August 8, 2017

Have You Ever Waxed Your Own Face or Body?

At some point in your beauty life you’ve decided to take your hairy situations into your own hands. That means you probably tried or attempted or even failed at waxing your own face or body! So, have you waxed your own face or body or even your brows?

Any horror stories to share?

I totally attempted waxing myself once or twice. I still remember those Nad’s infomercial from the 90’s, Sue’s soothing Australian accent telling me how easy waxing was, how pain-free it was, how I’d be hair-free and smooth within moments of using it. Needless to say the day I saw Nad’s pop up at my local CVS I grabbed that big jar and ran home with it. I was probably 16-ish at the time?

Needless to say it was probably the worst mistake of my life because I did not have the success of those people in the commercial. It was painful, difficult, and it turned out rather patchy. Thankfully I was smart enough not to go to down on my bikini area as my mum would have had to drive me to the emegency room or something equally embarrassing. But I did attempt it on my legs and I found the process incredibly difficult. It put me off trying to wax anything by myself for many years.

Many, many years later I attempted it again but wasn’t successful. I just found waxing oneself very difficult. I struggling pulling the skin taunt enough, applying the wax, ripping it in the right direction, etc…it’s a very messy experience. I never tried it on my brows but have attempted my upper lip and again, it’s just hard to do it correctly and I end up with patchy results.

Thankfully, I have no horror stories to tell although, I do remember when I was 12 one of my friend’s came to school one day with a penciled in eye brow. Apparently, she had attempted at home waxing and ripped off half her brow in the process. Thankfully, I was never dumb enough to try it out on my brows! Just my legs.

How about you?

Do you wax at home?

Are you good at it?

As for me, I have it professionally done. It’s just not worth the mess or horror show of doing it myself!

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • dia

    I was my own upper lip all the time. I don’t get hairy enough to was my legs, and there’s no way I’m attempting the nether regions.

      • dia

        Have you tried those pre-waxed strips? Avon used to carry them. I bought three packages years ago, and they still work fine. They’re quite easy to use, no microwaving necessary.

        • Isabella Muse

          I have! Sally Hansen does them and I’ve used them when I have stray hairs but I find they don’t really work great. The Sally Hansen ones just require rubbing before your hands to warm them up and you proceed to peel off one side, apply the other on your lip or whatever, and pull! But for some reason they don’t really grab all the hair. It’s a tedious way to remove hair!

          • Ami

            The types of hair found on the face don’t work well with strip wax for a lot of people and most companies don’t sell home versions of the non strip waxes, which DO work better at grabbing shorter hairs. Hence why if its not a chemical remover it tends not to work out well for many people.

    • kimkats

      Lol – Everything you said dia!! I wax my upper lip alla time. And hell will freeze over before *any*one comes near my nether regions with hot wax. No. Not. Ever.

  • Somayea

    I’ve waxed my brows before, and they surprisingly didn’t come off in one go. However, I also tried waxing my armpits and for whatever reason, nothing would come off and sometimes it wouldn’t rip off. It was painful, and after a few go rounds, I noped my way out. I’ve stuck to shaving my armpits since then. I pluck my brows too because I find I can be a little more precise.

  • Jay

    I have tried and failed in the past with things like nads and sally hansen. I really want to try the new wax melts (blue/green color) that are all over instagram. They make it look so easy.

      • Jay

        From what I have been seeing on ig starpil wax seems to be all the rage right now. The clips I see make it look so fast and east. It is a hard wax and you don’t need strips, just a warmer.

  • kjh

    Thank god only tried ? Nads strip wax on my legs. Let’s just say my capillaries are fragile, and I wound up with petichiae (sp?) all over. Clearly not a good idea. Never went there again.

    • chibi639

      Hear, hear! I had the exact same issues! Waxed my own legs in college and it wasn’t all that painful (I have a stupid high pain tolerance). Luckily I got to show off my sleek hairless legs that night because the next morning they were a red and purply mottled mess. Never again….

  • Saranya

    I wax my hands, armpits And legs below knee by myself all the time. In the begining while waxing armpit it was too painful and sometime it wouldn’t come off. It was like a horror story. Now its ok. But sometimes i do use epilator when I feel lazy.

  • Jules

    I used to regularly wax my upper lip… I found the sugar based waxes, like Nads, to be the best. I have had to quit, though. I occasionally would rip off some skin with it with regular wax, so now I have scarring. So now I either shave, tweeze, or just say f* it.

    Tried a strip on my leg ONCE. OMG PAIN. Also, my mom had an Epilady, remember those torture devices? Tried that ONCE. She had soft, fair hair, so it didn’t hurt too badly. But my coarse, dark Mediterranean hair? NO NO NO. To those of you who can tolerate the pain, hats off. But not this girl.

  • Courtney

    I started waxing my ‘stash when I was 16. I used Zip wax for years but now it’s really, really hard to find. It’s really amazing if you can find it. Now, I just use one of those spring epilaters. I can just get in front of the tv and roll it around and rip out those pesky upper lip hairs… I prefer to pluck or thread my brows and everything else gets shaved. I tried waxing my legs once but the hair is really anchored there and I could only get half of it.

  • Susan

    Yeah, tried waxing my upper lip once. ONCE. My older skin is apparently too thin and fragile because the wax strip took off more skin than hair. Yeah, a big scab, so attractive. Not.

  • Danielle

    I tried the Sally Hansen wax strips on my eyebrows, but was very careful. Luckily, I never waxed off an eyebrow, but I did over do it at times. I also tried to wax near my bikini area, but it hurt like no other and was red and painful for a week or so afterwards. (I also had a lot of ingrown hairs…. blah!) I came, I saw, but sadly I did not conquer!

    • Isabella Muse

      LOL Danielle! Aw! Conquering wax is a fail in most cases 😀 You’re not alone!

  • Dora

    Yup. I started getting my legs/bikini waxed at a salon years ago and never wanted to go back to shaving. Eventually I decided to do at home — at first I used the wax that you heat in the microwave but it’s so messy (and also easy to make it too hot and burn yourself). And now, for years, I’ve been using the wax strips — different brands, but currently Veet, which seem to have improved over the years. It’s much easier to separate the strips and you no longer have to rub them with your hands before separating. (Which, I know, doesn’t sound like a big deal but was always annoying to me.) I have never been able to do my underarms — I think it’s the angle when you are doing yourself, and I once tried it in a salon and found it super painful (which is saying something since leg/bikini waxes do not bother me that much).

  • Christina D.

    Wow this brought back a bad and painful memory. About a hundred years ago, I thought I’d try waxing my bikini line. I mostly succeeded, but in the process dropped the boiling wax on my right thumb and most of my hand and had second degree burns. Needless to say, I never tried that again, nor have I gone back to waxing.

    • Isabella Muse

      omg! Thank god it wasn’t ahem anywhere else but your thumb and hand! That was hurting enough I’m sure, if you dropped it on your lady parts that would have been horrible 🙁

  • Susan

    I waxed my upper lip area before, but it’s messy and painful. I use the Olay hair removing cream now. It’s not painful and gives me a smooth finish once I remove it and gently massage with a washcloth. I do leave it on for the max time limit. So much easier!!!

    • Emily

      Need to try that. I bought some but it’s been sitting in my cabinet. I’m afraid I’ll have a skin reaction. But, I can’t keep up with the tweezing, and I just seem to be getting furrier and furrier as I age.

  • blee

    Yep, waxed, plucked, and shaved my upper lip and brows. Shaving has won out of them all. 😀

  • Molly

    Ahhhh! I bought Nad’s in high school too. My leg hair was too fine for the sugar, so I tried my armpits. Bleeding from the armpits is not a good way to attract your high school crush. lol.

  • SilverVT

    I have thick dark Mediterranean hair, and I actually waxed my own upper lip, armpits, arms and bikini area for years, I couldn’t get the right angle to do my own legs. it was easy with a wax warmer I bought at Sally Beauty supply and blue/ azulene wax chips– now available online but back in the day I had to hunt it down. The key for me was to dust baby powder on the hair before waxing, and the hairs had to be long enough for the wax to grab but not so long that they’d rip. Apply pressure and ice right afterwards. I watched the pros at salons do my waxing and I copied it at home. That being said, I’m much happier having done laser hair removal and now I just get baby fine hairs!

  • Natti

    I tried Nad’s and that stuff does not work. I found that from strip waxes the best hands down, for my face, is Veet wax strips. They are effective, gentle and easy to use. I only buy the legs and body strips and cut them to size for my face.

  • Mel B

    dermaplaning! a professional uses a scalpel and scrapes off the hair and a layer of skin aka the best exfoliation ever! in between i use the tinkle razors on my upper lip (got them from amazon) nothing grows back darker and works better/faster than other product i’ve used!

  • Jennifer

    Every few years I’ll try to do my own legs, and every time I remember why I gave up in the first place. My sister tried to do her own bikini line and because you are pretty much unable to hold the skin taut on your own, she ended up with a HUGE bruise an a stripe on the inside of her thigh.

  • Jessica

    I use the Sally Hansen microwave wax pretty regularly for my upper lip. I’m no expert, not by far, but it works ok. No horror stories. Prior to discovering the wax, I would use Nair type products. Red chemical burn mustache is not a good look. Funny story on how I started waxing my lip.. I was having my brows done one day, I was 20ish, never had noticed or done any removal on my upper lip. While doing my brows, the tech says to me, oh honey, let me do your lip. Are you Italian? 🙁

  • Katy

    When I was a teenager my mom got me a waxing warmer and wax so I could start doing my own eyebrows. These days I also do my upper lip. I have purchased a tub of hard wax for my nether regions but am too afraid to attempt it. I think I could at least manage the bikini line. No real horror stories other than accidentally burning myself a few times, which is not cool. Lol. Overall waxing at home is a great time saver.

  • Randi MacDonald

    I used to wax my upper lip. first I used a honey based wax with muslin strips and then I switch to Poetic waxing. It was a wax that hardened and you would pull off. Then I had laser hair removal.

  • Daisy

    Every home waxing experience is a disaster. Waxing my brows doesn’t seem to get all of the fine hair and I still have to spend a significant amount of time plucking that I just give up. Or the times that I waxed a chunk of skin off my upper brow though I wasn’t using any retinoids or skin sensitizing products. Let’s not talk about the times I used nads or a similar product and it was such a gummy mess that it never adhered to the muslin strip and just kept pulling off stringy taffy.

  • Daisy

    Or the time I dropped a small microwaveable container of blue azulene wax all over my white stove. Hubby was not happy…

  • Chris

    I use the Olay facial hair remover and would never use wax. The depilatory works very well.

  • Iris

    Tried it before. From what I recall, it worked but wasn’t too good on my skin. I prefer sugaring or shaving.

  • genevieve

    I have never done it myself as I was put off by a work colleague, who only managed to wax one leg because it was so painful…….