If you have landed on this page, you probably know by now that sugaring for hair removal is considered less painful than waxing.
Sugaring also doesn’t result in razor burn and stubble growth that usually goes along with shaving. During sugaring treatments, the hairs are removed in the natural growth direction and the sugar paste doesn’t stick to the skin, only the hairs and dead skin cells. Therefore, there is much less skin and follicle irritation and redness.
Nevertheless, the hairs are still being pulled out by the roots, also known as the follicle bulb. I would be misleading you if I said there was no pain or irritation afterwards. I have compiled some tips and tricks for minimizing those after-effects and to keep your skin happy after your sugaring hair removal session. Once you set a monthly schedule for body sugaring, the post-sugar issues are minimized but the decrease in hair growth is maximized.
Before Sugaring Skin Care
How to care for and prepare your skin before sugar hair removal
- Make sure you don’t sugar during your menstrual cycle since that is when your skin is most sensitive. Women may experience extra sensitivity to sugaring up to a week prior to the beginning of their period.
- Slight pinking of the skin is normal and should disappear within a few hours. Quickly reduce pinkness with an ice cube compress in a washcloth (or freeze a damp washcloth for at least an hour). Apply to the affected areas once every hour for 2-3 minutes.
- Your sugaring treatment will be more effective if you avoid creams, moisturizers, fake tan or oil 1-2 days before sugaring. Moisturizers can make the sugaring paste less effective.
- Do not to use sun beds prior to sugaring and do not try to attempt sugaring with sunburnt skin.
- If your hair is longer than ¼”, trim it! There is no need to let your hair grow out for several weeks before sugaring. If longer than ¼ inch, trimming before your at-home sugaring session can make sugaring more comfortable.
- In between sessions, keep ingrowns at bay with consistent, gentle exfoliation 3-4 times per week. Exfoliation promotes circulation and most importantly, frees the skin of excess build-up that often results in ingrown hair.
- Exfoliating allows the sugaring treatment to be less troublesome and results in a timely session as dead or dry skin can accumulate.
- For best results, do not shave or use depilatories between sugaring sessions. This will interfere with your goal to refine and diminish your hair growth, and to have smooth, healthy skin.
- The keys to successful sugar hair removal sessions are consistency, exfoliation & hydration. Improving the condition of your skin will absolutely improve the results of hair removal.
- You must wait a minimum of seven (7) days before sugaring after a light chemical peel or microdermabrasion.
- Sugaring cannot be performed if you have had laser skin resurfacing within the past year.
- Sugaring should not be performed if you have had a physician administered peel within the past two (2) years.
- Schedule your at-home sugaring session for a time that is convenient for you, when you can relax a bit before and after.
- Keeping calm during your at-home sugaring session reduces body temperature.
- Cleanse the area to be sugared thoroughly before beginning. Make sure you are clean and dry.
- If you are sugaring your facial hair, it is best that you do not wear any makeup. This will prevent the sugar from adhering properly to the hair and may result in you not having all your hair removed.
- If you are new to body sugaring or you have not been sugared in a while, stop shaving or using any other method of hair removal up to 10 days before sugaring.
- Make sure you are aware of three factors: Your body temperature, your immediate environment temperature, and your sugar temperature. You should be cool, clean and dry. Your immediate environment (the room you are sugaring in) should be between 62 and 72 degrees. Your sugar should be room temperature. Make adjustments as needed.
- The hair below the waist typically grows on a 6-week schedule. Therefore, sugaring your legs and bikini area every 4-5 weeks is ideal. The hair is long enough but has not fallen out on its own accord yet.
