Bikini waxing – let alone a Brazilian wax – is a daunting and often painful experience.

These days, most women in their early 20s are sometimes, or almost always, bare down there. The question though: is bikini waxing safe? We break down the bikini wax for you, in all its variations, so you can better understand the risks involved and how to avoid an unpleasant experience.

What Kind of Wax Are You In For?

When you attempt to go bare down there, first you must decide exactly how much hair you want to get rid of. A full Brazilian wax requires you be naked from the waste down and will leave you hairless from the belly button to every nook and cranny of your pubic area, often including the buttocks. A Brazilian wax is also commonly called the “Sphynx”, bare wax or Hollywood wax.

A natural wax only removes hair that would be visible in a swimsuit.

A regular bikini wax removes hair along the outer lines of your bikini bottoms and doesn’t require you remove your underwear while being waxed.

What Will Happen?

During a bikini wax, an aesthetician will spread hot wax over the target area, lay a cloth atop the wax, pat it slightly so it sticks, then rip it out quickly to remove hair by its root. It will hurt, but the more you get used to it, the more you can deal with the pain. It’s also a cleaner hair removal technique than shaving and it lasts longer.

How To Prep

Getting waxed hurts, so it’s best to prepare for your next bikini wax session with this in mind – anything that will aggravate the pain should be avoided. For example, the pubic area is generally more sensitive a week before and the week of your period. The pain may be felt more acutely during this time. If you went commando in the sun and feel slight discomfort in your nether regions, a bikini wax will hurt way more than it already does. It is also helpful to trim your public hairs so that the rip of the waxing strip is more effective and efficient – longer hairs can mess with the distribution of the wax and cause a less direct hair removal situation.

Schedule your appointment in the morning, after a shower. Later in the day, sweat and oil build up on the skin and create more discomfort. Before you head out to your appointment (or plan to wax yourself at home), exfoliate and condition your pubic hairs – the softer the hair follicles, the easier hair will release.

Is It Safe?

If you avoid doing anything that would cause further irritation to the skin before waxing (see above), bikini waxing can be safe. However, there are other risks involved, after the fact. A French study found that a link between pubic hair removal and a higher risk of sexually transmitted Molluscum contagiosum, a skin virus that causes raised bumps or growths. With 60 percent of American women between 18 and 24 years old sometimes or always free of pubic hair, this is a risk most women at some time or another take. Any damage caused to the skin while waxing pulls the hairs from their roots, can open you up to infection. Bacteria can enter even the tiniest of lesions, often in the form of torn roots. Additionally, waxing can cause burns from wax that is applied while it is too hot as well as infected ingrown hairs and scarring.

To avoid such a fate, especially down there, make your next bikini or Brazilian wax appointment somewhere you trust that has high sanitary and customer service standards. Ask your aesthetician what precautions she takes to prevent infection and discomfort. That way, you can have the best experience possible and attain the results you desire.

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Photo Credit: All Kinds of New

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Facial hair removal techniques are many. But which one is right for you?

Hair removal often comes at a price – it’s expensive to maintain, it can hurt (a lot) and can wear and tear your skin beyond comfort to the point where scarring is involved. Well, the thing is, there’s no all-natural, pain-free remedy for hair removal once and for all – at least not yet – but there are ways to do it in the least harshest, safest way possible that lets your skin be clear of unwanted hair whilst preserving the youth of your skin. Your job is to filter through the options to find which one is best for you and your skin type.

1. Waxing

These days, waxing is quite safe, since there has been a shift from petroleum-based waxes to soy-based ones. It can also be inexpensive relative to other hair removal techniques and, despite the short pain spurts, it’s a one-and-done deal. You may experience slight redness on the area waxed after a session, but it goes away within a few hours. Be sure to keep the area moisturized with a natural oil. Waxing removes hair from the root but is not permanent and will require regular and frequent upkeep.  It is also important to get waxed by someone who keeps up with sanitation standards and properly disinfects the area before waxing.

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Waxing yourself at home sounds daunting and maybe even dangerous. But it doesn’t have to be. Instead of forking over the big bucks to have someone do it for you, try going for it yourself with an all-natural homemade wax recipe.

Put together a few simple ingredients and and you’ve got yourself an easy and safe way to get rid of unwanted hair (even down there).

This recipe for homemade wax melts down sugar until it becomes caramel. It then includes honey for fragrance and soothing effects. The lemon juice acts as an astringent of sorts and offers antibacterial benefits.

Homemade Wax for Hair Removal

Good for 1-2 waxing sessions

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• Up to 4 tablespoons of water
• Cloth from an old shirt

Directions

Put the sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat until it melts. Use a wooden spatula to mix the sugar when it has nearly completely melted. Be careful from this point on not to come in contact with the mixture – it is scalding hot! Once melted, add the honey and lemon juice. The mixture will bubble, so stay cautious while continuing to mix. Mix until  evenly combined and thickened. If too thick, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until it reaches the consistency of a thick caramel that holds together but can still be spread easily.

Take the pan off the stove and let cool a bit before applying to the skin. Meanwhile, brush baby powder or corn starch over the area you’d like to wax. This will help the wax to stick only to the hair – not the skin. Cut cloth into strips about 2-3 inches wide and 6 inches long.

Use a wooden popsicle stick or a spatula to smear the wax over the desired area in the direction the hair grows. Hair should not be too short or the wax will not catch to it. Likewise, it should not be too long, or else waxing will be incredibly uncomfortable. Place the cloth atop the wax and apply pressure as you rub across its length and width. Count to 5. Hold one end of the cloth and rip it in the direction opposite of hair growth.

Once finished, apply a light tonic, such as rose water to calm the area and then apply a natural oil to moisturize and calm. I prefer to use coconut oil, argan oil or grapeseed oil.

If you have leftover wax, store in it the refrigerator and reheat for the next use.

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Image Credit: infra leve

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Ever shaved your pubic hair and had it grow back stubbly and not-so-sexy? Shaving around your pelvic region can be quite a chore. But there is a better way…

Shaving is annoying, and some women have thrown it out the door all together (more power to you!). But for those of us that do choose hair removal, shaving legs and underarms isn’t as bad as the dreaded pubic hair. No, most of us don’t want the pre-pubescent look, but we still like to be trim and proper, right?

When shaving pubic hair become common?

In 1915, Gillette hit the market with the first razor targeted specifically at women, called the Milady Decolletée. Around the 1930s shaving one’s legs started to be a societal norm as hemlines began to rise. The custom became mainstream in the ’40s when factories stopped making women’s stockings because of wartime efforts.

So that explains shaving legs, but what about pubic hair? Turns out shaving “down there” didn’t start with a porn star or the Brazilians. In fact, removing pubic hair dates back hundreds of years in the Muslim culture. In the Middle East and Northern Africa, removal of all body hair was a ritual all females performed in preparation for their wedding night.

Modern options for removing pubic hair

We can only imagine what those early ladies had to use to get rid of body hair. Today we have a suite of options for removing hair–electrolosis, threading, waxing and shaving. So why is waxing better than shaving when it comes to your pubic hair?

Waxing removes the hair from the root, so the hair takes longer to grow back. And when it does grow back, it is thinner (thank goodness!).  Plus, waxing pubic hair helps avoid razor bumps and the itching sensation that’s typical when hair grows back after shaving. Some people might have a slight reaction to waxes, so I recommend waxes that are soy-based waxes rather than petroleum-based.

DIY Pubic Hair Sugar Wax Recipe

You can even make hair removal wax yourself! Here’s how:

1. Warm 2 cups of sugar, 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup vinegar or lemon juice in a shallow saucepan.

2. Heat on a medium flame, stirring often, until the mixture become golden brown.

3. Transfer to a microwave-safe container, and allow to cool just until it’s pliable and safe for skin.

4. Rub the sugar wax on your skin, let it cool and harden for a few seconds, then pull it off, taking the hair with it.

With this DIY recipe, you don’t need wax strips and you can save the unused wax for another time.

You might have to put up with a few wincing moments while the strips are removed. But come on, we are women–we can handle it, right?

Waxing Tip: Wait 3 weeks since after shaving, and 4-6 weeks after waxing to get another wax.

See Also:

Now & Then: The Bold Brow

Fashion History Mirror Feminism: From Corset to Casual, A Visual Tour Through Time

image: NuageDeNuit | Chiara Vitellozzi

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