from you. Pull it up and away from the skin, in one smooth motion, to remove the wax.
Repeat steps 1 through 4 for all the areas you wish to wax.
Tip
If you’re waxing tricky areas around the knee, place your foot on the ground and start bending your knee slightly. Pull the skin of the knee taut before applying the wax—this creates a smooth surface that the wax can adhere to easily.
The more hair you have, the easier it is to wax. If you regularly shave the area you want to wax, let the hair grow for several days first -- this gives the wax more to hold on to.
References
- "Be Your Own Beautician"; Parvesh Handa
- "Beauty Therapy"; Jane Hiscock and Frances Lovett
- "Natural Beauty: Pamper Yourself with Salon Secrets at Home"; Laura DuPriest
Writer Bio
Jenni Wiltz's fiction has been published in "The Portland Review," "Sacramento News & Review" and "The Copperfield Review." She has a bachelor's degree in English and history from the University of California, Davis and is working on a master's degree in English at Sacramento State. She has worked as a grant coordinator, senior editor and advertising copywriter and has been a professional writer since 2003.