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How Do You Make Stripping Wax Less Painful?
August 23, 2021
If you're looking for a hair removal method that's quick and simple, nothing beats the effectiveness of body waxes. Professional waxes are the best option to get rid of body hair, and most salons offer a wide enough variety of hair removal products to ensure a pleasant process for their clients. While it's impossible to make a wax treatment fully painless, there are ways to minimize the pain on even the most sensitive parts of the body.Is Wax Painful?
It depends on who you ask. For some people, like seasoned salon-goers and people with a high pain tolerance, the pain is mild and short-lived. For others, pain is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about wax treatments, usually because a bad waxing experience in their past. Wax session turn up to be more painful than expected when using standard formulas without taking the client's type of skin into account. Moreover, a too-painful ripping usually means that the wax failed at removing all the hairs evenly.Now, how do you make stripping wax less painful when there are clients who are naturally more sensitive to it? Let's set some basic ground rules to understand why choosing the right products is so important.
Get to Know Your Wax Products
The general rule is to use soft waxes on large expanses of skin and leave hard waxes to the most sensitive parts of the body. While this is a good starting point, it's not a fire-proof way to avoid needless instances of pain. First of all, you should always read about the wax composition and other recommendations on the product label. Some soft wax formulas allow more types of skins for their application, and hard waxes can still be painful despite not sticking to the skin. Pain is a common occurrence if the follicle hasn't been fully opened when it's time to pull off the wax. While hot waxes melt at temperatures that are bearable to the human skin, some people might be more sensitive to their heat and this could add to their discomfort once the esthetician starts ripping the wax off, making the removal process more painful than it ought to be.
In all scenarios, you should spread the wax following the direction of hair growth and rip it off pulling in the opposite direction. Your technique, however, should change depending on the area you're waxing. Here's how you make stripping wax less painful:- Arms, legs, and back: In many ways, large expanses of skin are the easiest to deal with, but you shouldn't get too ambitious or you might cause more harm than good. The skin on these areas is thicker and more resistant to pain, but you still need to manage your time and make sure to rip the wax off before it hardens on the skin. You can spread longer wax layers to be done in less time, just make sure to work with one layer at a time. While waxing your client's legs, it's recommended to start at the ankles and make your way up, so the person has time to get acclimated with the ripping process.
- Bikini waxes: Bikini and Brazilian waxes are tricky for a number of reasons. The hairs are coarser in relation to other parts of the body and it's harder to maneuver while working on these areas. When doing intimate waxes, it's best to apply the wax in very small portions, this will add precision while reducing the amount of pain that's felt while ripping it off. Estheticians usually divide the process in sections depending on how much they want to wax. On this note, you can bounce from one section to another if your client is feeling too much pain. This area is also more sensitive to heat, so you should also let the wax cool for longer before applying on the skin.
- Armpits: Armpits are also very sensitive, but you can easily cover the area in a couple of wax layers. They are done fairly quickly and you won't subject your client to endless bouts of ripping, so it's best to rip the wax swiftly and let the post-wax treatment do the rest.
- Facial waxes: They are also one of the quickest wax treatments because the hair growing on the face is thinner. They still demand a lot of precision, so you need to know how to use your hard waxes to avoid needless pulling. Errant hairs are easy to catch, making tweezers an ideal option if you don't want to add a second layer of wax in such a sensitive area.
General Rules for First Timers
There are other steps that you can take during the process that will ultimately make the removal less painful. These recommendations are nothing new to certified estheticians and regular clients, but they still deserve a mention when discussing ways to ensure a pleasant wax experience.- The skin must be clean of sweat and residue before waxing or the pores won't take the wax properly. This is why a pre-wax exfoliating session is so important.
- Clients can use pain numbing cream before a bikini wax. You can also take an Advil or ibuprofen 30 minutes before a session if you have a low pain tolerance.
- If the position allows it, you can listen to music or do some reading to distract yourself during the treatment. Deep breathing exercises and meditation techniques are also good ways to control pre-wax jitters.
- Soothing lotions and cool compresses are a godsend when it comes to pampering the skin after a wax. Antioxidant formulas are also essential to prevent infections in the time that takes for the pores to heal.
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