Dos & Don'ts
Exfoliate and hydrate the area waxed to avoid ingrown hair. Let your waxer know before your appointment if you have any allergies, health conditions, or are taking any medication. Accutane, or any topical lotions or creams like AHAs or Retin-A, are not compatible with Brazilian wax or sugar.
Avoid exercise, hot bath/shower, sauna, steam, hot tub, pools and beaches 24 hours after waxing. Sweating can carry bacteria into the pores and can irritate the skin after waxing. Keep hands from touching freshly waxed skin, minimizing chances of getting irritations or small pimples.
Broken skin or not, "the pores are open, so they're more susceptible to bacteria," points out Michelle Mapes, a longtime aesthetician at Stark Waxing Studio in Los Angeles, who recommends that most people wait a minimum of 12 hours before having sex.
DO moisturize after waxing. Using gentle oil-based products, such as baby oil, can help to remove any wax residue while keeping the skin supple. If you prefer using a lotion-based after-wax care, try our 'Rub Me Down' lavender and chamomile moisturizer.
NO hot shower or bath for at least 12 hours.
Directly after waxing your hair follicle is left open. This makes it susceptible hot water entering the open hair follicle during a shower or bath. This will irritate the area and create discomfort. Once your follicles close you can return to your normal bathing routine.
After getting a fresh wax, your precious flower is delicate. Any unnecessary friction may lead to bumps from the irritation. You should wait at least 24 hours before having sex after a wax.
Avoid the following for 24 hours after your wax: Swimming and exercise. For Brazilian Wax, no sex, especially oral sex for 24 hours.
Avoid touching your newly hair-free skin—and that means taking care to ensure nothing else touches your skin, either. Since your skin will be more sensitive in the first 24-28 hours after a wax, skip any activities that could cause friction.
You'll need to keep your legs clean and dry for the first 48 hours after waxing, and also avoid anything that could irritate your delicate skin. The list includes exfoliating, strong sunlight, saunas, synthetic clothes, and steamy, hot baths (another reason to make the most of your pre-wax one).
So you'll want to avoid anything that can irritate the skin for at least 24-48 hours after your wax. That includes wearing loose clothing, using fragrance-free products, and no rough sex, or sweaty workouts.
An ingrown hair may appear about a week after waxing. Ingrown hairs occur when the hair grows and reinserts itself into the hair follicle. Ingrown hairs can cause itchy and sometimes painful bumps that often look like pimples on the skin. Without treatment, ingrown hairs can become infected.
Hot water will dry your skin out and make it more prone to irritation or infection. The possibilities of getting your skin damaged when you wax increase considerably when you use hot water near your waxing appointment! You can even get your skin ripped off if you have exposed it to hot water before waxing.
Pubic hair needs to be at least the length of a grain of rice or ¼ of an inch long. Many people feel self-conscious about hair being too long before their Brazilian wax, but longer hair is grabbed by wax better. If you trim beforehand, you could cut it too short and forfeit the ability to wax.
Although the results are fairly similar, there's one key difference: how long they last. On average, waxing lasts around 3 or 4 weeks because the hair is removed at the root. Hair grows back much faster with shaving, though — within 3 days to a week. This is because shaving only removes the top layer of the hair.
Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize
She recommends a 20-minute shower after a wax treatment, and while you're in the shower, use an in-shower oil. "Immediately follow with lotion," she says, "Applying oil and lotion on wet skin will allow the product to lock moisture in by trapping some of the water on the skin."
"For a bikini wax, those who frequent the beach benefit from waxing their bikini line every two weeks. But for a full bikini or Brazilian bikini service, you're recommended to come in every three to four weeks. This allows the proper amount of time for regrowth," Coba says.
The person's skin type, hair texture, and their particular hair growth cycle will determine how many sessions are needed before the hairs are permanently removed. Hairs can stop showing up after 8 months of treatment in areas where it grows naturally finer, as well as with people with fine hair.
You may have read that waxing can cause darkening and darker skin patches called hyperpigmentation. The facts are, with superior product and expert technique, waxing won't cause hyperpigmentation at all.
This depends on how fast your hair grows and how dark your hair is. Typically, it lasts around 3 to 4 weeks. Once the hair is at least ¼-inch long, you can go in for another wax.