This is a matter that everyone who regularly goes to professional waxing salons thinks about: will the pain ever fully stop? The waxing industry has worked toward creating new products like hard body waxes, depilating creams, or sugar pastes with special properties to minimize pain. However, as a licensed esthetician or waxing specialist, you surely are aware that "painful" is still often used to describe waxing.
Professionals claim and defend the well-known aphorism, "the more you wax, the less pain will feel". However, is this myth really true? Fortunately, yes! And here we explain why and how.
First, it's important to clarify that a totally pain-free waxing session is just impossible. Nonetheless, as the body gets used to the treatment, the hair follicles weaken, and the clients learn how to prep their skin properly at home, the pain won't be as uncomfortable. In fact, it won't even be a factor to consider or fear when attending the next waxing appointment. Why and how does this happen? Here are the common questions you might have asked yourself regarding this issue or questions that clients might have come to you to understand more about their skin:
- Why does waxing hurt in the first place?
Some habits of human hygiene don't cause any pain at all such as cutting nails, trimming hair, or exfoliating. Then, why does waxing hurt when other hair removal methods don't? As you probably know, shaving or chemical hair removal creams remove the hair from the surface. When hair pokes out through the skin, it's already dead. That's why it doesn't hurt. - Why waxing is more painful for some people?
Not everyone reacts to pain the same way. While some women cannot withstand an eyebrow or upper-lip wax, the same distress is easily tolerable for others. There are women and men who need a few seconds between one strip application and the next to deal with the pain, while others can tolerate an entire procedure without quivering. What determines the pain tolerance and pain threshold is subjective and involves a combination of biochemical and phycological factors; although researchers at Harvard University have found that genetics might have something to do with pain sensitivity levels.
The fact that every client is different must be kept in mind by estheticians. Just because a wax worked smoothly on one client, it doesn't mean it will on everyone. If a customer complains about unbearable pain, try to identify the possible reasons why: does the client suffer from sensitive skin? Is the area inflamed, irritated, or extra dry? To avoid this problem, these questions should be asked before the procedure. - Why are some body areas more sensitive to pain than others?
The ability to experience pain changes across the body. The fingertips and the forehead are the two body parts most sensitive to pain according to a study made in the University College of London—fortunately, fingertips are hairless. Though certain people wax their foreheads regularly. Our skin is filled with nerve endings and other sensors that perceive touch and, by extension, also pain. There are different amounts of receptors depending on the surface of the skin. The lips, feet, fingertips, and palms have more nerve endings than the genitals, the legs, or the forearms. Choose gentler products when treating the body areas named above to minimize pain. - Will the pain really minimize eventually?
After the constant pulling and removal of the same hair, the follicle weakens. As a consequence, the hair regrows thinner and weaker, making it easier to pull off—this is the number one reason why waxing becomes gradually less painful. In many cases, the hair follicle gets so damaged it won't grow hair anymore (this is actually the principle of laser hair removal). It has been proven that people who continually wax for years, experience less hair growth. Regular waxing also trains people's minds to withstand the pain, as the habit erases the pain. - What can the client do at home to reduce the pain?
Exfoliation and a weekly skincare routine will surprisingly help a waxing treatment go smoothly and provide awesome results. Dead skin cell buildup can cause clogged pores, blemishes, or dark spots that can lead to severe skin problems… not a very suitable condition for waxing procedures. To teach your clients how to treat their skin, here are the basic do's and don'ts they should follow.
Waxes, on the other hand, pull out the hair from the root, removing the hair along with its living part (hair bulb), which will undoubtedly cause pain. At first glance, this might appear as a disadvantage, but first-time customers are often not aware of the benefits of removing the hair from the follicle: smoother results and the comfortable effect of prolonging hair re-growth.
In the long run, the benefits of waxing outweigh the cost. Shaving might be painless, but only leaves the skin hair-free for a few days, and hair removal creams can be used at home, but they are not as healthy for the skin as good, high-quality waxes. Professional waxing with experienced cosmetologists is much more than just hair removal: you have to sell it as a spa experience for your skin.
At Beauty Image, we offer you the best hair removal products for your spa or beauty business. We have pre-depilatory items that come with nourishing properties to prep the skin before a waxing treatment. We also have a wide array of soft and hard body waxes made with high-quality ingredients. If you want more information about our products, call us at TOLL FREE 888-513-8815 or fill in the contact form on this website, we'll be happy to answer all your questions.
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