Wax Your Face
Facial hair is a natural part of being human. However, current beauty expectations require low facial hair, thus for many a person it becomes a regular necessity to remove it. Waxing facial hairs is one inexpensive and effective way to remove these hairs at home. For most people, it's often not as painful as might be imagined, especially when using the right products and preparing appropriately.
Contents
Steps
Selecting the waxing products
- Find a product for your skin. There are special facial skin wax packs or kits available wherever beauty products are sold. Read the ingredients carefully and not what type of skin the product is recommended for. Some waxing kits have quite strong ingredients made for other places and they could cause irritation to your face. For sensitive skin, some packs come with lotion or aloe vera gel for after the wax.
- Decide between a hot or a cold wax. If you have done waxing before you might find that using hot wax is a bit uncomfortable or causes prolonged irritation to your skin. However there are cold waxes on the market as well. Different waxes have different additives, so try experimenting until you find the one that fits your unique skin type.
Preparing your facial skin
- Skip shaving at least three weeks ahead of waxing. There needs to be enough hair for the wax to grab. If your facial hair grows quickly, wax as soon as the hair is long enough.
- Exfoliate in the lead up to the waxing. This is to prepare the skin for waxing. Doing this will help deter ingrown hairs. However, do not exfoliate on the day of waxing, as this leaves your skin too vulnerable.
- Clean your face. Don't wear makeup, skin lotions or creams the day of your wax. You can use any cleaners except exfoliating scrubs. Pull your hair back, but make sure you can see your hairline. You don't want to overdo it and end up waxing your hair away.
- Trim facial hairs as needed.
- If you are male, trim your facial hairs that are longer than the length of your pinky fingernail (about 1/6th to 1/8th of an inch). This includes your sideburns and mustaches.
- For women, if you are waxing your eyebrows, trim the pieces of hair you want to get rid of. The more you trim away now, the less pain you'll have removing it later.
Using the wax to remove facial hair
- Follow the instructions of your wax kit. If you're using hot wax, heat it. Some require you to melt it in the microwave or stove top. The microwave is not recommended if you have a choice of methods because this can overheat the wax.
- Test the wax to see whether it's too hot, if using hot wax. To do so, put a small dab on the inside of your elbow or wrist. If it is too hot, wait for it to cool. Does it turn solid? Try reheating it a different way.
- If it causes an adverse reactions, do not continue using the wax. It's not right for your skin.
- Apply the wax. Using a small comb or spatula that comes with the wax, apply the wax in the direction of the hair growth. Put just enough on so you can peel it but not too much because you don't want to overdo it.
- If the pack came with a small cloth strip, apply it immediately, smoothing it out to make sure it lies flat on your skin. If you don't get it on quickly enough, the wax could dry and you'll have trouble while you're painfully removing the wax.
- Wait anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes, as directed by the instructions on the kit or packet. Hold the end of the strip or wax, and quickly rip it off in the direction of your hair growth.
- Make sure to wait a full day before using any exfoliating scrubs, astringents, or makeup. Don't go outside in the extreme heat or sunlight. Use sunblock if you really have to go out.
- Apply a sensitive skin moisturizing lotion to your face after you have finished waxing. The redness should go away in a few hours.
Tips
- It's best to do this if you have a full day to use.
- Just calm down and relax. Don't get stressed or you might make a mistake.
- To make the process a little less painful and quick, have someone there with you who has used wax before. Ask for suggestions to see which product works best.
- Use baby powder on area you will be waxing, prior to putting the wax on.
- Facial skin tends to grow in various directions, so you may need to reapply the wax and remove in a different direction to get all the hair.
- Treat only small areas at a time. The upper lip should be done on both sides and then the center. Repeat for the chin.
Warnings
- Never wax acne-prone areas or parts of your face that are currently broken out, as it may cause scarring.
- Avoid overheating wax as it can cause serious burns. Overheating can also cause the wax to become brittle, making it useless.
- If prolonged irritation occurs, consult a physician.
- When you wait for the wax to dry on your face, make sure you don't leave it on too long. You could stunt the further growth of hair on your face, which would be terrible if you took too much hair off of your eyebrows.
- When shaping the eyebrows, do not remove too much hair at one time. You can always make your eyebrows thinner, but it takes weeks for a botched waxing job to grow back in.
