Category: Hair Removal

There are contra-indications for waxing.  This means conditions where we cannot carry out a waxing treatment on you or may need more information.

 There are various levels to each condition mentioned, but please do not take offence if we need to decline from offering you a treatment, for your own safety.

It is your responsibility to accurately reflect your health condition on the consultation forms required before a treatment is carried out.  We want you to be safe and healthy following a visit to us, so please help us to make the right decisions with you.

We cannot wax the following, depending on the severity of the condition.

• Prominent varicose veins.
• Over the top of bruises.
• Herpes.
• Ulcers on the legs.
• Cuts, abrasions or scabs.
• Warts.
• Hairy moles.  The hair on these will need to be cut rather than waxed.
• Irritated or inflamed skin.
• Rashes and infections.
• Medication for acne.
• Electrolysis or recent eye ultraviolet treatment.

Hair removal is a big thing if you like smooth and silky soft skin with nothing in the way of six ‘clock stubble, like after an early morning leg shave.

People can umm and ahh for long spells of time before deciding which method is the one for them.  There are just so many different ways of removing hair, that it’s impossible to ignore all the potential methods.  From shaving, to waxing and IPL laser treatments, there are many options, with different degrees of cost involved.

The two most commonly used options for removing hair, are still waxing and shaving.  Waxing beats a shave hands down any day for many reasons.

Let’s look at our top ten reasons to wax instead of shaving.

1 – No Six PM Shadow
We can’t underestimate this one.  Who wants to have stubble on legs, just a few short hours after shaving?

2 – Less Frequent De-fuzzing Sessions
Hair removal by waxing lasts longer, as it removed the hair right from the root, which helps to keep excess hair away for a few weeks.

3 – Silky Smooth Skin
This is probably the biggest reason that people wax for.  That lovely smooth feeling after a wax, especially if it’s a good wax being used.  Pain would be minimised and with good techniques, the pain of a couple of decades ago, isn’t a comparison.

4 – Good Value
Lasts for weeks at a time.  Granted, shaving can be cheaper, but it needs to be done repeatedly.

5 – Hair becomes thinner over time – With regular waxing, hair becomes thinner overtime which simplifies the waxing process and lessens the frequency and extent of waxing required.

6 – Added essential oils and fragrances – This enhances the salon experience and turns the chore of hair removal into a pleasant spa experience. Waxes come is an array of blends like Aloe, Rose, Chocolate, Lavender and Summer Fruits.

7 – Impossible to cut yourself….  Everyone who shaves seems to cut themselves at some point, and it hurts.  Waxing saves having this experience, and done well, discomfort is at a minimum.

8 – Pain decreases over time.  Honestly, it does.  As the hair becomes weaker (see point 5 above) the pain becomes less.

9 – Less ingrowing hair.   With shaving, there is a high chance of ingrowing hairs, especially on sensitive areas.  Waxing helps to reduce that potential.

10 – More environmentally friendly.  When disposable razors and new blades are used, they are often plastic and metal, and will end up as disposable items, thrown away onto trash heaps, as they cannot be recycled.

For thousands of years, people have been removing hair from their bodies.  As women, especially, we’ve been made to feel that it’s necessary to remove all unwanted hair, and for those who do it, it makes them feel better about themselves.

So, the most popular ways to remove hair are:

Depilation and Epilation

As a teenager this seemed to be the holy grail of hair removal for me.  It was either take pot luck shaving or go all out with hair removal cream.   I’d sneak razors or the smelly cream from my mother’s bedroom and hide away in the bathroom to get rid of my emerging leg hair.  The fact that I hardly ever had any was neither here nor there.

The depilation cream removed hair on the surface of the skin, but did nothing much to keep my legs hair free.  A couple of days later, there it was, back to bother me.

Epilation I tried in the form of a little gadget which pulled out the hair by the roots.  Did I mention painful?   It does remove hair from beneath the surface, but it’s painful.

Shaving

Shaving is the one method that always seems to be the last resort, as it’s quick, usually painless and can be done at home, very simply.  It helps that throw away razors are so cheap, but it lasts for such a short time and the growth is sharp and uncomfortable, so although it’s a speedy and painless method, it’s certainly not the most efficient or skin friendly.

Gloves

Bags on your hands with a rough surface I did try once, but they did nothing for me.  I still can’t see the advantage, or work out who they work for.   I imagine some floaty little lady with delicate skin and very thin, willowy leg hairs would be only people these would work for.  For me, not so much.  I tried rubbing away at my legs, with nothing happening.  I ended up with red and rough skin with the rubbing, and a friction burn to fear you the next morning.  I never tried them again.  I would imagine they are much improved these days.

Plucking or Tweezing

I spent 20 years doing this to my eyebrows.  For so long, that my once healthy eyebrows with a pointy arch almost disappeared into oblivion.  I’ve lost count of all the hours I’ve spent plucking and pulling at stray and straggly hairs, with little consideration for the shape.  That’s a big regret of mine.  It’s great for small areas like eyebrows, or the odd straggle chin hair that crops up over the age of 30, but for large areas, it would be very time-consuming indeed.  It is cheap, and lasts for a month or more, but practical as a full hair removal system, it is not.

Waxing

For me, this is it.  A short spell with hot wax, and the excess hair is obliterated for a good few weeks, and the more I do it, the less hair I end up with under my oxters and on my legs.  These days, there are waxes that remove hair as short as 1mm, and they do it fairly painlessly too when there is a preparation oil beforehand.

So, that’s it in a nutshell.  What’s your favourite way to remove superfluous hair?