Everything you ever wanted to know about Brazilian Waxing.

 

Brazilian Waxing tips from AJ

Do:

• Ask if this is your aesthetician's speciality, or how long they have been performing this service.
• Exfoliate before. This makes hairs stand up and become easier to wax.
• Let hair grow a minimum of 2 weeks so hair is long enough. Hair has to be a minimum of 1/4 to 1/2 inch long.  (Trust me you are not a freak of nature and a super fast grower-everyone thinks this.)  If hair is too short can cause discomfort or bruising and hair will not be removed properly. 
• When selecting an aesthetician, ask friends for recommendations and read local reviews.
• Share your medical history including any allergies, sensitivities and medications with your aesthetician. These things can affect your skin's reaction to waxing.
• Try to book your appointment when you are NOT close to starting your menstrual cycle.  Any PMS type symptoms can affect your experience.  Swelling and bloating causes nerve endings to be closer to your skins surface and can make for a slightly more uncomfortable experience.
• Try to relax, tensing up never makes it more comfortable.  If necessary your aesthetician may give you some breathing techniques to help you. 
• Arrive fresh and clean, most aesthetician stock personal wipes if you need to freshen up a bit.
• Keep up on your appointments. I tell my clients that the first time is the most uncomfortable. If you keep up on your appointments, the next one will be about 60% less painful.  The hair grows in stages and if you book your appointments monthly you will see it's thinner and sparser, making waxing much more comfortable.  
• Pick someone you feel comfortable with. 
• Be specific about what you would like.  No hair, some hair, shapes.

 

 Don't

• Give yourself a trim before.  Trust me, it's never too long and if needed your aesthetician will trim for you. Many times clients have tried to "help out" and have left the hair too short to wax and have to reschedule. This is a bummer for both the aesthetician and client who got themselves all worked up into a tizzy for this appointment.
• Be offended if your aesthetician asks you to help hold your skin.  From waif thin models to voluptuous beauties, everyone has areas that are a little fleshy, especially in the thigh and tummy area. This is just a supporting technique to hold skin tight and provides a more comfortable experience.
• Jump or squirm, this can cause waxed areas to stick together, will pull the hair and may cause bruising and discomfort.
•  Take any aspirin or ibuprofen type products, or any kind of anti inflammatory medication.  I can't tell you how many articles advise people to do this...BAD idea!  Why?  Anti inflam meds thin the blood and make you prone to bruising.  Although bruising is not necessarily painful, it can be unsightly.  It looks like a hickey or broken blood vessels.  Some medications can cause a similar result.
• Tan after, skin has just undergone a form of exfoliation and is sensitive to rays.
• Aggravate the skin while it's still recovering from the wax, excessive sweating, or jumping into a hot tub or chlorinated pool is just asking for trouble. 
• Apply creams, oils etc to the area, it can break down the wax. 
• Wax yourself!  Wax can burn, lift skin (remove skin and leave it raw) and in some cases if done incorrectly can cause permanent scaring.  Leave this task to the pros.  

Why do I want a Brazilian? 

All the cool kids are doing it.  No, seriously you didn't fall for that in high school did you?  Most women like them because they feel cleaner and cooler, and of course there is the sexy factor.   When you are free from  hair, it's easier to keep clean.  Especially for that on the go woman who likes a quick shower. Think of showering at the gym and being able to just quickly pat dry. As an added bonus it doesn't itch when it grows back.  When you cut hair with a razor it is angled and sharp and can cause irritation and ingrown hairs. When it grows back from waxing it's in it's natural tapered shape.  It also helps with perspiration and body odor. Think of how you underarm would react with a fully grown out batch of hair.  Enough said?  I hope these tips have been helpful.  If you have any other questions, feel free to post them.  I'm always up for a good Q&A session.

If you feel like a good chuckle, check out the story below.  I saw this on FB and just had to share.  Enjoy!

 Never Wax your own Hoo-Ha!

All hair removal methods have tricked women with their promises of easy, painless hair removal - The Epilady, scissors, razors, Nair and now....the wax. Read on..........
My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, play with the kids.

I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours: 'Maybe I should get the waxing kit from the medicine cabinet. So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom.

It was one of those 'cold wax' kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off. No muss, no fuss. How hard can it be?

I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!) So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. ('Cold wax,' yeah...right!) I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin around it tight and pull.

It works!

OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skin Extraordinaire. With my next wax strip I move north. After checking on the kids I sneak back into the bathroom for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet...

Using the same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my hoo-ha and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (it was a long strip).

I inhale deeply and brace myself.... RRRRIIIPPP!!!!

I'm blind!!! Blinded from pain!!!!..... OH MY GAWD!!!!!!!!!
Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half the strip.

CRAP!

Another deep breath and RIPP! Everything is spinning and spotted. I think I may pass out.... I must stay conscious.... I must stay conscious. Do I hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe.... OK, back to normal.

I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip!

There's no hair on it. Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX???

Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair. The hair that should be on the strip... it's not! I touch....I am touching wax. I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake ... Remember my foot is still propped upon the toilet? So I put my foot down.

Sealed shut! My butt is sealed shut. Sealed shut! I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself 'Please don't let me get the urge to poop....my head may pop off!'

What can I do to melt the wax? Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!! I'll run the hottest water I can stand in the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, right ???

*WRONG!!!!!!!*

I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit. Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub.....in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, does not melt cold wax.

So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cemented myself to the porcelain!! God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!!!!! I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It's a very good conversation starter.

'So, my butt and hoo-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!'

There is a slight pause. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, 'Are we talking cheeks or hoo-ha?' She's laughing out loud by now ... I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box. YEAH!!!!! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else's night.

While we go through various solutions, I resort to trying to scrape the wax off with a razor. Nothing feels better than to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!! By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event.

My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace.....the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax. What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and OH MY GOD!!! The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend. It's sooo painful, but I really don't care.

'IT WORKS!!

I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair....THE HAIR IS STILL THERE.......ALL OF IT!

So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts. I could have amputated my own leg at this point.

Next week I'm going to try hair color......how bad can that turn out???