Do you shave? Wax? Laser? There are so many options when it comes to hair removal and to be honest, I’ve tried a lot of them, being the dark-haired Italian that I am.
But I’ve found that some methods are better for me than others.
For me, waxing has always been my go-to. The pain is tolerable, especially when you go regularly; it’s quick, usually only lasting around 20 minutes for my bikini, and it lasts about a month.
But, always on the search for something better, I decided that for my next appointment, I was going to try sugaring, which is a more environmentally conscious way to remove hair.
Credit: waterstonespa.com
Sugaring, or sugar waxing, is similar to waxing except there are no paper strips used to pull off the hair. Sugar, honey, lemon, and water is combined to make this sticky paste that remains pliable and malleable at room temperature.
Each client gets their own little ball of this sugar paste and the same ball of sugar is used for the duration of the appointment.
The sugar paste is pushed onto the area where the hair is being removed and then quickly pulled off, leaving your skin smooth.
Credit: plainhair.com
This all sounded manageable and endearing to me, but I was wrong.
When I went, I made an appointment for my bikini area, which I have only ever waxed.
My pain tolerance is pretty high, plus I had noticed that waxing was really hurting less because I’d been going regularly for the last couple of months.
But, encouraged by the environmental benefits of sugaring (its biodegradable ingredients and lack of paper strips) and intrigued by claims that sugaring hurts less than waxing, I agreed to make an appointment at a sugaring studio here in Boston.
This was my experience and opinion:
Sugaring definitely hurt more than waxing. Instead of only having pain when the wax and hair is pulled off like with traditional waxing, sugaring also hurt when the paste was being pushed onto my skin. And then it also hurt when it was ripped off. It just hurt all around.
The procedure also took a lot longer. I was there for almost 40 minutes, and the esthetician told me that some appointments can take up to an hour depending on the area being sugared.
The next day, I was black-and-blue in some of the places she had sugared which made even walking painful. This could have been because I have fairly sensitive skin, but really I think it was from continuously pushing the sugar paste onto my skin.
Credit: sugard.ca
The results were okay. I really can’t say they were better or worse than waxing. However, they seem to have lasted a little longer. Even then, I’m hesitant to make that claim because of how regularly I’ve been getting waxed which results in hair growing back thinner and finer.
Either way, I’m sticking with waxing from now on. Waxing is much less painful, is quicker, doesn’t leave me black-and-blue, and lasts a long time. It was worth trying sugaring, but I won’t be going back.
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