Women have been waxing themselves for quite a while now. To be more precise - from ancient times. They used beeswax and sugar based waxes to remove hair from legs, underarms and even face. As you understand it’s been around for a long time. Men joined waxing community only recently. It became more popular amongst them in 1990s. However, we don’t really know when men started removing hair using this method since most of the occasions weren’t recorded. I know that many of us question waxing and want to know what the real benefits of it are. Today I’ll try to answer one of the most common questions: does waxing reduce hair growth? Also, I’ll give you a few tips on how to do it in the right way to prolong the results.
What is Waxing?
First of all, I wanted to make it clear what I’m going to talk about. Do you know what waxing is? Could you describe it in your own words? Here is my short description of it.
Waxing is a semi-permanent hair removal method and it removes the hair from the root. There are two types of waxing: strip and stripless. Strip waxing uses soft wax to remove hair while stripless does the same thing with hard wax. Each type of wax has its advantages and disadvantages. Knowing them is handy since then you can make a decision on what type of waxing you want to go with. If you want to learn more about that, keep on reading!
Read More: How Long Does Waxing Last?
Does Waxing Reduce Hair Growth?
Yes, waxing reduces hair growth. However, it does it only when used constantly. It will take years though for it to significantly decrease hair growth. Why does it happen? – You’re probably wondering. Well, the answer is pretty simple and logical. When you wax, you pull out your roots. However, they reform and the hairs grow back. Sometimes it takes longer, sometimes not. When you keep on waxing constantly and don’t make long breaks, your hair follicle eventually gets damaged and hair cannot form anymore. Therefore, waxing reduces hair growth but it doesn’t do it overnight. It takes years of diligent work to reduce your hair growth significantly.
Wax Types
I’ve promised you to tell more about soft and hard wax and which one in what case you should use. Here are some of the benefits and disadvantages of each.
Hard Wax
Pros
- Doesn’t stick to skin as much as soft wax does
- Less painful than soft wax
- Grabs short hair quite well
Cons
- Only suitable for small areas. You can wax large areas too but you must do it in small patches
- Costs more than soft wax
- Harder to use than soft wax, you may need help
Body Parts to Use On
Suitable for bikini area, underarms, upper lip, chin and other small sensitive areas.
Read More: Hard Wax Products You Should Know
Soft Wax
Pros
- Tends to be more effective than hard wax since it catches all hair
- Cheaper than hard wax
- Suitable for large areas
- Good for less sensitive areas with coarse hair
Cons
- More painful than hard wax
- Very messy
- You’ll need to buy strips separately
- May significantly irritate sensitive areas
Body Parts to Use On
Suitable for legs, bum, back, arms and other large body parts.
Waxing at Home Tips
Knowing how to wax is as important as knowing how to breathe! Not that you need to know it! What I’m trying to say here is that waxing is actually as simple as breathing. You can follow a basic routine, avoid bumps, make it less painful and help the results last longer. Sounds good? I hope so!
Exfoliate Regularly
Exfoliating on daily basis is as important as washing your face every day. It helps to get rid of all dead cells that no longer serve any purpose and keep your skin clean. Clean skin can contribute towards better waxing experience in so many ways you probably cannot even imagine. Firstly, it helps wax to grip on hair easier since there are no dead cells that can get into the way. Secondly, protects you from inflammation that can be caused by bacteria on your skin. You get the idea. IMPORTANT! Don’t exfoliate the day before waxing, you want to keep a thin layer of dead cells so that when you’re ripping your hair, functioning cells don’t get damaged.
Wash Your Skin and Dry It
Wash your skin with warm water to open up your pores and get rid of all unnecessary dust and bacteria that could cause inflammations. In this way you’ll improve wax’s overall grip as well. Don’t forget to dry it out. Water and wax isn’t a good combination since H2O hinders wax from gripping on your skin. Don’t use creams or oils either, waxing will simply not work after applying these solutions.
Heat the Wax
Depending on the wax you’re going to be using, you will either need to get a wax warmer or just use your microwave to heat it up. However, I do recommend buying a warmer since they keep the wax at the same temperature for an unlimited time. It shortens procedure’s time and makes it much more pleasant. Investing can be useful!
Keep on Stirring!
Stirring wax during the procedure is essential to successful hair removal. You want your wax to always be of the same consistency so it’s easy to apply to your skin. Keep it at the same temperature as well, make sure you don’t burn yourself.
Test Temperature
Before applying wax to your body, make sure it’s of the right temperature. You can do it by simply dabbing your wrist into it. It shouldn’t burn, otherwise the temperature is too high. Just be careful!
Smear It
If you’re using soft wax, you probably want to apply a thin layer of it. Do the opposite for hard wax since you’ll want to grip on it in order to rip it off. Obviously, different part of your body needs to be done differently. However, the general rule is to smear wax in the direction of your hair growth. Make sure that each smear isn’t too big – 1 inch wide, 3 inches long. However, if you’re using hard wax, you may want them to be even smaller. Put the strip on, if you’re using soft wax, wait for 30 seconds and rip!
How to Rip
If you’re using hard wax, rip the wax off slowly – patch by patch. On the other hand, be quick and strong with soft wax. The faster you do it, the less painful it’ll be and the more hair you’ll rip out.
Press with Your Hand
After each rip, use your hand to press the area that you’ve waxed. That will help to reduce the pain and protect your skin from surrounding bacteria.
Read More: Should You Shower Before Waxing?
Conclusion
So does waxing reduce hair growth? What are your experiences? Do you have any other tips to share for those waxing at home? Any secrets that I haven’t mentioned in here? Please don’t feel shy and share them. We all want to learn how to wax in the right way! Do have in mind that I’ve only mentioned basic steps here, we could go into detail even further! I’m sure I’ll write an article about it in the future. Have a lovely day and take care!
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