To Wax or Not to Wax? Pros vs Cons List

Raise your hand if you're racing out of the door each morning because you have to get the kids to school, go to work, pick up breakfast, walk the dog etc. Do you really have time or even choose to make the time to shave each morning? If you are like me the answer is no you don’t shave daily; instead you pick out your clothes to avoid having to do it all together. Especially now, I love fall just because I never had to shave, I would just hide my hairiness behind a beautiful sweater and skinny jeans. That's before I discovered the freedom waxing bring.

While shaving can result in  unsightly and spiky stubble appearing almost instantly, waxing leaves skin silky smooth and hair free for a considerably longer period of time, making waxing the longest lasting temporary hair removal solution.

If you are willing to brave out the temporary discomfort; the benefits of waxing unwanted hair from the skin are enough to make many women, and some men, become regular waxing warriors. In this blog I discuss the Pros and Cons of waxing.

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A Brief History & How it Work

Removing excess body hair with hot wax has been used for centuries and has been formulated with the same ingredients for generations, usually consisting of either beeswax or paraffin resin. There are a lot of formulas that are designed to be gentler and cause less pain. Either way, pulling hair out from the roots will still sting, but if done correctly a sting is all you'll feel and only for a very brief moment.

During your waxing service you will be expected to remove any clothing covering the area to be waxed. The wax is melted and applied to the skin with a wooden spatula. The wax is then left to cool so it can be removed. I use hard wax, so no strips are needed. While the wax is cooling it molds itself around the hair follicles, gripping them firmly.
 
Once the wax has completely cooled and becomes tacky in texture, the skin is held taut in the opposite direction to the way the wax is to be removed. The wax is then pulled quickly and sharply in an upward direction parallel to the skin. In turn, the hair is pulled out from the skin by the roots, leaving skin smooth, hairless and slightly irritated. Don’t worry, I apply a soothing serum to cool and calm the skin.  Here is a video of an under arm wax if you are more of a visual learner.

Waxing Pros

1. Waxing lasts longer than shaving or hair removal creams because it pulls the hair from the root. If it's your first time waxing, not all the hair may come up. At Oasis Skin Care Clinic, we offer a complementary 2 week follow up waxing on first time clients to ensure the majority of the hair is removed throughout all the hair growth stages. The slower re-growth is the biggest advantage waxing has over all other types of temporary hair removal. The rate of re-growth can vary, but typically no hair begins to reappear for over a week – which is much better than the stubble that appears only hours after shaving.
2. With waxing, there are No cuts or nicks that can leave you with scars, especially if you are like me that has skin susceptible to discoloration even for a minor cut.
3. For many, waxing makes the hair finer because with repeated treatments of the same area, the hair follicle is damaged and no new hair can be formed.
4. Unlike other temporary (Shaving) and permanent (electrolysis) hair removal methods, both small and large areas of hair can be removed with hot wax. For the most part, if it has hair on it, it can be waxed.
5. Although the hair removal options have come a long way, there are still some hair removal techniques that are only effective on certain hair colors, textures and types of skin. Waxing will remove the hair regardless of shade and consistency of hair from all types of skin. Waxing works just as well on the finer hair, such as hair found on the upper lip, as it does on the coarser hair typically found on the bikini line.
6. Potential side effects of waxing are relatively minimal.

Waxing Cons

1.  It can be painful. Although everybody has a different pain threshold, waxing hair from the body, undeniably hurts!  There are different techniques that are used to lessen the pain and I recommend taking an Ibuprofen about 20 minutes before your treatment to help manage the pain. Click here to see other tips to prep for your waxing appointment.
2. Waxing usually causes some redness to appear immediately after, although this disappears an hour or so later. I also use a calming serum to sooth the skin.
3.  For waxing to be able to achieve optimum results, the hair should be at least ¼ of an inch long. Depending on the person and the part of the body to be waxed it can take anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks to grow enough hair to effectively wax.  But once you are getting regular waxes, the hair will likely be so thin, it won’t be such an inconvenience to grow a 1/4 of an inch of hair.
4.  Although the potential side effects of waxing are minimal, one possible issue is ingrown hairs. They can occur when hair, instead of being pulled off by the wax at the root, break off under the skin and the skin becomes inflamed when re-growth starts. To avoid this issue I recommend all my clients go home with a waxing product that keeps the skin soft and exfoliated so any broken hairs can easily make it to the surface of the skin and not get trapped and turn into an ingrown hair. 

Is Waxing for You? 

Whether or not waxing is something you can tolerate is completely up to you. But, I will say with the right technique from your esthetician and your commitment to regular waxing treatments you will be pleased with the time saving results that waxing offers. To learn how to prep for your waxing treatment click here.