Hair Removal - Waxing

Also known as: Brazilian Waxing, Bikini Waxing, Hair Removal - Bikini Waxing.

Striking fear into the heart of your unwanted fuzz, waxing is one of the most effective and widely-used hair removal treatments. It’s used all over the body: for swiftly removing large areas of hair like the legs, and also in smaller areas, like the bikini line, where waxing's softer regrowth is preferable to razor-blade bristles.

Waxing is a non-permanent treatment, but because the hair is pulled out from the root, it lasts much longer than shaving. Typically, the hair will grow back after two to eight weeks, though if you continue to wax for a couple of years you’ll notice that your hairs become few and far between in the area you’re waxing.

How does it work?

There are a few different types of waxing treatment: hot wax is very effective at removing even the strongest, curliest hair; cool wax can be a bit sticky and therefore not quite as effective, but is kinder to sensitive skin; sugaring is often seen as a form of waxing because the method is similar, but instead of using wax, a sugary paste is applied – it’s not applied hot and doesn’t stick to the skin as much as wax does, so it’s thought to be kinder to your skin.

Your therapist will ask you to lie on a treatment bed in order to get better access to the area you’re having waxed. The wax, or sugaring paste, is spread on your skin in small areas (larger areas if you’re having your legs, back or chest done), using a spatula. Then, a paper or cloth strip is smoothed on and whipped off in the opposite direction to your hair growth, taking the wax and your hair with it. This is repeated until all of the area has been covered. If there are any stray hairs that managed to escape the wax, your therapist will use tweezers to take them out, leaving you with perfectly hairless skin.

Is it for me?

If you have fuzz that needs busting on your legs, arms, chest, back, stomach, armpits, bikini line, buttocks – pretty much anywhere that hair can grow – then waxing is a great short-term solution. You won’t get itchy re-growth as you would shaving and your hair doesn’t grow back all at once – so there’ll be no five o’clock shadow on your snail-trail.

Of course, if your pain threshold is pretty low, you should be warned that it stings a bit, especially in areas where the hair grows very densely. Newbies might want to try having their legs waxed before they move on to bikini line or armpits – ouch!