If you’re thinking about waxing as a hair removal option, you have a few choices in terms of what type of product to choose. You may also wonder about the actual process involved, the pain (there is some…) and what results you should expect.
Waxing involves using a type of wax along with a strip made of cloth or a thick paper or muslin to pull hair out by the root. You rip the strip off your skin in the opposite direction of hair growth to remove the hair. It does hurt but you get used to the pain and depending on the area you’re treating and amount of hair being removed, the pain is usually quite bearable and passes quickly.
Men often consider waxing for larger areas of hair removal such as the back, shoulders, chest and even arms and legs. You may also consider small wax strips for a unibrow for example.
Speaking of which…which is better, hot wax or wax strips?
While hot wax that you heat up in a pot on the stove (old method) or in the microwave (newer method) works, do wax strips offer a benefit(s) that can’t be overlooked? Let’s take a closer look and figure out if hot wax or wax strips are better.
Hot Wax
Back in the day, you’d buy a plastic tub of wax, pour it into a pot and heat it on the stove. Then you’d apply the hot (but not too hot!) wax to your skin. Finally you’d put a cloth strip over the wax, wait a few seconds and then tear the strips off in the opposite direction of hair growth to remove the hair. You’d repeat the process until you had removed all undesired hair.
These days, you can buy a plastic tub of wax that can typically be heated in the microwave and then you follow the same process as above to remove the hair. This method is slightly better as there is no pot to clean afterwards and the remaining wax in the plastic container can be used next time you wax.
Benefits: Hot wax enables you to apply as much or as little wax as you like to the areas being treated. If you have more hair, you might find that applying more wax to the area means it gets removed quicker.
Drawbacks: Can be messy and drips easily on your body and on the floor. Heating the wax up means you have to heat it enough to make it liquid to apply to your skin but not hot enough that it burns. It’s also not very convenient as it involves a few extra steps (heating the wax, applying the wax) over wax strips.
Wax Strips
Wax strips are typically made of a type of thick, strong paper and have cold wax already applied to them. Wax strips are typically sold in a package in pairs sticking together. You typically rub the strips briskly between the palms of your hands to warm them up and then gently pull the two strips apart so that you can use each one individually. You don’t need to heat the wax to use it.
You simply press the strip wax side down on the hair to be removed and then quickly pull the strip off in the opposite direction of hair growth as with the liquid wax option.
Depending on the quality of the strip you bought and how much hair you are removing you can typically use each strip several times – in my experience it’s 2-3 times – before the wax is full of hair and no longer has grip. Then you use another wax strip and continue the process until you’re done.
Benefits: Convenient. It’s simpler to take ready made strips with wax already applied, press it to your skin and tear away to remove the unwanted hair. It’s also cleaner since there is no wax that can drip on the floor or on your body. And it’s safer since you don’t have to heat the wax before using it.
Drawbacks: You will probably spend more money using wax strips compared with using hot wax with separate strips as you’re paying for the convenience.
Hot Wax Or Wax Strips, Which Is Better?
In my experience, the ready made wax strips are cleaner, easier and more convenient. You don’t have to heat them up so there is no chance of burning yourself and no dripping wax to worry about. I find the quality of the strips does matter so you might experiment with different brands to see what works best for you. Sometimes you may only get one use of a wax strip and immediately have to use another one.
You will go through many strips if you have a lot of hair to remove and it’ll probably cost more than using liquid wax that you heat with separate wax strips. But I am happy to pay for the convenience personally.
I’ve used both methods and given the choice, I’ll happily use the wax strips 100% of the time.
How Long Does Waxing Last?
Depending on the growth rate of your hair, you can expect 3-6 weeks of no hair in the area you waxed. Stubble will start to appear after several weeks and you may even notice small hairs growing sooner.
But remember that hair grows in cycles so it’s possible that new hair that grows is actually just that: new hair that was dormant and wasn’t affected by the waxing and is just now growing as part of the normal hair growth cycle.
Waxing is temporary hair removal of course and can only treat hair that is above the skin and long enough to be removed. So if you have new hairs below the skin that are days away from being dormant and moving to the growth stage, they won’t be affected by the waxing and will continue to grow as normal.
Remember not to shave or trim hair before waxing. The longer the hair, the more the wax can grip it as it’s being removed.
What Is Sugaring?
Sugaring hair removal is similar to waxing with two key differences. First, sugaring utilizes a paste made of sugar, water and lemon. Secondly, the sugaring product is applied directly to the skin without use of a strip of any kind. So sugaring is regarded as being gentler on the skin and involves using a slightly different product than wax as you can see.
While wax traditionally went on the skin hot and very liquid, sugaring uses a relatively thick paste that is heated but not hot, and is pressed and massaged onto the skin to really grip the hairs before they are removed. You will often find sugaring is offered as a professional, paid service at a clinic or salon. The practitioner can use the same ball of sugar paste on your skin for a treatment and will massage and roll the paste every so often to keep it useable.
Sugaring and waxing offer the same results in terms of time without hair since they ultimately do the same thing which is remove hairs by the root. The real difference is the process. Sugaring attaches only to the hair whereas hot wax attaches to both the skin and hair.
What Is Threading?
Threading is another hair removal option that like the name suggests, uses thread (cotton) to remove hair. Threading is a method of hair removal that typically gets done by a practitioner but you can certainly do it yourself with some experience over time.
Threading is typically good for small areas of hair removal such as the hair between your eyes ie. unibrow removal as it’s time-consuming.
You can expect similar results to waxing or sugaring in terms of the time you’ll get without hair but again, threading tends to be good for small areas of hair removal only.
What Lasts Longest: Waxing, Sugaring or Threading?
As we’ve seen above you can expect similar results for all three methods since they each remove hair by the root. The actual process is slightly different as each uses a different product (wax, sugar paste or cotton thread) and the actual removal of the hair differs a bit but the results are roughly the same: Hair is removed by the root and you can typically expect 3-6 weeks of no hair before the hair that was removed will start to grow back.
The main difference is that waxing and sugaring are better for covering larger areas of hair to be removed whereas threading is good for small areas such as the hair between your eyebrows.
Conclusion
The benefit of wax strips is that they are more convenient than hot wax, less messy and don’t involve heating up wax that can burn your skin and drip on the floor. While wax strips are probably more expensive in the long run, they are easier and quicker to use especially if you’re doing the work yourself.
Sugaring is a related option to waxing but tends to be offered in clinics as a paid, professional hair removal service. While wax products are easily found in stores, you may have to create your own sugaring product from scratch if you wish to use this option yourself.
Threading is another hair removal option that is normally done by a qualified professional but you can also do it yourself at home. It tends to be good for small areas of hair removal such as a unibrow.