How to wax your legs with candy

[hazliya]

Seriously. Sugar.

So, those of you who saw my post about switching to an epilator know how obsessive I am about body hair. Even in the winter.

Now, the epilator's great. I love it - when I remember to keep up with it. If I let it go for too long, though, it gets to be annoyingly painful again. Still, not nearly as bad as the beginning or some other methods, but irritating none the less.

I'd heard about Sugaring before, but the Science! part of my brain knew that I could easily do it myself at home using candymaking techniques rather than pay for kits.

The formula that worked for me:
1c granulated sugar
2tbsp water
2tbsp lemon juice

Bring it to a frothy boil over medium heat. Stir constantly - it's sugar, after all. Also, remember titrations in high school chem? We're doing that again. Your mixture will be colorless, colorless... and then all of a sudden rapidly darken. You want it to be a honey amber-ish color. Golden, even. It shouldn't take more than 8-10 minutes to get to this point. At most.

Move it to a microwave-safe container and let it cool until it's just warm. Please be careful - hot sugar is like molten lava. When it's warm but not hot, use a butterknife or waxing spatula to spread a thin layer over the area, then use cotton strips (6"x3" worked great for me - you can even cut up an old sheet) and press down firmly, then rip.

Notes on the sugar: it should stay viscous at room temperature and not fully solidify. If it does, then you've cooked it too long and it's gotten to the "hard candy" stage of things. You want it to be taffy consistency. If you've gone a little too far, sometimes you can microwave it and add a bit of water until you've come back down. If not, try again! Warm (not hot!) sugar works best.

But it works, it doesn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought it would, and my legs are nice and smooth. Any stragglers are easy to take care of with the epilator.

I'd recommend giving it a shot. It's pretty easy, and once you get into a rhythm, goes quickly.

Comments

[morethings5.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this! I might try it.

[morethings5.livejournal.com]

(-Jonathan Kindness)

[hazliya.livejournal.com]

You're on LJ? Huh. Learn something new every day.

[hazliya.livejournal.com]

Also, feel free to poke through my photo posts for inspiration. I have yet to bleach + mount the antlers, but we're totally doing this.

[morethings5.livejournal.com]

Yes! That is wonderful and I am excited. I read your post about the epilator. It sounded scary.

[darkoni]

Reading this makes me want to find some other crazy do it yourself Science! thing and point you at it. There must be something involving squid and honey on the internet somewhere, about how you can make your own sweet smelling ink.

[mindways]

When it's warm but not hot, use a butterknife or waxing spatula to spread a thin layer over the area, then use cotton strips (6"x3" worked great for me - you can even cut up an old sheet) and press down firmly, then rip.

I'm curious: do you pause between application and removal? (ie, does the spreading-thin cause the sugar to cool off enough that you can apply-cloth and remove it more or less immediately, or is there a waiting period somewhere in there?)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_dragonwolf_/]

Interesting! I too am obsessive about body hair-- and of Italian descent, lucky me! --so I may give this a shot.

[hntrpyanfar.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :D