With summer comes bikinis, sun-tans and relaxation. But something we wish didn’t come with bikini season? Those razor bumps peeking around the corners of our bikini bottoms. And what’s worse is the inevitable stubble one day after shaving down there. Even worse than all that is our only other option – waxing.
Yup. We just saw you cringe. Waxing is a scary word for a lot of people – especially when we’re talking about such delicate destinations as our bikini zones. Go ahead and get your shivers out now, because we decided to take matters into our own hands, and one Valley girl took one for the team by throwing her razor aside and getting waxed.
We went to Looks Hair Design for the low-down on waxing and spoke with Erica, a beautician at Looks.
Our first question was about the difference between a Bikini Wax and a Brazilian Wax. When you Google it, you get a lot of mixed answers from the web. Erica clarified it for us, no problem. A bikini wax has different variations, and varies often from salon to salon. Traditionally it just cleans up the bikini line – which is anything that falls outside the sides of your bikini bottom.
A Brazilian on the other hand, is everything in the front and everything in the back.
For first time waxers like our Valley girl, Erica says normally you’ll need two to three weeks of growth down there before you can get waxed, otherwise the wax won’t have anything to really grip. She also warns people new to waxing that there will be a burn afterwards for a few hours somewhat similar to razor burn. She recommends that if you are new to waxing not to go all out and leave a little in the center.
On a scale of 1-10, how bad does it hurt? Speaking about her first time, Erica says around a 7 for her. But she stresses that it really depends on your pain threshold. It also can depend on the density of your hair down there – a lot versus a little is going to be a different experience altogether.
Erica made it clear that there are two types of body wax. There is a strip wax which is what they use at Looks Hair Design. They also use Nufree which is not a wax but a formula made from soy that is gentle on the skin. The other type of body wax is hard wax, which is when the wax solidifies into its own strip.
More than just the pain, another thing that often drives girls away from getting waxed is the fear of it being painfully awkward. A stranger is going to be looking around down there, but this stranger has seen it all. It’s only awkward if you make it awkward. Making chit chat like nothing out of the ordinary is happening is one way to avoid it being awkward and can also distract you from some of the discomfort you may experience.
After your wax job is done, Erica strongly recommends avoiding anything that will cause friction down there. That means exercising and, yes ladies, sex. Give it at least until the next day, says Erica. At Looks Hair Design they also use an aftercare that is called Finipil, and it reduces redness, acts as an antiseptic and stunts hair growth down there. You should also wait about a month in between waxing sessions.
Erica’s best advice is not to listen to what your friends or anyone you’ll talk to about waxing says because it’s a different experience for every person.
So ladies, put down the razor and give waxing a chance. It’s something only you can experience for yourself, and hey, no more razor bumps or day-after stubble sounds like a pretty good deal to us.
