I Tried Sugaring My Bikini Line at Home and It Was Actually...Amazing?
I’ve always admired people who can blow out their hair better than a hairstylist or give themselves a salon-worthy manicure. Me? I’m over here smudging half my nails before I finish the first coat of polish. Because despite how many times I try, at-home beauty treatments just aren’t really my thing. I make a mess, get frustrated, and somehow end up looking worse than when I started.
So when quarantine hit and my normal grooming appointments came to a halt, the fate of my hair, nails, brows, and—yes, my bikini line—suddenly fell into my own, unskilled hands. And although I could handle the idea of learning how to paint my nails and pluck my brows, how TF was I supposed to remove my own pubic hair? Cue the panic.
If you’re anything like me, the idea of shaving your bikini line gives you immediate flashbacks to razor burn and in-grown hairs. I learned the hard way that my skin is way too sensitive for shaving (I’m always left with red bumps), and the alternative—waxing—is just as irritating (who knew ingrown hairs could be so damn painful?). And while body hair is 100,000 percent normal—and whatever you decide to do with it is totally your choice—I’ve always preferred the hairless vibe.
It wasn’t until my junior year of college, though, that I tried sugaring: a gentle alternative to waxing that leaves your skin smooth, soft, and pain-free. Sugaring is waxing’s kinder, less invasive, more effective sister. It’s actually an ancient hair removal technique that originated in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece that uses only lemon juice, sugar, and water, so the fact that it’s still around in 2020 is probs a good indication that this sh*t is the real deal.
And unlike waxing, which can grip your hair and your skin, “sugaring paste doesn’t stick to the skin at all,” dermatologist Ellen Marmur, MD, has told Cosmo. “It grabs only your hair and removes it.” And just like waxing, sugaring removes your hair from the root, taking out the entire hair follicle so your hair grows back slower and thinner over time. But, you know, with a bit less pain than with traditional waxing.
I seriously didn’t know my skin was even capable of being so soft until I tried sugaring—and I loved the results so much that I’ve been booking my monthly appointments religiously ever since. And since I wasn’t exactly prepared to throw away months worth of time and money just to start shaving again, I decided I only had one option: mastering the art of at-home sugaring, starting with Sugar Me Smooth’s Complete Hair Removal System.
The details
Obviously, the bikini line is a v sensitive area, and since I’m not a sugaring expert, I knew I wanted a product that was clean, gentle, and easy to use. I liked what I saw when I noticed the Sugar Me Smooth ingredients list was 100 percent natural with only sugar, lemon juice, water, and sugar on the label. I was even more impressed that it didn’t require any heating or additional prep on my end. Win-win.
My sugaring kit came with a prepping powder, body sugaring paste, face sugaring paste, a post-treatment serum spiked with soothing ingredients like aloe vera and vitamin E, and three reusable applicators. Basically, my own personal sugaring station. BTW: The brand recommends using the face paste for your bikini line, which, thanks to the formula’s licorice root, helps reduce any stinging or irritation in more sensitive areas.
The test
A post shared by 📍Los Angeles (@homespa.ca) on Apr 24, 2020 at 3:15pm PDT
When I get excited about a new product, I usually rush through the instructions because I can’t wait to try it—which is probs why most of my at-home beauty experiences haven’t been so successful. This time I promised myself that I’d go slow and read through every step before I got started. The directions were pretty simple and straightforward: Just smooth the sugar paste over your skin in the opposite direction of your hair growth and then quickly “flick” and pull the sugar strip backward. And since I’m more of a visual learner, I watched a few videos before I applied an-y-thing.
FYI, you want to be in a cool room with air conditioning or in front of a fan while you sugar—if the sugar gets too warm, it becomes gooey and sticky on your skin, making it super hard to flick off. You’ll also want to make sure your skin is totally dry and clean (no lotions or sweat).
I started by patting some of the prep powder on my skin, scooping up a little bit of the sugar paste with the small applicator and smoothing it on to my upper inner thigh (you smooth it down three times to make sure it really sticks). I took a deep breath, flicked the sugar right off, and was honestly shocked. It didn’t hurt nearly as bad as I thought it would, and it actually removed all my hair. No sticky mess, no painful rip―just clean, hair-free, soft skin. And even though I expected it to hurt a little more than usual, not being a professional and all, it honestly felt the same as my salon treatments.
Now I’m not gonna lie to you, it took a lot longer than the usual 15-minute appointment to remove all my hair (it was more like an hour), and I struggled with the more difficult angles (it definitely required a few tries). But the most brilliant part is that the sugaring paste is 100 percent water soluble, so when I messed up, all I had to do was get a wet washcloth and the paste dissolved.
Once I was done, I wet a washcloth under warm water and gently removed the excess sugaring paste, patted my skin dry, and then smoothed a layer of the post-treatment serum on my (now hairless) skin. I was honestly so impressed with the results, and I followed the same after-care instructions that I go with post-appointment (see: staying out of the sun and avoiding exercise for 24 hours).
Final thoughts
Never in a million years did I think an at-home sugaring session would give me basically the same results as my professional treatments. Like, my skin is totally soft, smooth, and bump-free. And if I can successfully sugar myself, you absolutely can too. So if you’re stressing about not being able to maintain your bikini area or you want to learn a new technique and feel ~proud~ of yourself, this sugaring kit has you covered. Now, BRB, I have to get back to admiring my handiwork.
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