Thursday April 29th, 2010 11:13 Hairfree

Just like me, I know a lot of women out there don’t like the sight of unwanted hair. I could not remember when I exactly first dipped my hand in a pan of hair wax but I’ve been doing this for as long as I can remember. I have years of literally painful experience to back me up. But a guru, I am not. =)

One of the most commonly waxed spots is the underarm. Filipinas go crazy when it comes to unsightly underarm hair. I used to resort to shaving and plucking as soon as the first strand of my underarm hair grew. It was that time when I stopped playing jackstone while slumped nonchalantly in our cemented garage flooring, aka puberty, and the time when most pre-teens get conscious about how they look. For a time, the razor was my best friend. But, as many others have discovered as well, shaving tends to darken the underarms. (I’ve read a few internet articles claiming on why this happens but until I come across a sound explanation in my med books or journals, I’d rather shut up.) Aside from the darkening of the skin, it also appears that shaving causes more hair, and thicker at that, to grow. The itch and discomfort is annoying, hence, I thought plucking is the key.

One day, I came across a pan of warm wax in the department store. The brand was Epilin and I’ve been using it ever since. Waxing is just like plucking but you’re plucking the hair out all at the same time. Ouch! But with continuous use, you’d get used to the sting until it wouldn’t bother you anymore. Epilin, however, is not very easy to use. For one, I have to stick my pan inside the oven and wait for a part of it to melt before I can get to use it. Sometimes, it’s too molten that I have to wait for a while for it to get to a more skin-friendly temperature that wouldn’t result to scalding. That’s the tricky part in using warm wax: the temperature. As for me, I know it’s ready when the wax has a consistency of a thick syrup, meaning when the molten wax falls off the tilted wooden spatula very, very slowly. I then apply it to my skin towards the direction of hair growth, wait for it to harden… usually in 20 seconds and peel off. Back then, they didn’t sell waxing strips for Epilin so what I do is to lift one end of the hardened wax and pull it against the direction of hair growth. I repeat this twice and nothing more. The hair that is left is removed by plucking which is what they also do in waxing salons for stubborn hair.

Another product that I am a fan of is J. Tomas Skin Solution No Hair Wax Kit. I’ve been using it even before it won the Cosmo Beauty Awards in 2009. I bought my first box at The Landmark in Trinoma where I first spotted it among the shelves. I’ve now consumed three boxes of this product. =) This is trickier to use though. It’s actually sugaring and not exactly “cold wax”. It has a syrupy consistency which I apply on the skin – again towards the direction of hair growth. It comes with ten reusable strips which you put on top of the wax. What I do is to gently press the strip towards the direction of hair growth to make sure the sugar sticks to it. Make sure that the one on top of the sugar is the rough side of the strip. During my first attempt, I couldn’t figure out which one was the rough side and ended up using the apparently smoother side. I thought I wasted 300 bucks for a useless product until I realized it was the wrong side. Anyway, you’ll know you’re successful when the whole thing comes off when you pull the strip against hair growth. I use the product only for my legs. It’s best for areas with thinner hair strands like the arms and legs. I tried to use it for my underarm hair to no avail. But it’s perfect for my legs. =)

The problem with plucking and waxing is that you, most likely, would end up with chicken-like skin: rough stubbles. Hair ingrowths are also a problem. To help combat this, I scrub the areas I waxed 1-2 days after waxing to help exfoliate the skin and prevent hair from growing under the epidermis. For my underams, the usual site for chicken-like skin, I have an underarm peeling regimen which I do every three months. =) And that’s something I’ll talk about soon. =)

Hope I helped!

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