Diaries of a Waxing Novice: The Beginning
On Friday, I received a box - a box we had originally thought got lost in the Olympics muddle, and was making its way back to Paris. Inside were what the lovely people at The Hair Removal Shop had sent me that will help me embark on this series, and what is possibly one of the biggest beauty challenges I will face, ever..
I am a 100% waxing virgin. I have never had it done and I have never done it myself aside from those crap cold strips that was as useless as a chocolate teapot. So partly for the comedy factor, I've decided to embark on this journey and record my progress.
The contents of the box was in fact the UKI Candy Hair Removal Roll-On Kit*. It contains a wax heater, a honey wax cartridge, a wax removal oil and some woven strips. The contents come in the most adorable and sturdy washbag that you can customise with your own photos. The presentation of this was enough to push me to a raring start..
How to..
The instructions were a bit muddled with 30-40 minute heating times written in the instruction sheets and 10min on the website. I personally found that the latter was just fine! The idea is to plug the heater in with your chosen cartridge (there's ones with a small roller for armpits/bikini and a bigger roller for legs/arms), and when ready, to unplug and roll the wax onto your skin in the direction of your hair growth.
My first thoughts? "The wax is so nice and waaaaaarm.." I was feeling quite cozy and perhaps a bit too relaxed..
I went for the legs first, and after trial and error discovered several things. First was that I wasn't applying enough wax, so *slather, slather* I went, and then applied the included woven strips in the same direction as my hair growth. I also learnt after a while that I had to be patient once the strips were on. The 40 Year Old Virgin was not a good guide to waxing in terms of timing. To my novice eyes, I felt it removed a significant amount of hair, and hope that with practice it'll become faster and more effective - I'll keep you updated!
Arm pits didn't go as well. After more pain in one go than all the leg strips combined, and over 24hrs of bright red underarms that would put Rudolph's nose to shame (could definitely light a sleigh with these..), I was left with a grand total of 1 less hair on each side. Fail doesn't quite cover it. Obviously as I was using the same exact equipment as my legs, it had nothing to do with the appliances - there's only one lesson to be learnt here - patch test. Just like with any other parts of your skin, some places are more sensitive than others, so be sure to try little bits out first in sensitive areas like underarms or bikini areas if you have never waxed before. Hair Removal Shop also have wax for more sensitive skins in general - so, lesson learnt, I will be purchasing the sensitive skin ones from now on :)
So what did I think?
Yanking the strips in the opposite direction has to be the most exciting and worrying part of waxing - exciting, because you're excited to see how much hair came off, and worrying because you're never really sure how much it'll hurt. Personally, I didn't find the legs to hurt at all. The underarms.. haha well that's a different story.
My first experience, overall, is what I would call.. "patchy"? Yea, I've got to work on space management..
The day after, I found that some patches of skin were especially dry and slightly pink, but not painful at all. I wonder if maybe I left the wax on too long, or I yanked too hard? This is another reason why I plan on going for the sensitive skin wax next time!
Any thoughts on the oil?
I loooove the smell of the calming oil. It's a very powder-like smell, and it really calms down the skin. It also removes the residue wax well (which in my noob case, was quite a lot..), and softens your skin. I think after this bottle, it could be replaced with baby oil.
Overall..
To be honest, it went a lot better than I thought it would. No wax in hair, no dripping applicators, and no blood in sight. To my surprised, I really enjoyed it, and found it quite addictive and therapeutic! I think over time and with more practice, I will really make good use of this kit. It's something I'd definitely make time for every 2 weeks or so, to save me from the shaving-induced stress in the shower!
The start-up price may be more expensive than their competitors Veet, but if you look at the quantities and costs of the replacement cartridges, you'll find that even with shipping, UKI is much cheaper especially if you buy more than 1 cartridge per purchase. And so far, I can definitely recommend this, and say I would have purchased this myself without any regrets!
They also have other products on their site so definitely worth checking out :)
Waxing.
I am a 100% waxing virgin. I have never had it done and I have never done it myself aside from those crap cold strips that was as useless as a chocolate teapot. So partly for the comedy factor, I've decided to embark on this journey and record my progress.
The contents of the box was in fact the UKI Candy Hair Removal Roll-On Kit*. It contains a wax heater, a honey wax cartridge, a wax removal oil and some woven strips. The contents come in the most adorable and sturdy washbag that you can customise with your own photos. The presentation of this was enough to push me to a raring start..
How to..
The instructions were a bit muddled with 30-40 minute heating times written in the instruction sheets and 10min on the website. I personally found that the latter was just fine! The idea is to plug the heater in with your chosen cartridge (there's ones with a small roller for armpits/bikini and a bigger roller for legs/arms), and when ready, to unplug and roll the wax onto your skin in the direction of your hair growth.
My first thoughts? "The wax is so nice and waaaaaarm.." I was feeling quite cozy and perhaps a bit too relaxed..
I went for the legs first, and after trial and error discovered several things. First was that I wasn't applying enough wax, so *slather, slather* I went, and then applied the included woven strips in the same direction as my hair growth. I also learnt after a while that I had to be patient once the strips were on. The 40 Year Old Virgin was not a good guide to waxing in terms of timing. To my novice eyes, I felt it removed a significant amount of hair, and hope that with practice it'll become faster and more effective - I'll keep you updated!
Arm pits didn't go as well. After more pain in one go than all the leg strips combined, and over 24hrs of bright red underarms that would put Rudolph's nose to shame (could definitely light a sleigh with these..), I was left with a grand total of 1 less hair on each side. Fail doesn't quite cover it. Obviously as I was using the same exact equipment as my legs, it had nothing to do with the appliances - there's only one lesson to be learnt here - patch test. Just like with any other parts of your skin, some places are more sensitive than others, so be sure to try little bits out first in sensitive areas like underarms or bikini areas if you have never waxed before. Hair Removal Shop also have wax for more sensitive skins in general - so, lesson learnt, I will be purchasing the sensitive skin ones from now on :)
So what did I think?
Yanking the strips in the opposite direction has to be the most exciting and worrying part of waxing - exciting, because you're excited to see how much hair came off, and worrying because you're never really sure how much it'll hurt. Personally, I didn't find the legs to hurt at all. The underarms.. haha well that's a different story.
My first experience, overall, is what I would call.. "patchy"? Yea, I've got to work on space management..
The day after, I found that some patches of skin were especially dry and slightly pink, but not painful at all. I wonder if maybe I left the wax on too long, or I yanked too hard? This is another reason why I plan on going for the sensitive skin wax next time!
Any thoughts on the oil?
I loooove the smell of the calming oil. It's a very powder-like smell, and it really calms down the skin. It also removes the residue wax well (which in my noob case, was quite a lot..), and softens your skin. I think after this bottle, it could be replaced with baby oil.
Overall..
To be honest, it went a lot better than I thought it would. No wax in hair, no dripping applicators, and no blood in sight. To my surprised, I really enjoyed it, and found it quite addictive and therapeutic! I think over time and with more practice, I will really make good use of this kit. It's something I'd definitely make time for every 2 weeks or so, to save me from the shaving-induced stress in the shower!
But I did have one thought that crossed my mind several times: those waxing adverts need reporting..
No one can look that sexy whilst waxing. No one.
No one can look that sexy whilst waxing. No one.
Itching to start your own waxing journey (or continue your expertise)?
The UKI Candy Hair Removal Roll-On Kit is usually available for €45.50, but Hair Removal Shop have given me a 10% discount code for you lovely readers to use: MAKEYUUP.
The UKI Candy Hair Removal Roll-On Kit is usually available for €45.50, but Hair Removal Shop have given me a 10% discount code for you lovely readers to use: MAKEYUUP.
Which means with P&P, you can the whole set for around £37.60.
The start-up price may be more expensive than their competitors Veet, but if you look at the quantities and costs of the replacement cartridges, you'll find that even with shipping, UKI is much cheaper especially if you buy more than 1 cartridge per purchase. And so far, I can definitely recommend this, and say I would have purchased this myself without any regrets!
They also have other products on their site so definitely worth checking out :)
What are your thoughts on waxing?
Do you do at-home waxing?
Do you do at-home waxing?
I have tried sugaring at home and it went pretty well on my legs :P but that's the only place I have tested it and it lasted for a while.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about doing it again soon since it saves me so much time in the shower shaving :P
You should look it up and try it! Let me know how it goes :)
I'd never heard of sugaring, that sounds really interesting (I just read it up!), thanks for the rec! :)
DeleteI epilate my legs but I used to use wax strips years ago and have been wanting to try waxing again as I think it'll be quicker and get more hairs than epilating, plus it won't make a horrible sound like the epilator does! x
ReplyDeleteI didn't know epilating didn't catch all the hairs! I always thought I'd try that before waxing cuz I assume it takes less time but I suppose what's the point if they don't work as well. I'm a novice but I can recommend this set :) I think Adrienne from The Sunday Girl also has a review, as does Jess from Star Violet if you are interested!
DeleteI've tried different types of waxing at home and it's all been pretty useless! Although honestly, I prefer shaving, and am considering using Veet or something like it to dissolve the hairs, because I hate the idea of having to let your hair grow out long enough to wax them - what if it's halfway there and a spontaneous beach day comes up? Or I wanna wear shorts? LOL!
ReplyDeleteHahaha I get you, the growing out bit is a bit annoying! But I do still keep my razor for those occasions. I used to use hair dissolvers on my arms but they used to bleach my skin and it'd really freak me out, felt like I was applying toxic waste on myself lol!
DeleteYour blog cracks me up! SO enjoyable to read :) Thank you for your honest reviews and amazing outlook on all things beauty, it's so refreshing!
ReplyDeleteIf you fancy reading/watching my first ever threading experience (OUCH!), check this out... http://beautyjunkme.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/thread-my-face-2/
So painful!
Will definitely be subscribing to your blog, a really refreshing read!
Cat xx