Adventures in waxing.

from JoeUser Forums

One word: Ouchie!

I swim a lot, and I do a lot of yoga (re-certifying to teach after the surgery).  Consequently, I like to keep my....ahem...personage trimmed and under control.

I've been shaving for years, and I was getting tired of razor burn, nicks and stubble.  I tried Nair and Veet, but those only last a day or so more than shaving and if you use them too often you get nasty chemical burns - and your personage isn't a good place to have those, trust me.

So, I was looking for a longer-lasting hair removal method.  I had heard of waxing, but was too afraid to try it..and had heard horror stories about strange Korean chicks smearing people's vulva's with hot wax whilst chatting to their friends in their native tongue...v. embarassing.  I figured if my gynecologist didn't get to see me like that there's no way some chikka I hardly know is going to.

So, I got myself a home sugar waxing kit and gave it a shot.

It has this lotion that had benzocaine in it that you're supposed to use afterwards to help with the burning the comes with ripping your hair out by the roots. 

Yeah right.  Nothing, and I do mean nothing, can help with that kind of pain.  The waxing experience comes a close second to getting a tattoo as far as I'm concerned....but tattooing is permanent; waxing is only good for a couple of months. 

That being said, the results aren't bad.  It served it's purpose, and I have enough left to repeat the process a couple of times, including my legs and pits.  The only drawback I can see is that you have to grow your hair to 3/8 of an inch long in order for the wax to grab enough of it to pull out, which means a week or so of fuzziness for me...but the upside to that is being hair-free for roughly 6 weeks afterwards.  And, your hair grows in finer after a couple of waxings, so then you really won't have to wax as often.

So, I think I'm going to quit shaving as of today, and grow out enough stubble to wax.  D honey, you can relax now: you won't have to shave my legs for me after all!

misc
2,700 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top

What, no-ones interested in waxing?  Sheesh....whodathunkit?

Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
I tried a little waxing kit a few years back, but I didn't have the desired hair growth level to make it effective (I used it on my legs).

As far as...umm..."personal maintenance" is concerned, I've used Nair, and while it works OK, it's not much better than shaving, and you have to be careful where you place it or you'll end up with some very uncomfortable burning! Yeouch! I have also used the "personal trimmers" you see on TV (and in Wal-Mart) and those work OK, but don't give a very close shave. They are nice because they have different attachable heads so that you can trim (as opposed to shave) whatever it is that you desire to be a bit more cropped, if you get my drift.

I typically just shave. The Mach 3 gives a smooth, close shave, and that works for me. I have to repeat the process fairly regularly if I want to stay neat, but it's no big deal. I actually have to shave my legs every day or I get stubbly (sucks for me), so it doesn't require that much more effort to head north a bit with the razor. Razor burn's a bitch, though, and not particularly pretty to look at.

Glad you found something that works (no pain, no gain, eh?).
Groupy 2 - Organize multiple applications into grouped tabs on your Windows desktop
Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
This might sound male chauvenistic....but in our (Jewish) morning prayers the man thanks God daily for not making him a woman.... now I know why.
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top

This might sound male chauvenistic....but in our (Jewish) morning prayers the man thanks God daily for not making him a woman.... now I know why

Yeah, the things we do to ourselves in the name of beauty, huh?

. I actually have to shave my legs every day or I get stubbly

I do too, and that's why I'm looking forward to waxing them.  D's not home, so I can grow the stubble out a bit (he bitches if I let it go for more than a day when he's home) and get it taken care of.  My main aim is longer-term hair removal because I'm not going to be able to bend and I know D won't want to take care of me like that.  In the 11 years we've been married he's shaved my legs once.

I had often wondered how those personal trimmers worked.  I like the cropped look....much neater, I think.

Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
I used to have my personal areas and legs waxed. I never did get the hang of doing it myself....too sticky and messy. But unfortunately I shaved really quick one day and I've never been able to stick to the growing out part again. I hate having hairy legs and 3 weeks is too long for me to deal with it. so it's back to shaving my legs and the cropped look elsewhere.
Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top

I never did get the hang of doing it myself....too sticky and messy.

I ran into that problem before, so this time I'm using a water-soluble sugar wax instead.  Any residue can get washed off in the shower.

That's the thing about shaving, once you start you have to keep it up unless you can live with hairy legs for a couple of weeks.  I'm glad that D's not around or else I think he'd be complaining enough to make me want to forget the waxing and stick to the razor.