Female body hair has always been and will probably always be a topic of heated discussion. Be it under the arms, on the legs or between them—the debate continues, to keep, or not to keep the hair, and is it all or nothing? If it has to go, then how? AH!

A short history many of you will recognise…

Oh how I remember blushing like a tomato when I as a teenager and received a ladyshave (a special female razor) for my birthday. Thanks mom & dad, for the hint…
After the ladyshave broke, I moved on to real razors and stuck with those for a long long time, occasionally causing a bloodbath because of a wrong movement in the shower.  Of course, I tried the microwave do-it-yourself wax but, boy, did that turn out to be one giant sticky painful mess…and it didn’t even work: half the hairs on my legs were still there smiling back at me.  I also tried my friends epilator machine, but oooh how painful! And then the ingrown hairs!

So, then something came up that promised to end the battle with body hair for forever. IPL: Intense Pulsed Light Therapy. After having wasted hundreds of euros, lots of time and suffering (I once even suffered some burn symptoms- don’t believe what they say- IPL ain’t for pussies, pun intended) without any result, I decided to give up.

I had just read “How to be a Woman” by contemporary feminist Caitlin Moran in which she describes the joy of having a bush and how today’s fashion, porn and beauty industry is making you feel bad about having pubic hair, basically in order to make money.

After the big IPL fail, I had had enough of it, and Caitlin was on my side. But after two happily hairy years, I started dreading the upcoming summer holidays and my bikini line. Last year was a bit of a disaster with last minute shaves and stubs, so this time, I decided I was going to do it differently. I first tried buying a boy-short style bikini bottoms. I found a rather cute one that looked sexy but, damn it, even in this big hotpants-style bikini, the hairs were peeping out between from my legs. So, a day before leaving for my holidays, in a “something’s gotta give” mood, I ran into a professional wax salon.

So, the bikini wax…

It hurts, but not as bad as you might expect and it has instant effect with a big wow factor: soft & silky is what you’ll get if done correctly. It’s not for free either, but it lasts long and I personally only do it during the bikini season. Of course it is pretty embarrassing to spread your legs for a complete stranger who is going to get very intimate with you within 2 minutes after meeting. But that’s the easiest part, I like to think of it  as a visit to the gynecologist, they see vaginas upclose every day and are probably not impressed by any form or colour you might have between your legs. At least, that was the case with the girl who helped me. She just seemed endlessly bored. So, after extensive research on the matter, I came up with some tips on to how to make your bikini wax a success. Tested & approved by me, personally.

How to survive a Bikini wax:

Prepare:

• Firstly: not only because it’s not nice for the person who performs the bikini wax, but also because it’s more hurtful during those days: don’t go during your menstruation. The week right after is kinda perfect.
• Give the area on your body you want to have waxed a light scrub a couple of times during the week before you go to the salon. A good exfoliating glove or a good scrub-paste will help you with that. This will remove dead skin cells and free ingrown hairs: it’ll make the wax-job more efficient. Don’t use any skin oils or lotions the day of your wax!
• Cut the hair you want to get rid of, best using a trimmer if you have one, to approximately 0.3 to max. 0.5 cm. No worries, if you have no time for this, normally the saloon employee will be totally fine with doing that for you with a pair of scissors. If you plan ahead, you can also just shave it off and let it grow to the right length.
• Do a little research about what salon you want to go to: it should be clean and live up to a certain hygienic standard, which is mostly visible at a first glance: does it look old & sticky: it probably is. Ask more experienced friends for recommendations!
• Wax type is something else that could make a difference, is the sort of wax the salon uses: hard wax is less painful than liquid, just because it sticks less to the skin than liquid (warm) wax. Liquid wax is quicker to use when it concerns bigger and relatively less sensitive areas such as the legs, arms and back, whereas hard wax is more suitable for face, bikini and underarm hair.
• Think about what you want: completely bare,  a landing strip or something else and talk about it with the person who is helping you, before you get started!

How to suffer as little as possible:

You are all scrubbed & groomed and you found a good salon? It’s time to go for it! Don’t be afraid, it goes really fast—if it’s only a bikini wax, you’ll be out and about in max. 20 minutes. I repeat: do not  feel embarrassed, these are professionals who’ve seen it all.

• Make sure you are fresh down there, so you don’t need to feel self conscious about how you smell. I like to go in the morning, not too long after I’ve had my shower.
• Avoid eating sugary foods or drinking coffee right before you go: sugar and caffeine tend to make you more jumpy and sensitive.
• Make sure you aren’t hungry, but don’t overeat either, a cheeseburger in your belly won’t make it better, believe me.
• Going to have a wax when you are super stressed or emotional about something is bad timing. Tension and adrenaline supersize the experience of pain. Try to be as relaxed as possible.
• To stay calm, don’t forget to breath during the session! Try not to clench your teeth while the wax strips are being ripped off, think happy thoughts 🙂
• Some people like to distract from the ‘ripping’ moment by turning their head and coughing to distract from the pain. Another way is to actively keep your mouth moist during the process, it distracts and even helps against experiencing pain. I like to chew some gum. Make sure though, that you don’t suffocate on anything you may have in your mouth!
• Of course, just normal paracetamol or ibuprofen works, so if you are very sensitive, just pop one of those friends about half an hour before you have your appointment.

Wow, your pubic area is feeling so soft and smooth, let’s keep it that way!

What you can do against ingrowth & infections:

• I think there is hardly anything better than applying a little Dr. Alkaitis Soothing Gel: it cools, soothes and has antibacterial properties, and is nice to sensitive skin. Basically, everything you want after a wax.
• Avoid tight underwear, sunbathing, swimming in the sea or chlorinated pools and products containing alpha or beta hydroxy acids for the first 48 hrs after your wax: this might cause rashes, irritation or even infections. Oh, and avoid sex for the same reasons too—bummer!
• A day or three after your wax, when your skin isn’t too sensitive anymore, you should re-start—gently—scrubbing again, preferably daily. This will keep skin from growing over your hair follicles and that’s a good thing because once the hairs start growing again, you don’t want them to get stuck under the skin causing little inflammations. This is especially important for those who wax regularly: the more often you wax, the thinner the hair will get and the higher the chance of hair ingrown gets…

That’s it!

Let me know if this helped, and, if you have any tips regarding bikini waxes, please share below—your fellow bikini-waxers will be thankful!

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