Part 1: 10 Reasons Why Should You Stop Waxing
Abrasive Nature
Waxes are sticky and their sticky nature enables them to remove hair when we remove the wax from our skin surface. When we apply the wax on our skin, the soft wax does not stick with our hair only but also adheres to our skin. On pulling, it removes the skin too which means you are at risk of damaging your skin with a slight careless behavior. This may result in wax burns.
As the epidermis is disturbed and some of the oils are removed from your skin, it might start looking dry and flaky.
Ingrown Hair
The most common and painful side effect of waxing is the formation of ingrown hair on the waxed area. When you do not apply or pull off the wax in the right way, it may cause your hair to break just above the surface of the skin instead of removing hair from the roots.
The broken hair that remains inside the skin starts growing inwards instead of coming out. This causes painful bumps on the skin which might look like whiteheads.
Risk of Infections
Waxes increase the risk of bacterial and viral infections. The infections usually occur in areas where your skin is damaged, freshly cut, or wound. The most common infections that occur are folliculitis and molluscum contagiosum. Folliculitis occurs when wax damages your hair follicles. This gives bacteria a ticket to invade them, infect them, and form pus-filled tiny bumps on your skin.
The molluscum contagiosum typically occurs as a result of Brazilian wax caused by double-dipping the wax stick. It also results in tiny red bumps that can spread by skin contact.
Pain
Waxes are painful. Everyone must have tried waxing their body hair at least once and the pain at first was unbearable, right? The pain occurs when hair is forcefully pulled from your roots. It might not last long but no one can ever get used to this pain especially those having sensitive skin.
So, what is the use of bearing all the pain when you will also have to face ingrown hair, painful bumps, and skin sensitivity just for the sake of getting a hair-free body temporarily?
Worsens Skin Conditions
If you already have an infection or skin conditions like rosacea, you must stop waxing immediately. In rosacea, some of your capillaries are weak and some are broken. On waxing, the wax irritates dilated tiny blood vessels (capillaries) and worsens rosacea.
So, avoid waxing if you have sensitive skin, rosacea, pregnancy, or herpes.
Rashes and Bumps
Imagine you need to go out and wax to get rid of unwanted hair from your face, legs, and arms. After a short time, you notice small bumps on your skin and now you either have to cancel the plan or wear full-sleeved clothes. But, what about the face? Worried, right?
That is what waxing can do to you. These bumps occur as a result of inflammatory reactions (histamine reaction) in your body as a response to forceful hair pulling. So, do not wax, and even if you need to do it, wax a day or two before your plans.
Allergic Reactions
Some waxes have ingredients like pine rosins, beeswax, or lanolin in them that may initiate an allergic reaction in sensitive people. Consequently, It becomes hard to find the right wax to prevent these allergies from occurring.
Running from store to store, and surfing through online products for hours until you find the right wax is going to be hectic. Moreover, you will never know if the wax you found is still right for you, and if it is not, you just wasted your money.
Sun Sensitivity
We all have to go out in the sun at least once one time during the whole day. What if you cannot go out because you just waxed the same day?
As discussed earlier, waxes have an abrasive nature and they affect the outermost layer of your skin. As the epidermis is affected and becomes thinner, your protective skin barrier weakens which enables the UV rays of the sun to easily affect your skin. This results in redness, irritation, and rashes on your skin.
Breakouts and Acne
Having acne and breakouts is everyone’s worst nightmare and wax can make that nightmare come true. During the process of waxing, your skin becomes sensitive and pores open up allowing bacteria and dirt to easily enter your skin.
The invasion of microbes and the presence of dirt leads to skin breakouts and eventually acne. The acne might lead you to lose self-confidence and cause anxiety and depression.
Bleeding and Scarring
Your follicles are attached to small blood vessels. When you apply the wax, its heat causes the dilation of blood vessels, and the flow of blood in that area increases. Consequently, when you remove hair from the roots, it might start bleeding.
Ingrown hair and bleeding may lead to scarring. Scarring can also occur in case of any accidents that occur while waxing. So it is best to avoid waxing at least as long as you do not know the right waxing technique.
Part 2: What Should You Do Instead?
You can take some precautions to avoid accidents during waxing but the safest way to continue hair removal is to replace waxing with some better hair removal methods.
Shaving
Shaving is the process of removing your hair using a razor blade and shaving cream. The use of shaving cream is essential for smooth and swift shaving.
It is better than waxing in many ways. It is less painful than waxing and a lot more affordable. Also, it is less messy so you can quickly grab your shaving kit and start the process. There are risks of ingrown hair and razor bumps while shaving but they all can be minimized by learning the right technique, using small strokes, and shaving with sharp blades.
Depilatory Creams
Depilatory creams remove your hairs by softening them enough that they gets wiped off easily as you remove the depilatory cream from the skin. It is least messy among shaving, waxing, and using depilatory creams.
The waxing can take a long time in skin preparation, wax preparation, application, and removal while depilatory creams take less than 15 minutes for easy and rapid hair removal. These creams also reduce the risk of ingrown hair from occurring.
Laser Hair Removal
Laser hair removal takes the lead over waxing for more than one reason. First of all, it gives you smooth skin that can last for 2 years so you do not have to worry about hair removal every time you go out.
It is less painful than waxing. It has high precision and is much less hectic as compared to waxing. The procedure is a bit expensive but it is worth it as it is more effective, long-lasting, comfortable, and convenient as compared to waxing.
IPL Treatment
IPL treatment works similarly to laser hair removal and gives results that last as long as a year or even more for some people. The technique uses impulse light to target your hair and reach the hair roots. On reaching the hair bulb, the light converts into heat and destroys your hair follicles. Luckily, other than salon facilities, IPL hair removal machines are available for use at home. One such device is the Ulike Sapphire Air3 handset.
It allows quick and painless hair removal with patented ice-cooling technology. The device is lightweight, FDA-approved, and has unlimited flashes to provide you with its services for more than 10 years.
So, it will not be wrong to say that IPL hair removal with a Ulike Sapphire Air3 handset is the best alternative to waxing.
Conclusion
Waxing can be a good option for hair removal but unfortunately, it can cause skin damage, ingrown hair, skin burns, allergic reactions, sensitivity to sun, and even infections on your skin. On top of all these, the worst thing you might face after waxing is breakouts and acne.
All these problems can be solved by the replacement of waxing with a better hair removal method. These methods include shaving, using depilatory creams, laser hair removal, and IPL. Among these, IPL hair removal with Ulike Air3 device is the best one as it allows you at-home hair removal quickly, painlessly, and efficiently.
