I found myself in a predicament a week before my trip to Hawaii. To put it delicately, I looked somewhat like a cave-woman in my bikini bottoms. I’m not one to put myself through pain just to look a certain way, but I figured 12 days in a bikini justified doing something about my hair problem. Enter sugaring.
Like waxing, sugaring removes hair from all those places you don’t want it. But where waxing relies on hot wax and those little unassuming strips of paper, sugaring uses only three things: sugar, lemon and water. The ball of cool sugar is pressed against the natural direction of your hair, and then flicked off by the sugarist, taking the whole hair (root to tip) with it.
Persuaded as I am by “all-natural” anything, I decided to give it a go. More than just being natural, though, there’s no chance of getting burnt (like I have been with waxing) and sugaring is also supposed to be less painful.
I tiptoed into the sugaring studio and met with my very pleasant sugarist. She instructed me to take my bottoms off (gulp!) and lay down on the table. Under the glaring light, and with no warning, she got straight to work.
The first thing to understand about sugaring is that “less pain” does not mean “no pain.” This is a fact that I had eagerly glossed over. Sugaring hurts. A lot. I don’t know why I assumed ripping hair out of my lady parts wouldn’t hurt, but I’m here to warn everyone that it does. Be prepared.
The other thing to realize—and probably the most important thing—is that there is no way to make the experience unawkward. My sugarist gallantly carried on small talk through all of my squirming, writhing and squealing, but it wasn’t enough to block out that damn spotlight illuminating everything I usually like to keep hidden.
The whole thing only took about five minutes. Once I had my clothes back on and the redness in my cheeks had subsided, I started to think about my appointment rationally. The pain, my sugarist told me, is strongest during a person’s first visit — subsequent appointments would see a decrease in the stinging feeling. The results typically last three to four weeks (longer than waxing) so I didn’t need to worry about scheduling new appointments for a while either. And as for the awkwardness, my sugarist assured me that she’s already seen it all — nothing fazes her, and thus, shouldn’t faze her clients.
While that’s easier said than done, I’ve certainly enjoyed the results!
What do you guys think? Would you give sugaring a try?
guest
ROFL. Only if it is quicker than waxing.
guest
Years ago, my sister used to work for Alexandria Body Sugaring where I’m from. And she sugars me whenever I ask for it. I can honestly say I prefer sugaring to waxing. It’s less time consuming than waxing, and I didn’t have to worry about getting burned. I was once burned using wax and it was pretty painful. In my experience, I found sugaring didn’t hurt as much as waxing. I recommend sugaring as a better alternative for hair removal.
guest
I waxed for years and years. I thought about trying sugaring but never have. I actually just started laser hair removal. I’m blonde so there are only two places I can have it done. Maybe I’ll try sugaring on my arms.
guest
I’d be interested in trying it.
I was also told that threading is less painful than waxing but for me it was WAY more painful than waxing.
guest
I tried sugaring once, too. I really liked it! If I weren’t so broke I’d go again. While it is pretty awkward, I still found it a little less awkward than gyno appointments.
guest
I’d definitely try it, but my town is tiny and everywhere does waxing, not sugaring
for now, I shave, but I’m definitely going to try it when I get the chance.
guest
…I’ll just stick with a razor.
guest
wow its something I really want to try now. gonna go google some places!
guest
you can make the stuff easly.
guest
at first it sounded like something you could do at home. CAN you do it at home? I’ll have to find out…
guest
Agreed with an above commenter. You can make it easily out of sugar, lemon juice, and water but the trick is to not burn it. There are lots of videos on Youtube. Believe it or not, my first Brazilian was a sugar and it was done professionally but after that, I made it at home and did it myself a few times. Yes. Myself.
guest
@mommyneedscrack@xanga - Haha you spoke too soon! I commented right below you.
guest
@juliamegan@xanga - hmm interesting! not that I think I would ever try it, but good to know. Maybe I’ll try it on my arm pits though, lmao!
guest
I’d try it.
guest
never heard of this before. gonna look into it
guest
I want to try it :/ but I’m afraid.
guest
sugaring is just like wax with natural ingredients instead of beeswax. I’ve done it before and it’s just as painful as regular wax and not nearly as effective. I prefer hard wax.
guest
I’m currently in the process of going through cosmetology school and we’re supposed to be having an opportunity to do an addtional course with a sugaring instructor sometime soon and I can’t wait. I’ve got sensitive skin, and I’ve heard it’s supposed to be better for sensitive skin and I’d love to be able to help others with sensitivity too. (Honestly I wish I would’ve just signed up for esthetics because it’s the only portion I really seem to find interesting, but I haven’t ever really seen a serious undertaking through to the end before in my life so I’m determined to get my cosmetology license.)
The other thing is… never, ever judge the amount of pain or the effectiveness of an epilator (layman’s terms = hair removal that rips out the hair down by the root, as opposed to nair which is a depilatory that just softens the surface hair) based on the first experience. Beauty is pain, ladies–if you’re not prepared to put up with some initial discomfort, stick to the less-effective at home methods, but you’re not going to get professional results from anything at a department store, no matter what the product’s tagline says. (Granted, I stick to shaving in my own “bikini area” because there’s a whole ‘nother set of issues for guys and a lack of tautness in the skin in certain portions of that area, but I love waxing for cleaning up my eyebrows and a few pesky lower-back hairs that come with being a Scandinavian man. But I digress.) Sugaring (and to a certain degree, waxing too) gets less painful more effective the more times the process is repeated, and then you can eventually go much longer between appointments. From what I’m told by my instructors, after using the sugaring process for a certain length of time, you will eventually actually permanently grow less or finer hair in the areas that you’re trying to rid of it. Sounds good to me!
(And for the gal who mentioned threading–yeah, good god, don’t touch that process with a ten foot pole. I’d much rather wax. Threading should stay in the Middle East where it came from.)
Just my $0.02, I’m far from the last word on sugaring but this is just based on info from the professional environment I’m being educated in!
guest
@heart_leigh@xanga - I know this is kind of random. But… it’s really not awkward for you or your sister? I would die if my sister saw/touched/got anywhere near my vagina.
guest
@Babii_Dragon@xanga - It’s not awkward at all. My sister is very professional and I trust her completely. I am more comfortable that she sugars me than to have some complete stranger do it. Anyway, it all started out when my sister needed to practice sugaring on someone. And she needed a guinea pig so she asked me. She needed a lot of practice and in a short time, she was a very proficient sugaring technician. You get used to it.