Sugar waxing is an easy and less painful alternative to traditional waxing that uses ingredients you likely already have in your pantry. Plus, no special tools are necessary – making this an effortless recipe!
An essential aspect of successful DIY sugaring is making sure that your mixture is appropriately cooked. Consistency plays an integral role in determining how effective your wax will be.
Ingredients
Sugar waxing (sometimes referred to as sugaring) is an all-natural method of hair removal that utilizes a mixture of sugar, lemon juice and water in order to form a paste and effectively eliminate unwanted hairs. Sugaring is easy to do at home and significantly less painful than traditional waxing procedures.
To create sugar wax, combine all the ingredients in a medium pot over high heat until they come to a boil, until the mixture turns light honey-colored and remove from heat to cool in its container.
Sugar wax should be soft enough for easy application with a butter knife or popsicle stick, making it suitable for use on dry skin without irritation. Store in an airtight glass jar; once hard, simply reheat in 15 second intervals in the microwave until warm and soft again. You will know it’s time for another batch when its texture and color have altered or when its scent has changed significantly or it no longer sticks as tightly to skin surfaces.
Preparation
Sugar wax offers a gentle yet effective hair removal option that doesn’t pull live skin cells and leave many wounds behind like traditional waxing does. Plus, its reusable nature means you can take a ball of it and apply it over an area when necessary or just remove random hairs!
Sugar wax requires water, sugar and lemon juice as its three ingredients. Once mixed together, the mixture should be heated slowly until it reaches a light honey hue at about 260deg F – it continues to cook even after you remove it from the heat source – so be sure to test its consistency at this stage.
Prior to applying wax, first clean the area using hot water and non-scented soap, exfoliating and drying thoroughly. Next, take a ping-pong sized ball of sugar wax and knead until soft and flexible – if it becomes hard add more lemon juice until it softens further and continue heating.
Heat
Homemade sugar wax doesn’t have to be difficult, though it does require careful attention. Hello Glow suggests opting for a stove-based method so you can easily monitor its temperature as part of a safe solution.
Once your sugar wax reaches a light honey hue, remove it from the heat and transfer to another container before continuing cooking outside of its initial pot. As long as the mixture continues cooking after it leaves its initial container, additional steps may need to be taken.
Microwave ovens do not work effectively to reheat sugar wax because their use destroys its structure and leads to unwanted results.
Instead, use a wax warmer or microwave in 15-second intervals until the paste becomes soft and pliable. Reheated sugar wax can still be used for hair removal if applied using a butter knife or wooden tongue depressor; exfoliation before waxing may reduce ingrown hairs as well.
Cooling
Sugaring may be less painful than traditional waxing, yet still somewhat uncomfortable. Since sugaring binds directly to hair rather than skin cells, you won’t risk ripping off live skin cells – though it may still be painful!
Sugar wax should only be applied on clean and dry skin. Exfoliation a day or two prior to your wax session may help smoother results; and trimming hair down to approximately 1/4-inch before beginning will help ensure it sticks to each individual hair strand properly.
Prior to working with your mixture, it is a good idea to protect your hands by filling a bowl with cool water and dipping your fingers in it to wet them before handling it. This will prevent them from burning as you work. Once the sugar paste has set up, use it on your body in a stretchy form similar to chewing gum for best results.
