What is Body Sugaring?
Sugaring or waxing, is there a difference, and what is it?
Trying to find the right form of hair removal that will lead you to your ultimate reduction goal is something that takes a bit of choosing. Once you're armed with knowledge, the decision is easy.
Waxing ingredients
Most waxes are made from a petroleum based resin. This means that not only does the wax stick to the hair, but it also adheres to skin cells, both living and dead. This causes that "pain factor" associated with waxing. Wax also leaves behind a sticky residue that requires solvents to clean up the skin afterwards. Waxing is best avoided for people with highly sensitive skin.
Sugaring ingredients
The sugar paste is organic, being made from sugar, water and lemon (You can actually eat it. Tastes like toffee!) Sugar paste only sticks to hair and dead cells. Because the paste is water soluble, there is too much moisture in living cells for the paste to stick to, not only is it exfoliating the skin, but also reduces the "pain factor". There is no mess left behind. Sugaring is suited for all skin and hair types.
Waxing method
Wax is heated to 125 degrees Celsius and applied to the skin with a spatula in the direction that the hair grows and using a cloth strip, is ripped off against the growth. Because of the temperature, there is a high risk of burning the skin and high irritation for people with sensitive skin. With the way the hair is removed, there is a percentage of hair that breaks off that can cause ingrown hair and also damage the follicle wall which can lead to folliculitis (infection of the hair follicle). Because there's "double dipping" with the spatula, there is a possibility of bacteria spreading from person to person.
Sugaring method
The sugar paste is heated to room temperature, any hotter and it liquefies or cooks the paste, rendering it unusable. There is no risk of burning or damaging the skin. There's no use of spatulas, just a gloved hand to mould the paste, against the direction of hair growth, and it's flicked off in the direction of growth. There's no hair break off, since it follows natural direction, sugar is an antibacterial and there's no "double dipping" into the pot.
Success Rates
Both waxing and sugaring are successful in their own right. With both techniques, the first four sessions are most important and the second appointment is set four weeks after the first, to determine basic rate of hair growth. The third and fourth appointments are then set to the time frame needed to start reducing hair redevelopment. There are more reasons why it's set like this, but too many to name right now.
Both techniques reduce and refine hair regrowth, however, waxing tends to stay at the same period for years on end, approx. four weeks apart, sugaring slows the hair growth that the more consistent you are, the longer the time frame between sessions. In addition, the hair gradually becomes weaker and finer.
For waxing to work efficiently, the hair needs to be at least 20mm long, sugaring can remove hair as short as 1.5mm
Body reactions and aftercare
The red and spotty appearance after either method is used is called the Histamine response. It's the body's defense mechanism for having hair removed from the root. As waxing is more traumatic to the skin, the response can last up to 3 days, compared to a few hours to a day for sugaring (these are general figures as every person differs to the next).
Aftercare for both waxing and sugaring is the same, to exfoliate and moisturise. Exfoliating helps to clean out pores and allows for smoother hair removal in both techniques, moisturising keeps the skin cells hydrated so as to stop the skin drying out. The effects of moisturising differ with the techniques mainly because the heat from waxing dries out the skin, and keeping the skin cells hydrated reduces the probability of ingrown hairs.
