Sugaring and waxing are both popular hair removal procedures. But you may be wondering which is the best option? This post will share with you the differences between the two methods as well as the benefits of sugaring vs. waxing for hair removal.
The Benefits of Sugaring vs. Waxing
What is Sugaring?
Sugaring paste is simply made out of sugar, water, & lemon juice. It’s even edible!
Wax has many chemical ingredients, mostly resins & preservatives.
Sugaring paste is applied at body temperature & will not burn your skin.
Hot wax must be heated to a high degree in order to become liquified. The heat causes swelling in the tissues which makes hair difficult to remove. Using this amount of heat has the potential to cause burning & scarring.
Sugar paste can be cleaned up easily with water. You will never leave a Sugaring treatment feeling sticky.Since wax contains resins, chemical solvents are required to remove it’s residues.
Sugar cannot adhere to live skin cells. Live skin cells are wet & because Sugar Paste is water soluble, it will not adhere to live skin cells. This means less discomfort for you & less trauma to your skin. Sugaring does remove dead skin cells – so as the hair is removed your skin is also getting exfoliated! It is gentle enough to go over the same area several times to extract stubborn hairs without causing skin damage or irritation. No tweezers needed.
Wax has been known to remove more than just the hair, since it can adhere directly to live skin cells, which makes waxing more painful & irritating. Wax cannot be applied to an area more than twice at the most. Tweezers are commonly used to get the leftover hairs the wax missed.
A single glob of Sugar Paste can be used over & over on different parts of your body then discarded after your treatment. It is never used on any other person. When using a hot wax pot, the practitioner must use a clean & unused stick each time to dip into the wax for each strip applied. This creates more waste and more chance for contamination.
Sugaring Paste is hypoallergenic & non-comedogenic. Sugar naturally helps control cross contamination & bacteria cannot breed in the tub of sugar. Cross contamination in a waxing room is always a danger, especially since bacteria will breed inside a tub of wax.
Using the Sugaring Technique the paste wraps around the hair making it pliable, while seeping into the hair follicle lubricating the hair to make the extraction more complete & gentle. The hair is removed out of the follicle only in the natural direction of growth, which helps to extract the hair intact.
Pros and Cons of Sugaring
Pros:
- Helps reduce the risk of ingrown hairs.
- Gently exfoliates while improving the appearance of skin tone and texture.
- Suitable for all skin types, including sensitive.
- Sugar paste is all-natural and hypoallergenic.
- Results last up to 6 weeks and if performed regularly, can lead to permanency.
- Hair only needs to be 1/8th inch long to be sugared.
- You can eat it!
- The mixture is water-soluble, so it washes off with water if any residue is left behind.
- Sugaring is eco-friendly and cost efficient. It requires no strips, popsicles sticks for applying or any other waste that is necessary for conventional waxing procedures.
Cons:
- Time consuming to hand make the sugar solution (there are several sugaring companies that distribute an already-made product to licensed beauty practitioners for more convenience)
- If technique is performed poorly, hair breakage and irritation to the skin is possible
Can be messy or complicated for the sugarer if you are accustomed to strip or hard wax techniques
The Benefits of Sugaring vs. Waxing
Sugaring and waxing are very different. As we said earlier, the sugaring paste is applied in the opposite direction of the hair growth and removed with it, whereas waxing is applied with the direction of the hair and removed against it. Traditional waxing uses either muslin strips or hardens on the skin before removing it.
Wax removal can often be harsh and result in hair breakage. When the hair breaks under the skin’s surface, the hair that grows in thereafter gets trapped, causing an ingrown. We all know how incredibly painful ingrown hairs can be, not to mention difficult to extract and heal, especially in the bikini area—ouch!
Another major difference between body sugaring and waxing is that the sugar only adheres to the hair follicle and never to live skin cells. Commonly used wax substances, because they contain resins, stick to live skin cells, causing not only pain with removal, but can lift the live skin! This results in a burn, usually scabbing over—definitely not a pretty result! The sugar paste on the other hand, never adheres to live skin, but only to dead skin cells. The mixture permeates deep into the hair follicle, effectively removing the hair and the inner root sheath (the white, waxy bulb you find at the end of your hair shaft). This removal is also a gentle, yet effective exfoliating treatment that leaves your skin silky, sweet and smooth after the process. This makes sugaring our most preferred method, because it is excellent for sensitive skin types.
One of the most common problems waxers face is early regrowth due to broken hairs. Waxing can leave 15% – 30% breakage behind. This problem is usually caused not by the esthetician, but by the wax used. Since wax hardens on the hair, it has the tendency to break it off at the surface, rather than pull it out.
The Sugaring Technique requires only about 1/16 inch of hair for successful extraction, about the size of a grain of rice (1/8 inch tends to be optimal). Wax products require that you grow the hair out at least 1/4 inch before your next waxing appointment.
After a number of Sugaring treatments the hair follicle begins to deplete. The hair grows in more refined each time. Because Sugar can extract such short hair, it is possible to extract the hair in the early growth phase, which can lead to permanency. You will see superior results in just a few treatments.
My Experience
I have been sugaring for quite awhile and I just have to say that I love it and notice that it’s way less harsh on my skin than waxing was. I have never tried to make my own sugar or tried to do it myself. I am a big DIY girl, but when it comes to this, I would rather just save my sanity and indulge in a professional. To me, it’s way more worth it. If you are in the San Diego area and interested in trying Sugaring you have to checkout my cousin Sugared by Janee She is so awesome at what she does and in my opinion she is the BEST! Book an appointment with her and tell her Yogi Mami sent you!
