STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

There was a thread about this pretty recently, so if you go back through this section, you should find some info.

I'll reiterate what I said about Poetic Wax - I love it! It's a lot less expensive, though more time consuming, than getting professionally waxed. It's about $40 for the kit (which can be used more than once) and it's at Sephora. I've tried other waxes, and IMO this is far superior.

I might recommend getting at least one professional wax first though...I did learn some tips from my waxer that I now use at home.

I vote for doing it professionally.  If you just want a regular bikini wax (not a brazillian), it should be pretty cheap.  I pay $20 every 3-4 weeks for a regular bikini wax.  I go the professional route because I am very susceptible to ingrowns and my esthetician is awesome at treating them for me.  Just a tip:  To help prevent ingrowns, my esthetician uses tendskin immediately following the waxing and then uses a lavender oil to soothe the skin - it really really helps. 

I don't think I would ever try a brazillian at home....

shopchicago33 wrote:

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I'm sure this has been posted before - heck, I may have even posted something similiar, but I need some help/advice.  I am really tired of trying to shave my bikini line and would like to start waxing.  I'm not sure I want to go get it done professionally though.  Does anyone do it at home?  I'm wondering if any of the at home stuff actually works?  If so, can someone recommend a good product.  Or...should I suck it up and get it done professionally?  Thanks!

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This is kind of long, but too funny not to share!










All hair removal methods have tricked me with their promises of easy,
painless removal: the Epilady, the standard razor, the scissors, Nair, Neet, the
EpilStop, and now...... The Wax.

My night began as any other normal weekday night. I came home, fixed dinner
for my family and got everyone settled for the night. I then had the thought:
Maybe I should try that new wax in my medicine cabinet.

I made sure no one would need me and I could head for the bathroom in peace.
It was one of those cold wax kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just
rub the clear strips in your hand, peel them apart, press it on your leg (or
wherever). No muss, no fuss.

How hard can this be? I mean, I'm not the girliest of girls but I'm
mechanically inclined so maybe I can figure out how this works. You'd think.

So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other,
stuck together. I'm supposed to rub it in my hand to warm and soften the wax. I
go one better. I pull out the hair dryer and heat the SOB to ten thousand
degrees. I lay the strip across my thigh. I hold the skin around it and pull.
OK, so it wasn't the best feeling in the world, but it wasn't bad and the hair
came out!! I can do this! So with my next wax strip, I'll move up north.

After checking on my beloved family again, I sneak into the bathroom for The
Ultimate Hair Fighting Championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on
the toilet. Using the same procedure, I then apply the wax strip across the
right side on my bikini line, covering the right half of my vagina and
stretching up into the inside of the right ass cheek. (Yeah, it was a long strip.)

I inhale deeply. I brace myself. RRRIIIIPPP!!!! I'm blind from the pain! Oh
crap. I've only managed to pull off half an inch of the strip. Another deep
breath. And RIIIP! Everything is swirly and tie-dyed. Do I hear crashing
drums? OK, coming back to normal again. I want to see my trophy -- my wax
covered pelt that caused me so much agony. I want to revel in the glory that is my
triumph over body hair. I hold the wax strip like an Olympic gold medallist.

But why is there no hair on it? Why is the wax mostly gone? Where could the
wax go, if not on the strip? Slowly, I eased my head down, my foot still
perched on the toilet. I see hair -- the hair that should be on the strip. I
touch. I feel. I am touching wax.

I look to the ceiling and silently shout Nooooooo!!

I peel my fingers off the softest, most sensitive part of my body that is
now covered in cold wax and matted hair, and make the next big mistake. Up
until this point, you'll remember, I've had my foot on the toilet. I needed to
move, to do something. So I put my foot down on the floor. And then I hear
the slamming of the cell door. My vagina is now actually sealed shut! I
penguin walk around the bathroom trying desperately to figure out what I should
do next.

Hot water! Hot water melts wax! I'll run the hottest water I can stand and
get in. The wax should melt and I can gently wipe it away, right? Wrong. I
get in the tub -- the water is slightly hotter than is used to torture
prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment -- and I sit. Now the only thing
worse than having your girlie goodies glued together is having them glued
together and then stuck to the bottom of a tub.....in scalding hot water. Which,
by the way, does not melt cold wax.

So now I'm stuck in the tub -- literally! I call my friend, Liz, because
she once dropped out of beauty school so surely she has some secret knowledge
or trick to get the wax off. It's never good to start a conversation with "So
my ass and vagina are stuck to the tub." She wants to know exactly where the
wax is. "Are we also talking cheek, here?" she asks. She isn't even trying
to hide the giggles now. I give her the run-down of the entire night. She
tells me to call the number on the side of the box, but to have a good cover
story for where the wax actually is. "You know that if we were working at help
line at XXX Wax Co. and somebody called and said they sealed their entire
vagina shut we'd just put them on hold then record the conversation for everyone
we know. You're going to end up on a radio show or the internet if you tell
them the truth."

While we go through various solutions, I have resorted to scraping the wax
off with a razor. Boy, nothing feels better to the girlie goodies than
covering them in wax, sticking them to a tub in super hot water and THEN dry shaving
the sticky wax off!

Liz suggests that I find the lotion provided with the wax to remove the
excess. I rub some in and start screaming "its working! It's working!" I get
hearty congratulations from Liz and we hang up.

I successfully remove all the wax and notice, to my dismay, that the hair is
still there. So I shaved the damned stuff off. Hell, I was numb by that
point anyway. I put the box of wax back in my medicine cabinet. Never know when a
moustache might start to come in.

Tomorrow, I attempt hair dying.

Author Unknown........like she'd ever admit to this.

thats hilarious- but awful, b/c i could totally see that happening to me!

Christine wrote:

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HA HAAAAAAAA! That story sent me into a fit of giggles, and I'm at work! My coworkers probably think I'm weird......

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Same thing happened to me...except one of my coworkers sent it to me! I was laughing hysterically!

That story is the exact reason that I stick to my razor. LOL

i do it at home.  and i poetic wax.  i think it is about $45 and i wax every 4-5 weeks and i have had it for a year and probably have 6 more months of it to use before i need to get more... its super simple to use and works SO MUCH BETTER than any other waxing product out there (and believe me- i went through them all)

atlgirl wrote:

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 shopchicago , what I've learned is (if the pain bothers you) take an aspirin or two a little bit before waxing. Also when you are pulling the strips off, use your other hand to stretch your waxed skin taut - this gives a cleaner pull. Also, you can immediately press down hard on the area with your palm after removing the strip; this will dull the pain a bit (again, if necessary. Everyone has a different pain threshold (sp)). HTH!

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Thank you - that does help! I think I'll give the poetic wax a try since both you and bex recommended it.  Thanks!