Your guide to home waxing

Waxing is a great hair-removal option as it not only removes hair for up to four weeks (just think, no plucking or shaving for a month!), but also leaves your skin healthy, smooth and silky. Over time, waxing also makes your hair grow back finer and sparser – so it actually gets less painful and easier to do the more you do it. But while a professional wax every six weeks can be expensive, there are some areas of your body you can do yourself.

Here’s how to become your own beautician and wax at home.

Basic waxing must-knows

• Make sure your skin is cleansed and clean before applying wax
• Don’t moisturise beforehand as this will reduce the effectiveness of the wax
• Never wax at ‘that time of the month’ – your skin is far more receptive to the pain
• There is no need to exfoliate your skin before waxing as the act of waxing removes any dead skin cells for you
• Always apply wax in the direction of the hair growth
• If heating your wax product, be careful not to overheat (very hot wax will burn your skin)
• Apply a thin layer of wax – thick is too hard to remove
• Hold skin tight and pull wax strip in the opposite direction of the hair
• Rather than wax, wax, wax until your skin is raw, work until it’s mostly gone and remove stubborn leftover hairs with tweezers
• Always do a small allergy test 48 hours before waxing
• Apply a gentle soothing lotion, preferably with aloe vera, to your skin post-waxing
• Exfoliate every few days after waxing to avoid ingrown hairs

Home waxing tip one: facial hair

There are a variety of home waxing products available to remove facial hair, but you will need a few millimetres of hair before you use these. Facial wax strips are usually the easiest option for removing hair on such a delicate area – all you need to do is smooth it on and pull it off.

General rules:

• Make sure your hair is tied back
• Be gentle (it’s your face after all!)
• Use a big mirror, so you can see what you’re doing
• If you’re worried, purchase a depliatory cream remover – while it doesn’t last as long, there’s NO pain

Home waxing tip two: leg hair

Having smooth, silky legs is an immediate confidence boost – and waxing at home will give you touchable legs without the salon price-tag. Remember, it won’t be quite as easy as the beauticians make it look – but after a few goes you’ll be waxing your legs like a pro. Heated wax or heavy-duty wax strips will work best here.

General rules:

• You need at least 1 centimetre of leg hair for waxing to work
• Smooth wax strips down firmly in the direction of the hair growth, and rub in that direction so the wax attaches properly to the hair
• Pull strip quickly in the opposite direction of the hair, not up as this will only cause you pain instead of removing hair

Home waxing tip three: bikini area

A quick bikini wax can make you feel instantly sexy, plus it will keep things neat and tidy and you’ll feel better naked. Wax strips are an easy, safe, mess-free choice for the bikini area.

General rules:

• If you hair is longer than about 2 centimetres, you’ll need to trim it with scissors or clippers first
• Waxing shorter hair is more effective, and hurts far less
• Aim for a neat ‘V’-shape – but build up to it
• Exfoliate gently and regularly afterwards to avoid ingrown hairs

When to leave waxing to the experts

Though waxing at home will save you time and money, there are some areas that are either too time intensive or downright dangerous to  yourself! Here are some areas that are best left to beauticians:

Eyebrows:

Waxing your eyebrows is very different to plucking them. As there are several things that need to be taken into account such as your face shape, brow shape and eyebrow thickness. So it’s best you either stick with the tweezers or fork out the $15 bucks every six weeks.

Underarms:

This area is tricky to do yourself – actually, it can even be tricky for trained beauty therapists to do properly! Just grab the razor to de-fluff.

Any level of Brazilian waxing:

This kind of waxing is a mile away from a DIY bikini wax and can go very, very wrong if you don’t know what you’re doing (and aren’t a gymnast) – definitely see the experts if you want it done.