A rising trend that we’ve been seeing in more and more salons lately is sugaring. Sugaring is an ancient art of hair removal that has been used in parts of the Middle East and Asia for centuries. The sugar paste is made of water, lemon juice, and sugar, hence the term “sugaring”.
I always dread having to go in for my waxing appointments. My pain tolerance is laughably feeble, my skin always develops itchy, red bumps, and I hate the sticky feeling you have to deal with for the rest of the day. Nevertheless, I decided to finally bite the bullet and I booked my first sugaring appointment last week. I cannot see any reason to ever go back to traditional waxing.
1. Pain Factor
The pain of sugaring is nothing compared to waxing. It doesn’t exactly feel good, but at worst, it’s a mild discomfort. Some have said that the high heat used during waxing heightens the sensitivity of our skin, causing more pain when the hair is uprooted. Since sugaring paste is closer to room temperature, excess heat doesn’t heighten the pain of hair removal. Also, the hair is removed in the direction of growth, further eliminating pain.
2. Ecological Footprint
Whenever I’ve been waxed in the past, I can’t help but cringe to think about how wasteful it is. Numerous popsicle sticks and fabric strips are thrown away by the end of my sessions. However, my experience with sugaring produced close to no waste at all. With sugaring, there is one chunk of paste that is spread over the skin and then flicked up, bringing the hair up with it. This one chunk was able to last my entire session.
3. Health
Sugaring paste is made up of all natural ingredients and I believe this contributed to my skin’s lack of adverse reaction to it. My skin was slightly red and sensitive but there was no rash whatsoever. Sugaring only removes hair and dead skin, making it perfect for those with sensitive skin. There’s also no need for that post-wax rub down with pore clogging oils because the sugar paste is water soluble.
4. Regrowth
You can book your next sugaring appointment when your hair is about 3mm (1/8”) long, almost half the length needed in order to wax. In addition, since sugaring removes hair with the direction of growth, it’s less likely to cause breakage, meaning that your hair will consistently grow back thinner and softer.
If you’re interested in removing any type of body hair, then I would absolutely recommend sugaring as a less painful alternative to waxing.