There are a lot of ways to have hair forcibly removed from your body. I have tried too many of them. Here are my opinions.
WARNING: This post acknowledges the existence of female genitalia (referred to as a hoo-ha) and butts.
Waxing
The most obvious choice. What I didn't realize, is how many kinds of wax are out there.
Soft wax w/ strips: the quickest, most common way to get waxed. Hurts like a beast the first time and in my case, has residual aches that last until the next day. The wax also has to be kept pretty hot and there is a lot of waste (paper strips and wooden applicators) to keep things hygienic.
PROS: Quick, efficient, effective
CONS: Feels like your hoo-ha needs to take a day off from work. The hot wax burns the hoo-ha and makes your butthole pucker which I know the esthetician sees and I am VERY insecure about.
Hard Wax: this wax is thicker and also hot. Instead of using paper, the wax itself hardens and is ripped off your skin. The process takes longer but does not have the residual pain of soft wax and for me, does not hurt as much. Some estheticians use soft wax on outer areas and hard wax on inner areas.
PROS: Less pain overall, no day off required. Half the waste, as there is no paper needed.
CONS: Still makes holes pucker up from heat and takes longer which means more conversation with someone DEEPLY familiar with your bathing suit area.
CHOCOLATE BASED WAX: Not even kidding, I got a brazilian in Portland from a woman who has a gender neutral policy and sees many of the PDX drag queens on her table. I was discouraged by the soft wax until the first pull which netted 5% of the pain I was expecting.
PROS: Is heated at a much lower temperature, eliminating puckering. Has the speed of soft wax. SMELLS LIKE CHOCOLATE.
CONS: Still wasteful. Seems much less common
Sugaring
An ancient practice (as they all claim to be) that uses melted sugar, water and varying additives like honey or starch. The amorphous ball (which reminds me of The Blob) is then dragged all over your skin to remove the hair. I found it pulled on my skin a lot and required a lot of pressure, but there was no lasting pain afterward. It took somewhere between hard and soft wax timing.
PROS: Hypoallergenic, all natural, very limited waste, no lasting pain.
CONS: More pain during and force that ended in some light bruising (I am a peach).
Threading
Also, ancient. I have only had eyebrows threaded and it hurt. It is cheap though as all that is required is...thread. I don't know what kind of knot situation happens but one piece of thread is in the person's mouth which seems unwieldy? It was cheap and quick and felt like a razor was being scraped across my face.
PROS: Quick, cheap, no waste.
CONS: Feels like Edward Scissorhands is involved. Also concerned you're one esthetician sneeze away from having no eyebrow.
Implications for the Future
I have not tried electrolysis but hear it is worth the hype. Feels like something I should pay full price for a not get a Groupon? Prefer bi-monthly masochism, for now.
I often get waxed while on work trips thus out of state. First, because I have the time and second...I don't know. My tips for trying new places are:
1) make sure you are in a city where there is a competitive market for whatever method you're using. This helps ensure people need to be good to have consistent customers, since there is competition. The worst wax I ever got was in San Antonio, TX and she was the only person I could find that did the full monty. BAD OMEN.
2) look to see if the business/person responds to Yelp reviews, both positive or negative. Again, shows they need to be responsive to criticism to keep up a client base.
3) if it seems too cheap to be quality, it probably is.
If you have opinions, plz share below.