8 yrs, 9 mths ago

Skin Care after Home Waxing

Didn’t see this section of the forum before, so cross-posting from skincare – hope that’s ok.

I’m waxing my stomach, shoulders, and back. I’ve had my back and shoulders done professionally, and at home, before. Never done my stomach before. The waxing itself seems to be going well – going to take a few goes to complete it, without wrecking my skin. What’s the best way to care for the skin to avoid irritation, and ingrown hairs, in the minutes, and days, after waxing?

Today, I used the wipes that came with my waxing kit to remove the wax, then also washed with soap and water, used baby oil, then hydrocortisone cream, and then cocoa butter. Seems to have worked reasonably well, especially given how harsh waxing my belly hair was. To give an idea how long it’s been there, I found a scar I didn’t know I had. There was a little blood, and everything, but less painful than the first time I had my neck waxed, and as I recall there was a little blood then, and I was told that was normal (had that done professionally).

I plan to soak in a tub, and exfoliate gently, once or twice a day. Should I do that more often if I can? I’m going to do the next round on my stomach on Sunday (three clear days in between, plus I’m out of the house all day Saturday. What should I do after that? Same thing as I did today? I get pretty bad ingrown hairs whenever I wax my back, so I’m trying to be better about taking care of the skin this time, to avoid that.

What else should I do/not do?

Thanks!

2 comments 32 voices

Replies

TheUglyDuckling
8 yrs, 8 mths ago
Hey, Cowboy, hold your horses! This is the first time I’ve seen this post and looks like things are on the right track.

First things first. You should try and exfoliate the day before waxing if you can, to assist with any bumpy skin. Never exfoliate just after waxing, as your skin is always tender. Get some exfoliating gloves (you can get decent ones at Woolworths for about $3 and not in girlie colours – those are the ones I go for) for the easy to reach areas. For your back, keep your eyes out for an exfoliating strip that looks like a thinner version of the exfoliating gloves. It’s about 10cm wide and a metre or so long. You soap that up and scrub your back as if you’re drying it (unless you have a significant other who can scrub your back for you).

You can buy stuff from the chemist like No Bumps to assist with ingrown hairs, however I have found, particularly for legs if I have had an episode of ingrown hairs, the following steps to be helpful:
1. Shower exfoliation with gloves and good old solid soap.
2. Using witch hazel extract, placed on a cotton round and wiped on affected areas. You can buy this in the bathroom aisle in most supermarkets or from the chemist.
3. Buy some tea tree lotion (Thursday Plantation has a good one) and put this on the affected areas. It is antibacterial and will assist with the healing.
4. Persevere!
With men, my friends have found that it is more effective to start their waxing routine with a good therapist first before starting at home until such time as their skin gets used to it. If you are really suffering, that might be better in the short term, particularly if you have very coarse, thick body hair. Once things settle down, then kick things back off at home. If your body hair is thick and coarse, I would steer away from using strip wax. Just because it is more convenient doesn’t necessarily mean it is better for you.

Good luck!
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AllanTheCowboy
8 yrs, 9 mths ago
For crying out loud how long does it take for posts to be visible? Good thing I’m having reasonable success controlling bumps and irritation with what I’ve been doing.

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