The Hairy Truth

Waxing is something that I was very familiar with having done, but once I received my esthetician's license it took my appreciation for waxing to a whole new level. As soon as I graduated I purchased a waxing kit, I haven't looked back since. 

I want to start off this post by saying if you do not have training in waxing I would not recommend doing it at home. This post is meant to give people a better understanding about waxing, the does and don'ts and what to look out for when you are going to get waxing done. I am just going to be talking about facial waxing in this post. If you all want another post about other waxing tips let me know. 

I want to let people know that I have PCOS, which for my hair growth means I have a lot of it and its thick and dark. That makes me a perfect candidate for waxing, but it also means that I have to waz more frequently. 

The below pictures were taken on a Wednesday, I waxed the Saturday prior to this.....

Yes, one of my eyebrow's hair grows back much quicker than the other. I don't understand and I don't spend time trying to understand it anymore. 

An important thing to remember when grooming your eyebrows is that not only do they need to be plucked but they need to be trimmed. It is best to use a spoolie or eyebrow comb and brush the hairs up and trim them. The best scissors I have found are cuticle scissors, the curved tip makes it easier to grab the hairs. 

Most waxing salon's use strip wax as it is cheaper and quicker to set, it makes getting clients in and out of the chair a lot easier. I didn't even know that hard wax existed until a few years ago. Hard wax is more expensive, but much better for your skin and is better for removing the hair. 

Traditional strip wax, or honey wax as some people call, it is harsh on the skin as it works by removing everything it touches. Since the skin around the eyes is so thin any additional exfoliation around the eyes can be damaging. There are some people who have very adverse reactions to using strip wax around the eyes. It can remove too much skin and look as if you have burns, it can bleed, scab and scar. Of course that is not a regular or normal reaction, but the point is, it can happen. I have never been in a salon that doesn't use strip wax, it is safe for the most part, but nothing that I would personally use.

Hard wax dries on the skin and only removes the hair. If you put hard wax on a surface of skin with no hair there is no pain to remove it. Hard wax does take longer to dry and is a more expensive to use but it works better, and there is less pain involved. Hard wax is the wax that is used in Bikini and Brazilian waxes. 

Before any one freaks out and starts telling me that you aren't supposed to wax or pluck above your eyebrows just save it..... It looks absolutely ridiculous if your eyebrows are pristine and you have hair growing half way up your forehead. 

Another benefit of hard wax vs strip wax is that you can wax over the same spot more than once if you need to. You cannot wax over the same spot with strip wax as you would be over exfoliating the area and are more likely to seriously damage the skin around the eyes. If you are ever in a salon and see this happening run... run far away and never go back. 

Whatever I wax on my face gets waxed with hard wax, this include the upper lip, nose, eyebrows, chin, etc.... Of course you can have redness and swelling with any kind of waxing, this is no exception, it is less painful in my opinion though. 

My hair grows back faster than the average person, but I will never stop waxing, it becomes less painful the more you wax. Waxing does damage your hair follicles and after many years of waxing it can damage to follicles to the point that the hair will not grow back (plucking will do the same) this is what I am hoping for. 

Before making any crazy decisions about waxing your eyebrows or changing their shape, I recommend talking to a professional and seeing what brow shape they would recommend for your face and eye shape. Eyebrows are frames for your eyes, they can either draw people to look into your beautiful eyes or gross people out.

Do you prefer waxing or plucking? How often do you pluck or wax your eyebrows?