Wednesday, July 8, 2009

The sweet way to remove hair...

Sugaring is one of the oldest hair removing methods, originating in Egypt and currently very popular in Middle Eastern countries. It resembles waxing because it is basically a warm mixture applied to the skin and then quickly removed pulling the hairs out of their roots.

In my opinion and from personal experience it is less painful than waxing because sugar paste only adheres to the hair and not the skin. The recipe is ridiculously simple, and I wish I’d known about it years ago.

All you need is 2 cups of granulated sugar, 1 cup of water and ¼ cup of lemon/lime juice.
Combine the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer on low/medium heat.
In order to know when the mixture is ready you will have to test it several times to get the right consistency. When sugar is melted and you’re left with thick liquid, take a glass and fill it with room temperature water. Use a spoon and drop several drops of mixture into the water. If the drops dissolve into the water, it’s not ready, but if it falls to the bottom of the glass and it doesn’t dissolve then it is ready to use. I prefer to take a large baking pan and pour hot mixture into it until it’s pleasant to touch (lukewarm)

For the best results the hair should be short and the skin dry and clean of any lotion or oil residue. First stretch the wax over the direction of hair growth (not against it). Then press down firmly, wait a few seconds and jerk it off in one quick movement.

Sugaring is hypoallergenic and an ideal hair removal method for sensitive skin, and it’s very eco-friendly. No more red bumps or irritation and I’m super happy I found out about this method.

EDIT: To answer SunShower's questions..
I'm a makeup junkie and i adore Middle Eastern culture, so i love learning about these ancient beauty rituals that can still be used today. LOL I've got no hair left to remove, so i can't post my photos (yet), however you can find a lot of pictures on internet.
There are 2 ways to use this paste (often refered to as wax, but has no actuall wax in it). The first meathod is when the paste is still somewhat runny and warm, what you do is you apply it with some spatula where you want the hair to be removed and then you use some kind of cloth (i highly recommend denim) place it on top and then jerk it off in a quick motion. I find this meathod to be too messy, so i prefer the cold version. This is when you pour the hot mixture into a container and leave it to cool COMPLETLY. It's going to be this really thick paste that you can roll around in your hands. You apply it onto the skin, streaching the paste as much as you can. Now you would jerk it off quickly (the paste should be thick enaugh that you won't need strip or cloth to take it off. As far as pain level, it's significantly less painfull BUT not pain-free (you are removing hair after all)
This video is in different language (heads up, it's also kindda gross) but it shows you very well how it removes hair..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUbhg1MySPk&feature=PlayList&p=CC9CDAEDF237C775&index=5

5 comments:

  1. how interesting, i've never heard of it, thanks for sharing the story

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  2. wow! i've never heard of this before! how much does it hurt? can you explain a little more? or like... put pictures or something? if it's not too much trouble.

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  3. do you have to apply a paper? looks sounds great. i hope to try it and repost!! thanks for the info.

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  4. Oh! I just saw your edit response. Makes sense. Thanks!

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  5. Really sweet article. Will this really work? Will it remove permanently? Removing hair permanently is what I am looking for. They recommend me Permanent Hair Removal. Hope it'll really work on me.

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