Home Waxing Guide – DIY Hair Removal

The Covid-19 pandemic lockdown means we are unable to visit our salons for our usual waxing, threading, lasering etc appointments. Our professional beauty therapists are certainly efficient when it comes to hair removal, leaving us silky-smooth cleanly, quickly and painlessly (hopefully) so what do we do without them? If you can’t wait for the salons to open, and then for an appointment to be available, here’s your home waxing guide.

First, here’s my top tip for waxing at home and the recommendation you will see on any home waxing instructions: perfect your technique on your legs before moving to underarms and bikini line. Technique is incredibly important for making sure you don’t cause excessive pain or injure yourself. Any pain felt will reduce over time.

I have been using DIY waxing kits since I started hair removal. When other girls at school were using razors, I was using warm wax. You might be wondering why and the answer is simple- my parents did not want me to cut myself using a razor! I therefore have decades of home waxing experience.  Here’s my summary of the three main methods.

Warm wax with strips

Warm wax was the first method I used to remove hair from my legs as a teenager. It easily removes the hair without having to keep going over the same area (which you should avoid anyway) and it’s the least painful waxing method I have used. Although it can get messy as wax drips off the spatula, it is my favourite hair removal method for everywhere – legs, underarms and bikini line, as I have now perfected my technique for doing it painlessly. Yay me!

It tends to take me about an hour to go through the whole process of protecting the area I am waxing in (you absolutely do not want any wax to end up on your carpet and other fabrics), heating the wax, testing it, applying the wax, applying the strip and pulling it off.

You can use the same strip several times and as the wax is usually water soluble, you can hand wash the strips in warm water ready to use them for your next waxing session if you have wax left over. I usually have plenty of wax left for further hair removal.

Despite my experience, I still go to the salon for hair removal because I can’t see the backs of my legs. Touch and mirrors can only get me so far! I’ve used Veet and Nair warm wax and my Nair review will be coming soon.

Hot wax without strips

I have tried warm wax without strips – the type usually used for bikini waxes. Bikini waxes are painful for me at the best of times so the at-home experience for me is…well, I don’t do it anymore! I find that beauty therapists not only have the best methods for reducing pain, they can see where I can’t.

If you really do need to be smooth my best tip for using hot wax for the Brazilian and bikini area is to pull the skin as taught was you can. The more taught the skin, the less painful it will be and don’t go over the same area twice. If any hair is left behind, get out the tweezers.

I’ve only used the Nad’s Brazilian & Bikini Wax kit and it’s quite messy. Not only do you have the dripping wax issue, when the wax hardens it gets brittle and little shards can end up everywhere. Remember, there are no strips to keep all the wax in one place. You also have to work quickly because if the wax gets too hard while it’s on you, it’s a disaster.  Then again, it’s the only dedicated Brazilian wax kit I have seen – all other kits says they can’t be used in that area.

Cold Wax Strips

When I don’t have the time and space to do the whole warm wax thing (which is most of the time and another reason I go to the salon) I turn to cold wax strips. The finish varies – sometimes some hair is left behind. I mainly use cold wax strips for my lower legs which is usually painless but for my underarms and thighs there can be a few seconds of pain.

The advantage is that it is not messy at all and is very quick. For some brands you rub the strips between your hands to warm them a little, separate them and off you go. I have recently discovered that with the Veet strips, you just pull the strips apart, apply and whip of,f which is much quicker.

I use dedicated cold wax strips for the face for my top lip. Yes it hurts but when compared with the pain of threading it’s much better. It may sting for a couple of seconds and then disappear.  I’ve used Nad’s, Nair and Veet cold wax strips on my face, legs and underarms.

For all the methods above, make sure you read the enclosed leaflet to prepare the skin before waxing and carefully follow the aftercare advice to avoid irritation.

One final thing – your pain threshold and the sensitivity of your skin might vary depending on where you are in your menstruation cycle. Bear this in mind when planning when to wax.

Next I’ll share with you a couple of home waxing kit reviews.